Straight to Summer

It seems spring missed us here in southern Wisconsin this year.  I thought winter was never going to end.  It finally did and, then seemingly overnight, it got really green and warm outside.  The past couple of days have been absolutely beautiful.  Sunny.  Breezy.  Warm.  Low humidity.  We have a relatively small window of opportunity to enjoy the outdoors before mosquito season goes into full effect.  (The mosquito situation up here is ridiculous, probably because of all the lakes/water.)  For now, though, it's been gorgeous and we have been enjoying every minute of it.

This past Monday I planted a few flowers.  I'm not doing a whole lot of planting this year, but wanted to plant at least a little.  I think I'd feel like I was missing part of the summer experience if I didn't plant a few flowers.  I didn't plant any in the ground this year; just in pots-- which I think turned out OK.  It's nothing too special and certainly not as beautiful as the landscaping we had at Bendelow Drive, but here is a shot of the front of our house.  I'm not crazy about the big rocks, but they are used a lot up here in landscaping and/or for retaining walls.  We might change it at some point, but it won't be this year.

 

These next 2 shots are taken looking out from the front porch.  When I took the first picture below, Scott was watering the lawn so the garden hose makes an appearance in the photo.  

And this shot is as you come down the stairs from the front porch.

A friend of mine recently purchased one of those sofas that reclines.  She said it's an indicator that she is getting old.  Along those same lines, an indicator that Scott and I are getting old may be the rocking chairs on the front porch.

Honestly, though, we love sitting out there and rocking.  It's so pleasant.  We live on a cul-de-sac, so there is hardly any traffic.  There are a lot of kids running around playing and the neighbors are often out.  I find those kinds of sounds of life comforting.

I haven't gotten many good pictures of the back deck yet.  It has gotten so lush and verdant.  Even though neighbors are close by, our deck is very private when the leaves are on the trees.  You may remember this shot from a previous post.

  

This is what it looks like now.  Much better!

Yesterday was just about a perfect day weather-wise.  I decided an outdoor afternoon nap was in order.  I covered my face with this hat...

...and crashed on this zero-gravity chair on the back deck....

Excuse the unstained square on the deck...it looks like that because that's where the platform the chimminea sits on was located before we moved it.  We just haven't re-stained it yet, but that certainly didn't interrupt my nap.  I was knocked out for about an hour.  It was so very peaceful.

We have been thoroughly enjoying our outdoor time, both out back on the deck and rocking on the front porch.  Soon the mosquitoes will force us indoors, but for now we are outside as much as we possibly can be.  It's refreshing and a welcome relief from a long winter in Wisconsin.