Bonus Day

The forecast for the second Saturday in April was for cool temperatures, so our expectations were low. We worked inside late morning, but when the sun came out, we took advantage of the unexpectedly favorable weather to get some things done outside.

The pool lounge chairs may be the death of me. Pedro in Coral Springs, FL insists they are properly sized but I have yet to get them installed. They seem to be 3/4" too narrow. I attempted for 2 hours to MacGyver a spreader out of one of my clamps with no success. Lisa put an end to my futility by just ordering one from Amazon.

We turned to the poolhouse, where we have yet to hook up the plumbing for the new sinks. Unfortunately the concrete is too thick for easy installation of the faucets. I trimmed down one of the plastic screws and with one more trip to Westlakes, we should finally have it done. In a last ditch effort to actually accomplish something - anything - I got the water on in the poolhouse. The welded water wrench performed flawlessly.

Dinner was a highlight. Lime jasmine rice, pan-seared garlic asparagus, and salmon with dill and apple chutney.

Rain (maybe snow) is forecast for the morning hours. More progress on the poolhouse seems unlikely until next weekend. Grapes ship Monday and the pool opens Wednesday, so we'll be very busy. 

Spring Cleaning

Last weekend we bottled 3 gallons each of lychee, starfruit, and lemongrass mint wine.  The starfruit and lemongrass are sound, but the lychee is potentially really good.  We'll hold these for summer - the pool opening is just 3 weeks away.

Lisa is thrilled to be bottling

We have been busier in the yard than in the cellar.  Beautyberries and grasses are cut back, amsonia cleaned up, we've gotten through the first round of weeding.  I realized that for the last couple of years I've been spraying my agastache 'Honey Bee Blue' thinking it was a weed. It seems pretty widespread, so I suspect it'll be back one place or another.

Mulch started going down yesterday.  The pearlbushes made it through their first winter.  They look a little lonely but with a final height of 10' I'm not going to be too impatient.

Three little pearlbushes (two shown)

We've discovered that the self-seeded asparagus wakes up a little earlier than the original behind the chicken coop.  The first shoots of the season have been eaten, looking forward to more.

I hacked paths into the blackberries so hopefully the harvest will be easier.

Haskaps are blooming.  I ordered 5 more plants to fill in the little bed east of the garage.  I can already taste the 2018 haskap wine.