treeskin

The Miss can *almost* reach the top of the freezer (about 4' tall) well enough to put her cup up there. Holy crap, when did she get so tall?

In other news, we spent a lot of -unday running around the yard and enjoying the rare-in-February warmth. I got peas planted, and two flowerbeds cleaned out completely. By got some of the ornamental grasses cut down, and picked up branches, and we generally ran the kids silly. We need to plan on cutting down the rest of the pine trees soon, they're dying fast. I've got plans for a mixed-shrub hedge to replace the pine windbreak. I also need to save/start some seeds from the weeping peach this year, because the tree is diseased and may not last much longer. Which is a shame, but peaches tend to do that here, especially if you don't spray them.

Have been sewing on doll parts and dresses lately. In the last week, I've finished two dresses from a vintage hanky, a crinoline skirt (and need to make another), and two regular dresses. I've got parts for three dolls sewn and ready to assemble, another waiting to be painted, and a couple more traced and ready to sew. I need to figure out dress patterns for the smaller dolls and get some made, too.

It is over 50 degrees today, so we are out in shirtsleeves and snowboots. The yard is a patchwork of slumping snowdrifs that may still be 2' deep, and soggy brown grass.

The Miss is thrilled, and soaked from bouncing all over the snow like a puppy, and covered with sandbox sand beyond.

The Bug is still not convinced that cold and snow are good ideas. But there are snow-free patches of yard for him to bumble around, so that's okay. Still can't keep shoes and socks on the little devil.

I am WAAAY more awake than I have any right to be. The Bug was up every 5 minutes between 3 and 4am, then every 10-15min for an hour or so, then 2 or 3 times an hour. Somewhere around 5-ish, By took over and sent me to bed, but the boy still woke me every hour. Bleh.

The stuff in the greenhouse is doing great. Got in there to water...all the rosemarys are fine, ibcluding some tiny seedlings, and a few marjoram plants. Still have a couple sprigs of a very pretty red-leafed sedum, too, that was not supposed to survive 40 degrees. Yay!

Of the new outside things, I'm pretty sure the yellow echinacea made it, and the new wisteria. The 'Chocolate Chip' ajuga looks alive, what's not under snow, which is cool, because that wasn't supposed to be hardy. And the new arborvitae hedges look okay, except for the last one in line, which has the look of being nibbled on by rabbits.