Garden in Late April -- Blah

Remember when I mentioned to Dad that the garden was pretty much dead in early April? Yep, still looks like that now, albeit with less snow cover. This is where the peonies will come up, at some point.

The corner of the back bed by the gate, aka Seza's favorite part of my garden, will have really lovely foliage color contrast in a month or two. Here's what it looked like in late June of last year. See? Pretty!

Here's what it looks like now ...

... although that is some nice color on the heucheras (aka coral bells).

At least the grass is greener (thanks to a couple of recent thunderstorms). But last weekend, my favorite thing in the backyard was Sam. :)

A Visit from Guitar Man

Two weeks ago, Dad was in town for a conference and tacked on some extra days to hang out with M and me. I got half a day off from work and we had a really nice time -- a great mix of going out and just hanging out.

• We played a little Guitar Hero and got the best BBQ take-out in the state.
• We had a great meal at Chino, did a little MOA shopping, and attempted to go to the MN Zoo to visit Emmet. Too bad I didn't realize how early the zoo was closing in April (we pulled into the parking lot at 3:57 only to see the sign announcing the off-season closing time of 4:00).
• On the one sunny but slightly cool day Dad was here, he was a great sport about sitting outside. M and I were craving some patio time after a long winter and, although I could tell he was shivering a little, Dad hung in there for a good hour.

So, two fun stories to share:

First, a week before he was here (so this was early April), we were chatting on the phone about logistics.

"Bunny [blogger's note: she's a GREAT gardener] said I HAVE to bring the camera and take tons of photos of your garden," Dad said. "She's really excited to see how it looks this year."

I started laughing.

"What?" he asked.

"Well, um, you know we still have snow on the ground, right? Minneapolis got eight inches on Monday."

I could almost hear him slapping his forehead. "That's right!"

"So, you know. Everything's pretty much dead."

He then proceeded to tell me that Bunny had planned a big gardening project for the weekend and I got very, very jealous.

The other funny story is this: When he was here, we (of course) ended up talking about Addie. Mom had recently visited Seattle and told me that Addie knows where all of us live. Evidently, you ask her, "Where's Uncle Phil?" and she'll say, "Alana" (Atlanta). You ask about Uncle Mason and Auntie Laura, and Addie says, "Baby soda." You ask about Aunt Donna (my aunt in Texas), and -- this cracks me up -- Addie responds, "Obama in Hooston."

So I was relating this to my dad and we laughed about the Obama part. I then mentioned that when I saw Addie over Christmas, we had a great time and I could tell that she loved me, but it was clear that she didn’t know my name. (At one point during the holidays, my awesome sister-in-law LSB asked Addie, "Who do you want to go to?" And Addie gave me a huge smile, pointed at me and said, "That lady!") I know that she's little and that she loves me anyway, but given how often she asks about "Unca Masin," I felt a little sad.

As I related this story to Dad and said, "I know it's no big deal, but … you know."

He says, "She doesn't know my name either. Know what she calls me?"

I shook my head.

He gave me a big smile. "Guitar Man."

How cool is that?!? :) Thanks for an awesome visit, Dad!

How Awesome is My Bro?!?

An excerpt from a recent e-mail regarding local changes at my youngest brother's company:

Phil -----, Recruiter in -----, will assume the vacant MBO role [blogger's note: no, I have no idea what that is] in ----. Phil has been a true asset to ----- for the past two years. He has handled almost every responsibility pertaining to the operations of the office, and done so to a high standard. Many of you could take lessons from him on running D/L in the low 50’s! [blogger's note: That sounds almost made up, but even if it's not real, Phil's evidently awesome at it!]

Based on his knowledge base and skill sets, I am eager to see Phil excel in this role. He will start on Monday, April 28th.

Yay, Phil!

Spring!

It's been wayyyy too long since I posted here, but work has been getting in the way. (It's been seven weeks since the launch and I'm exhausted, but this migration-specific chaos has to die down soon, right? Right?)

On a much happier note, I think we can finally consider it spring in the Twin Cities. I know -- the calendar says March 21 is spring, but the calendar didn't help a whole lot when we got eight (!!!) inches of snow on April 7.

The bad news is that, although I'm suffering from wannastartgardeningitis, it's much too soon to start working the soil yet. (It's just too damp, so digging or tilling will compact the soil, ruining any drainage properties I improved last year by adding compost or other amendments.)

The good news? The Greengirls (my favorite local gardning blog) say that cool-weather annuals like pansies should do just fine in containers right about now. So I forsee a trip to Bachman's in my future tonight. Which makes everything better. :)