I Blame the Zombies

I really was planning to go to NH Sheep & Wool yesterday and see everybody, but I got caught up in this weird dream about zombies. Well, pseudo-zombies, at least, because there really wasn't so much with the eating of brains, but everybody was getting this virus that made them kind of shuffle-y and bitey, which was how they spread the virus. And George H.W. Bush (Not W, but the dad) was somehow involved in and recruiting me to help stop it, and Barbara Bush was there, but with long, black Gypsy woman hair. And when I woke up there was a huge puddle of drool on the pillow and it was too late to go to the festival. Last night the dreams included Isaac from the Love Boat, so I'm not quite sure what's going on in my brain.

Fortunately, though, the weather held well enough both Friday and Saturday to get some much-needed yardwork done. Our lawn has been growing like a B-movie radioactive monster, so getting it mowed was a priority and the Flying Spaghetti Monster blessed us with nice weather for that on Friday. I also took a few minutes out of that task to get rid of several of these:



That's a gall caused by the cedar apple rust fungus, Gymnosporangium juniperi-virginianae. There were at least a couple more galls too high in the tree for me to get, but I'll be treating the apple trees regularly with antifungal sprays (already on order) this summer to try to minimize the problem and see if I can possibly break the cycle.

And speaking of apple trees, remember the cute little pea trellis I made with prunings? Well look at it now (Look closely, since it's a little hard to see, or embiggen).



It's leafing out! That means they're also likely to produce roots and turn into little apple tree clones, so I can dig them up at the end of the season and plant a little orchard. Most commercial apple trees, of course, are grafted onto rootstock selected for disease resistance and ability to set tree size, but this heirloom variety, Wealthy, is known to be a hardy variety and actually originated from seed that came from Maine, so I expect it'll do well.

I also got a few pics of the flower beds. This first one is the last of the daffodils and the only double-flowering (and only white one) one of the bunch. I have no idea how it got there, but it smells lovely.



And then there's this unassuming lovely:



And some proof that we really are in a different growing zone from most of the rest of the state (the southern exposure also helps):





I also managed a slightly blurry photo of one of the more mobile residents of the property:



I know some people get freaked out, but we really are very fond of our little garter snakes. Given how close they tend to stay to the house, I suspect they've got a hibernaculum somewhere down along or inside the foundation. I just wish they'd eat more of the slugs and snails.

And lastly yesterday, I managed to capture the boys having a moment. Tuck was actually looking much happier before I pulled out the camera.



There's also been a bit of knitting, but it's an experimental lace sampler and won't be fit for public consumption until it's done and blocked. And now I need to get ready to go back to work. Why does that always seem to come around too soon?