March Madness Continues!

Right....so I'm just going to add more pictures to this as they come until the end of the month:


Starting last weekend, which is to say, the weekend before St. Pat's day, Himself and I started to expand the patio. In the background from the steps to the wall is what we did last fall when the addition to the house was completed. The strip of two rows in the foreground is what we just did--you can see the stepping stone molds we use. You mix up the concrete in a wheel-barrow (bag of Quickrete and enough water to make it like a thick soup; then you shovel it into the molds. After it's hardened enough to stay together, you can remove the molds. I then mixed up an extra liquid-y concrete mix to pour in bottom of the cracks so that weeds can't grow between them, and fill them up the rest of the way with sand so everything is level.

Well, it's back-breaking work, but I'll have you know that this past Friday (before Easter), I, me, myself, personally mixed 10 40 lb bags of concrete in succession and laid another whole row, and made free-form shapes to fill in at the ends and on the edges. Ahem. I am woman, hear me roar! There's a lot more to do, though, and I will post pics as it goes.

Here's some more pretty, pretty, flowahs!


The clematis (I have many plants) are coming back up from the ground and here's one blooming right at the base of a rose bush with artemesia in the background (note Mr. Bug on the petal on the left):


Here's a 'Pink Diamond' Amaryllis. I think this is one of the ones Annabelle donated to my garden to get them away from some dreaded bulb-eating plague of beetles she had in hers. Here it is, Annabelle, all happy and healthy!!

Behind it is that cactus that should bloom with beautiful fuschia flowers in May....I can't wait!


These poppies are really cool--notice they have white picotee on the edge. What's up with that?


Oh, here's the 'Pink Diamond' Amaryllis I have around back. It has a 4-bloom stalk on it. Magnifique!


And here's the fancy-schmancy 'La Paz' Amaryllis:


And finally, for it is now the last day of March; I now have a pink corn poppy blooming with the red ones:


We've had lots of rain in the last week and the wildflower forecast for April is looking up. We are starting to see bluebonnets along the roadsides. Yayyyyy! Hopefully we can go on a spring "color tour" soon!