Spring Yard Work and Flower the Skunk



Pink Tree

This past Sunday, I worked my butt off in the yard. There is SO much to be done! I am going to do my best to try and keep up with it. I tried last year and did reasonably well. It can get overwhelming so quickly though. With everything growing a month early, I need to start now. I got all scratched up and my allergies went crazy but I persevered!

The cherry tree (I think it is a cherry tree) that was felled by the October snow storm has bloomed beautifully. We weren't sure if it would survive after replanting it. I say it's a cherry tree but I am not really sure what it is. Ha ha. It just looks like cherry blossoms. It doesn't bear fruit though. If anyone has a clue, lemme know. :)  Anyway, thank G-d that it did not die. We still have it staked out and will continue to do so for the next season or two just to let it strengthen up a bit more. 



Forsythia Branches in McCoy Vase



The forsythias are just dazzling across the county. Our back bush is doing really well. They remind me of growing up in my hometown of Wenonah, NJ.  I clipped off a couple branches and put them in a wonderful Art Nouveau white ceramic vase I bought at my favorite second hand store, Trixie's Home Goods, in Cressona, PA. The vase is from the early 1900's. John and I are good friends with Trixie and the gals there. We always get such great stuff. Back to the vase. It is an older McCoy, no chips! I got it for $20. A steal in my book. :)

 The front forsythia bushes aren't doing so well. We planted a row of 6 and they just seem to be so pathetically bare. I don't know if it is the soil or what. Three of them are doing just alright. The others are so sad and thin. There is a great farm market, Martin's Farm Market, just down the road. I need to speak with Jason the owner on what we can do to help these bushes grow.

Lastly, I was cleaning out and refiling the bird baths.We have one in the middle flower bed and one in the back by the hill. I was at the back one and my foot slipped into a hole. I had thought it was just a divot in the grass until I cleared away some leaves and spied a hole  5 by 7 inches. And it was DEEP. I ran to get John.

I said, "I have never seen this hole before, it's HUGE! What do you think it is?"
He looked at it and thought possibly a groundhog. I thought so too but there was no mound of dirt next to it.

He grabbed a 5 foot rod and I grabbed a flashlight. I shone it down to the bottom of it. John put down the rod and it was about 4-5 feet deep. 



Back Forsythia Bush, the Good Bush, not the sad ones

I ran inside and looked online. Holes with no dirt are not groundhog holes. Well, that answers that!  They are either raccoon or skunk burrows. Hmmmm, I thought, I had seen a skunk at night around here in the late Fall! I had named him Flower (sorry geek moment) after the skunk in the Disney movie, Bambi. John and I surmised that it must have been his winter burrow.  So we had a skunk hibernating over the Winter less than 20 feet from the house!


Flower the Skunk's Former Home



After some discussion, we decided that it was best to fill in the hole. Poor Flower. He'd have to find a home elsewhere. We live on the edge of the woods, so that shouldn't be a problem for him. After filling it with sand and rocks, I looked at it rather sadly. No one wants to be forced out of their home, even skunks. Still, the last think I need is a skunk this close to the house.  So much for a dull Sunday!