Well, it is that time of the year. The weather is getting nicer, plants and trees are blooming and the stink bugs (Halyomorpha halys is the official name) are coming out.
I’m beginning to think Benjamin Franklin meant three things are certain in life: death, taxes… and stink bugs showing up in your house. Since we have lived in Virginia, it doesn’t matter what we do, every spring the stink bugs come out, and they come out in full force!
Snapped this photo on the grounds of the University of Virginia the other day. I feel like it gives an excellent visual of spring.
The kids are growing like crazy. PKB is 4 going on 14 it seems. She has been a great help by helping with small projects around the house — from picking up sticks in the yard to be used as kindling to giving ECB his pacifier when he drops it. We recently planted onions, radishes and carrots from seeds, and she checks them every morning to see if they have sprouted.
ECB is almost 4 months now and is doing great. His most important chore right now is learning to hold his head up… it’s a work in progress.
While PKB is picking up sticks and ECB is practicing holding up his head, I am busy with my own projects. I’ve been busy cutting firewood to prepare for next winter and practicing my drywalling skills. I have a major renovation project planned for later this year when I am going to completely gut the upstairs bathroom and remodel it. It will be a larger project than the downstairs bedroom because it will not only require electrical and drywall work, but will also entail plenty of plumbing work.
To prepare for that, right now I am working on drywalling a section in the basement. The seams on the drywalling I’ve done are visible, so I’m practicing on a section of the basement that will be my office/workshop. Hopefully, my skills will be a little more refined by the time I start on the upstairs bathroom.
Some of the firewood I’ve accumulated so far…this should last about three days next winter.
While I’ll probably be cutting firewood for the rest of my life, I’m also going to make time to spruce up our landscaping. Right now a lot of our property just seems overgrown or covered with leaves. So, I am going to work on cleaning some of that up to prepare for new plants.
I’ve got plans to start planting some native flowers to attract the bees. I feel like our property has a lot of potential to really showcase some awesome landscaping.
