Mom and Dad put up a thistle feeder a couple of months ago. Since they went back to Florida, I have been refilling the thing, but never saw what had such a voracious appetite. Yesterday, I was out on the deck enjoying another perfect day in the mountains when I happened to spy the critter out of the corner of my eye. I ran inside and grabbed my camera to snag a few pictures.

After a year and a half of leaking doors on the window wall had taken its toll on the hardwood floor, it is finally being replaced. The flooring guy and his helper were out yesterday (yes, on Memorial Day) to tear up all of the old flooring. That means Stephan and I had the dubious task of removing all of the furniture from the Great Room and Dining Room. They managed to get just about all of the old floor torn up, but needed to get more blades for the saw to complete the work. The plan was to pick up the new flooring material this morning and have everything finished today. Luckily, when the flooring and felt was removed we were able to see that the subfloor was still intact (albeit a huge water stain was present). The stain reached into the room about the same distance as the 12' crack in the drywall ceiling in the Home Theater below. Once the flooring is replaced, the drywall crew is supposed to come out and repair that along with the remaining items on the punch list. It will be nice to finally get this saga behind us.

Came up on 5/6 and discovered our neighbors had been doing a little Spring landscaping! The first several pictures in this album are of the 4 purple Rhododendrons they planted on the edge of their lawn between our lots. Since Mom just LOVES Rhododendrons, I decided to buy her a couple for Mother's Day. I picked up a purple one (most common on the Blue Ridge Parkway about a half-mile away), and a beautiful red variety called Lord Robert's. Stephan and I picked a couple of spots off the front porch with indirect sun and shade, and planted them. We haven't had any rain for quite a while, so we were quite happy this last weekend to find the plants thriving in their new habitat.

I have been taking pictures, but haven't had the time to download and post them.

 

Here are a bunch from the month of May. As you can see, we've been busy with your usual Spring-time activities:

I have some pictures of the oak saplings I uncovered while cleaning out the north side of the cabin. Most survived the winter and each week brings more leaves. There was also a large maple on the north side obscured by pines, locust, and all manner of undergrowth. When I cleard this area last year for the second half of the circle drive, I came across this one.

 

I also have pictures of the smaller maple on the south side of the cabin. This one had the top snapped off a couple summers ago, and we weren't sure if it was going to make it or not. Lots of new growth this year. The wild cherry trees are starting to fill in as well. It's amazing what happens when they get some sunlight!