We had an outdoor weekend, working in the yard and gardens again. Dh and I built some new trellises for my climbing roses. The rustic ones I had built from saplings around the property succumbed to Hurricane Isabel, so this time we opted for something a bit more permanent. We finished them on Saturday, but it was an all-day project. The kids played in the yard most of the day--on the climber, skooters, with neighborhood friends.

Sunday morning, Emily and I read the new Discovery Kids magazine about telescopes. The rest of the day I spent futzing around with several small projects. I cleaned my birdfeeders, and dh helped me put up two new feeders that I bought. Now, we have a really great 4 feeder setup on the corner of our top deck where we can watch the birds from inside. We love watching all the different kinds of birds, and now we can try out different types of food to see which birds prefer which food. I re-trellised the blackberries, cleaned the outdoor furniture, and some other odd jobs.

We've begun feeding the koi and comets again, and they are still pretty skittish. Hopefully, by the end of the week they'll start coming over for the food. The pond is beginning to clear up again after a Spring algae explosion. Friday the kids helped me pull the pond plants out and separate those that needed it and give them their first Spring feeding. We also finished the bog garden. The kids helped me load stone from the driveway and place it around the plants in the bog. We have a couple of frogs, but they haven't begun their Spring singing yet as far as I can tell. No eggs yet.

My mother arrived Sunday afternoon, and the kids had loads of fun showing her all their tricks on the climber. I'm sure they'll enjoy playing with her the next few days.