Spring Time at Staffordshire Manor

It's been fun sitting back and watching what pops out of the ground here at Staffordshire Manor. This is our first spring here and you never know what'll pop up. It's heavy on the pink so I will have to rectify this in the future by bringing in some more colors.

This little baby is called Columbine. I really like it and the hummingbirds love it.

Lots of Iris is popping up

Pink Rhododendron - with a honey bee

I am a little disappointed by the amount of plant death we had over winter. Not only did it hit my figs hard, but there's a few dead established in-ground plants that died. We had more long cold snaps than we usually have and that left a few plants suffering for it. I'm on a quest to go through my fig inventory and figure out who lived to talk about it and who I need to replace.

A few of my young figs have fruit on them though :)

The pups all seem to be doing well. Health issues seem to be leveling out, Vi's rehab has come to an end and is basically back up to normal speed - though we still interrupt her heavy play sessions to give her a break. She's still a little lighter on that leg compared to the other and she stretches it out often, but other than that she seems to be back at her pre-surgery level. It still luxates and she still skips, but it's not as often.

She's happy to be back to munching on her brother

Tucker and Sadie also get along well. Tucker loves to play keep away with the ball, which happens to be Sadie's least favorite game. But they're getting their rhythm down and figuring out ways to make the game work for both of them which makes it more enjoyable for me in the end.

Sadie plays fetch and every once in a while I slip the ball to Tucker and Sadie gives chase. She eventually gets it back and brings it back to me to throw for a while, then back to Tucker. Repeat x 100.

And here's how Sadie gets her ball back

It works for them and they have a good time before coming in to crash for a bit. Loving the pups and still loving the new house despite the curve balls it keeps throwing at me - like poorly draining soil and rocks. Lots of rocks.

More puppy pics can be found here: http://niroha.smugmug.com/Other/2014/