Saturday

Today while Kim was at work I bought a mower and trimmer and mowed the yard for the first time. (I figured I had to do something productive, since I slept in past noon.)

While I was mowing, I noticed these little, bright red flowers in the grass:

Does anyone know what they are? They're like mini raspberries, but flowers instead of berries.

On the subject of flowers, we have this big box in the middle of the front yard that we planned on tearing out to make more yard.

In each corner is this big bush, but like most of the bushes in the yard around here, it's not just a bush, it's a flowering bush:

Mom says they're peonies, and each of those buds on top will be a huge flower. You can see that the flowers get so big, they start bending the stalks back to the ground.

After I finished mowing, I decided to take a closer look at this trellis/arch thing in the front yard:

It's kind of cool, but not in the front yard, and not as a display piece, so we'll be taking it down eventually. I tried to shake it, to see I could just pull it down, but the legs are buried deep. While I was shaking it, I noticed it had a temporary resident:

I decided to get a closer look, and I touched him - I don't know why really. I thought he'd just hop away, but instead, out the back, shot a stream of pee, just like a shot out of a squirtgun! I tried to dodge it, but I was hit, right on the leg of my pants.

Actually, I came out and took all of these pictures after I went in and put my pants in the wash. Frogs are interesting characters, with all kinds of crazy chemical accessories, so I didn't want to take any chances.

Once I got back outside and started poking around again, I found this guy:

He was a funny fellow, with legs far too long for his own good. He could barely walk or climb, but every few tries his legs managed to grab something and pull him along.