Spring Break Day 1

My daffodils are blooming!

Mamaw had dug up a wheel barrow full of daffodils several summers ago.  She was going to throw them away and told me I could have them if I wanted.  I LOVE daffodils so I planted them everywhere!  It's taken them a while but they are finally blooming. 

We have a little path leading out to an old shed.  Mom and I planted alternating daffodils and dianthus along the path when Mamaw gave me the daffodils.  I cleaned out all the dead stuff and weeds yesterday.

We had hauled dirt in to finish up the back fill and even out our yard after the house was back on it's foundation.  The north side settled really bad.  Justin borrowed a skid steer yesterday and we hauled in more dirt to put beside the house.  Hopefully this will be the last time.  

Justin also cut down an old cedar tree in the front.  Eventually I want them all out.  They are all very old and don't look so good anymore.  We were thinking we would plant new trees and let them grow up and then cut down more of the old.  

He finished up with the skid steer and left to return it and run another errand.  I was moving some plants around and working on cleaning out all of my beds.  We had two bags of mulch under the back steps I hadn't used last year.  I wanted to fill in one of the beds so I went to grab a bag. 

When I lifted it up, this is what I found! 

Four sleepy little snakes. 

Snakes don't usually scare me, but I will admit I let out a scream as they startled me.  I grabbed my camera quick to take pictures.  After I had the pictures I wanted I grabbed a shovel, a hoe, and my wagon.  I loaded up one of the snakes and dumped him in my wagon and went for the next.  As I turned around with number two I noticed number one trying to make an escape.  I knocked him back in the wagon with snake number two and picked up number three.  I dropped in him the wagon and turned back for number 4 only to find that he was no where to be seen.  The three in the wagon were really starting to get quick so I grabbed my wagon and ran to the lagoon.  (The running kept them down in the wagon:))  I picked them up one at a time and threw them over the fence.  After I tossed 2 in (that never hit the water...it was a windy day;))  I went back to grab number 3.  He was all coiled up shaking his tail like a rattler.  Now I don't know what a rattlesnake looks like.  I know they have shapes (diamond like) on their backs and that babies don't always have rattles.  I began worrying that I had just pitched two rattlesnakes into the lagoon without killing them only for them to make their way back up to my house!  Number three was not as lucky as his brothers.  I chopped his head off, felt his tail, and put him back in the wagon to show the husband, praying that I hadn't just been a "dumb girl".  I walked back to the house with my dead snake to hunt for number four.  I couldn't find  him, so I continued on with my yard work.  Justin came home soon after and assured me that the snake was a bull snake.  I hadn't been a dumb girl after all!  (I will be looking at pictures on the Internet to brush up on my snake identification!)