This week I did a tremendous amount of work on my front yard to make it into a blooming garden, with plants suitable to the partial shade and clay soil there.  I had to harvest a lot of stones and chop through old tree roots in order to plant anything. 

Today was the fun part:  laying out the plants and mulching.  Ned installed a large black Gothic trellis on a garage wall as a trompe l'oeuil, as my Mother's Day gift, the structure of which echoes the arches found throughout our house and yard.  I could not have wished for a better Mother's Day gift, other than each of my own children!