Good Caterpillar, Bad Caterpillar

I don't think I've mentioned that the tent caterpillar invasion has happened again this year. Evidently last year was the first year of a three to six year cycle of these caterpillars; we'd just finished moving in last May when a wave of black caterpillars came crawling over from the greenbelt across the street, covering everything and subsequently cocooning all over everything (houses, trees, toys, you name it). They're back again this year, and it's pretty gross. Here's our front step:



They don't cling well on the siding, but they really like concrete. You can't walk to the van without flattening a few. Yuck.

On the plus side, I've discovered a caterpillar we DO like:



I figured since the water park was such a big hit, this sprinkler would be fun for the kids. And it's nice to have at least ONE caterpillar we're fond of.

Since I was out taking pictures anyway, I also grabbed a shot of the flowerbed Trev redid a few weeks ago:



Isn't it nice? My late-blooming tulips are just finishing up, the ferns and bleeding heart are going great guns, and the irises and peonies are about to burst into bloom. I love perennials, although I'm getting a bit tired of planting them and having them just start to really take before I have to move again. I'm looking forward to playing around a bit more with gardening in our new house in Calgary, since we'll hopefully be there for two or three years. We realized a while ago that we have moved at least once every two years since we were married, and more often than not it was every year. Not that we mind moving, but that's a bit much.