two steps forward

One step back. At least as far as the weather goes.

Last week, we had three glorious days...warm, sunny, work in the garden, t-shirt days.

Spring paid a visit, and it did my heart good.

I have an earlier than ever start on my beds, and in a case of sunshine induced mania, I crossed a gardening line I have never crossed before.

I took the shop vac to my flower beds.

Yes, you heard right. I vacuumed my flower beds. I was meticulously picking dead leaves from the many branched base of my spirea, and got to wondering if I could just suck them out. It actually worked pretty good, and once I got started, I couldn't stop. I just kept vacuuming. It was kind of fun. Actually, it was really fun. And addicting. It took a while, but eventually I mastered the technique for sucking up the leaves while leaving the compost and dirt behind. I still haven't found a way to get it to suck dandelions, roots and all, out of the ground, but the shop vac may just replace my favorite old scratcher as the garden tool of choice.

So, after three very productive days, and a fully developed case of what my sister calls Garden Body, (you're familiar with Garden Body, right? It takes twice as long to get out of bed, and muscles you didn't know you have are screaming in pain? It's also commonly known as, "I Recently Decided to Start Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred Body") then came Tuesday.


The snow was actually a welcome event, as I had vast amounts of laundry to do, and around here, history has repeatedly shown that when the sun shines, the laundry is the first thing to be neglected. Actually laundry and dinner, and since food and clean clothes just happen to be the two most quickly consumed items in my house, this leads to obvious problems. I wish I could juggle both inside and outside chores, but so far, I haven't found the key to making that work.


I'll leave you with one more spring treat found in our pasture this morning.


She's a twin, and for the first time for us, it looks like the mama has accepted both babies. Sometimes, the weaker one dies, or we have to bottle feed one, or try to get another mother, usually one who has lost a baby, to accept the rejected calf. I love their first hours of life, when you can pet them and they willingly pose for pictures. After that, they pretty much skedaddle when you get anywhere near. So cute.

So, what spring treats are showing up in your neck of the woods? Daffodils? Cherry blossoms? Baby animals? I'd love to know.