Go Out and Do... Something

You might, possibly, have heard me mention recently that the weather has been a little crappy around here. Granted, we haven't been dealing with major flooding or landslides or any of the really horrible things that have been going on around the country (and world), but it has been a pretty nasty spring.

It's been so cold that I haven't even worn shorts yet. At all. Not even around the house. And it rained so much last week that we didn't see the sun for almost 5 days.

Even so, I've been starting to get excited about getting out in the yard. The lilac bush is starting to bud. The peonies we planted last year are pushing up around the house. Everything is delayed, but it's starting.

And, after last week's rain, we finally got sun this weekend. This is what we needed to get things moving. It was perfectly timed to get me out in the yard to start thinking about plantings and maybe do the first round of yard preparation.

Except that we spent most of the weekend at some friends' wedding. Last week, I fully admit, I was looking at the forecasts and thinking "If only it can be sunny for their wedding day..." and - happily - it was. The sun was out and the rain stopped, and people were able to get in and out of the church without umbrellas. Photos were taken on the church steps. People arrived at the reception a tad windblown, but dry. It was great.

But when we got home I really wanted to go play in the yard. I wanted to plant something. I walked around to see what was coming up and what I might need to replace. Pasque flowers? check. Poppies? check. Clematis? check - maybe. Plant pots at the front of the walk? Oh... right... we decided last week that we should paint those.

Finally. An outside task!

I'm happy to say that along with putting a coat of paint on the planting pots, I also spent time sweeping out the garage, taking the winter cover off of the air conditioner, and setting out the hoses. All-in-all, it was probably a good hour's worth of outdoor work - even without any actual planting. Luckily, next weekend we've got some free time. If the weather cooperates, the yard might start to look like spring, yet - maybe even before summer.