No, it’s not quite spring yet.  (March 20th.)  But there’s a lot of work to do, and I’d be crazy to not get outside and do something healthy on such pretty days.  Actually, Tuesday night we had tornado warnings.  The sky was ominous.

I couldn’t get a better picture because I was worried about my camera, but you can see the clouds.  Then the rain came.  A bunch of it.  But we truly needed it after the drought of the past year or so.

The rain poured off the tin roof and had a cleansing effect on the goldfish pond.  The next day was beautiful!  All the garden beds were newly rained on and the sun was shining brightly.  The sky was perfectly blue.

I carried some mulch and added to what’s been dubbed bed #2.  Before long, plants that needed moving were moved and the bed was full and leveled and the walkway between bed #1 and #2 was mulched.  I like it, if I do say so myself. 

bed #2

Over the course of Wednesday and Thursday, I got mulching done in beds 2, 3, 4 and 5.  Still have 6, 7 and 8 to do.  And then there’s the vegetable garden. 

I was all over the yard.  Dreaming of flowers and butterflies.  Appreciating a day off, and the sunshine.  I was raking mulch and sweeping walkways.  I had no idea one of my children was snapping pictures of me.

Indeed.  I also got caught raking.  I do some intense thinking in my garden. 

I love this time of year.  In a few months I’ll be fighting weeds like no one’s business.  But now.  Now.  There is the promise of a thousand flowers waiting to spring forth and fill my yard with color and insects.  I cannot wait!

Rounding the corner from the backyard I tell myself that it looks pretty good.  I mean, for an old house in a somewhat, uh, cluttered neighborhood. 

When I get a view of the walkway, I’m pretty satisfied with it.

I have a new hobby.  I am growing rosemary.  A lot of it.  I have two in the yard.  One very beautiful, large rosemary that is covered in blooms, and a more prostrate-growing type that I have trained up onto a small trellis.

Oh, and I planted 100 peat pots of rosemary today, for selling — if it grows well, at future craft and garden shows.  Bed #3, mulched…

and bed #4 …

I am really enjoying getting these pictures (in larger version) labelled with what’s growing in them.  (They’ll be in my right sidebar, if you’re interested.)

Last of all is little bed #5, with the recently finished (last year) mosaic wall.

No I was not outside for 12 straight hours each day.  To the contrary, I only had a couple of hours each day.  I did not want to push myself too hard in light of being a bit under the weather lately, and there’s still school going on, and dolls, and trips to the grocery store and on and on.  I’m sure you already know. 

There’ll be more to come!

Lynn