Productivity Meter -- off the charts!

Here's my Saturday, and Sunday
Buy and move couch. Check.
Plant grass (prep soil--loosen, weed, fence off to keep Henry out).  Check.
Cut down tree branches touching my roof (find strong, willing man who owns saw). Check.
Clean gutters and install screens. (borrow tall ladder from neighbor and buy screen stuff) Check.
Line the east side of my house with rocks (measure ground,loosen soil, weed, transplant plants, buy a few more and plant, shop for edging, stakes, corners, fabric, install, all of the above and transfer rocks from the random pile under the trees on the north side of my lawn--discover they are hard to move without also moving a lot of dirt so wash rocks first in the wheelbarrow). Check.
Dig up raspberries and strawberries from my friend Leann's place. Transplant them at my house. Check.

Next up this week:
Plant all my flower pots (11 of them).
Plant my two raised beds -- one with lettuce... the other TBD.
Plant my tomatoes, peppers, herbs, and cucumbers in pots.
Remove the rest of the stones from the random pile on the north side of the yard.
Weed the perennial garden under tree
Spray the weeds on my patio and kill the baby trees all over in my backyard.
Mow my grass.
Tear out the compost corner area in my back yard. Plant Snow on the Mountain there.
Rearrange the basement to fit new couch (shop for a new TV and stand for basement)
Clean garage.



On the Weekend Project list: 
Install ten more paving stones to extend the paved area outside my back door (need to borrow a tamper).
Then finish the rest of the rock placement for the east side of my house.
Then line the south side of my house with edging and rocks.
Measure bricks for edging a corner flower bed (prep the soil there, decide on plants).

Bloom.

Am thinking about doing some flower beds and landscaping in my yard. I LOVE flowers and plants and it will be hard to figure out the best combinations. I have to reign it in. Start small.

But here are a few of my favorite flowers just the same.

honeysuckle, pansies, tiger lilies, snapdragons, dahlia, yarrow, daffodil, shasta daisies, gerber daisies, lilies of the valley, dahlia, sunflowers, orchids, lady slippers, peony, tea roses, wildflowers, tulips, lilacs, baby's breath, hydrangea, baby's breath, gladiolas, bachelor's buttons, crocuses.

Winter Woes.

My dependable road guide.

I am so over this weather--this winter. I was starting to believe we'd seen the last of the winter yuck and then I hit the highway for my trek across the state. Good lord.

Despite the fact that it was clear and snowing only very minimally, I-94 was a freakin' mess. It started out pretty well for 20 miles or so and then suddenly the fun was done. Top speeds for the next few hours were around 50 mph and mostly I was driving around 40. I am never too worried on slippery roads, especially in the daylight with good visibility. What does worry me is other drivers. There had to be at least six different accident clusters along the way. Near Fargo the true crazy drivers kicked it into high gear and as I was driving 35 I swear people were whipping by me at 60. I am fond of the high speeds too, and am not unwilling to pass others when it's warranted, but I can ASSURE you that no one should have been driving faster than 40. I now understand the 100 car pile-up near Fargo a few months ago. So winter, I think we are ready for you to go.

On a positive note, two signs of spring were sighted by Facebook friends this weekend.
1. The north-end Dairy Queen is now open.
2. Daffodils

I think I'd like to celebrate with a peanut buster parfait and a sweet little bouquet of flowers -- maybe if I buy into the hope, the weather will follow.

Wordless Wednesday: The Cheerful Edition

Pretties and Produce

My mom's favorite flower is the gladiola. Here are a few that bloomed. If she wasn't out of town for the weekend, these would be on her kitchen table. I love them more because they make me think of my mom and my grandma, who would often create an arrangement like this only nicer and bring it to church each Sunday so there would be fresh flowers decorating the front of pulpit.

I love dahlias. They don't last as long as I'd like them too and I wish I'd planted more colors, but they are lovely, lovely, lovely. And if I had to pick just one color to have, well anyone who knows me knows, it would be red!

My spaghetti squash seemed to grow overnight. And the tomatoes are ripening on a regular basis now. I may grow tired of cucumber slices in vinegar, but not yet. I've picked some onions, beans, and carrots too, but I didn't manage a picture.

This squash is a whole lotta food. I need to figure out what to do with them because this is the first of many soon to be ready!

Here are two bell peppers growing in my window box at the apt. They are meant to be orange. I suspect they'll be ready soon!

Wordless Wednesday--Peony Style 2009--Take Two

Wordless Wednesday -- Pretty Peony Style

My First Bike Ride of the Season

May is Biking Month and this is the first time I've managed to get out there. It's hard to believe my bike even works with a chain that rusty. She's resilient, that old gal. It might have helped if I'd brought my bike inside for the winter.

Today also marks my day one in a new round of "The 30 Day Shred." I've been inspired by some Facebook friends and so here I go again. I am afraid the combination of my DVD workout and about 5 miles of bike riding may be enough to make me sore tomorrow, but it's a good "sore" so I'm not going to complain. I promise.

I can't buzz around on my bike without my camera and so I managed to get a few shots of some lovely spring tulips. Mother Nature is slow to wake up this year. But things are just now greening up quite nicely.

These remind me of some Sci Fi creatures...
slowly unfurling ready to take over the world.

Tulips in love.

Buttery, sunshine-y joy.
They just seem happy, don't they?

A Thoughtful Gesture

When I came home from work today, my mom had a bouquet of fresh picked lilacs waiting for me on my kitchen table. When I was young she always picked me lilacs for my birthday but we lived up north where they bloom later. Here in the valley they are usually done by the end of May. Not this year. I guess all that cold weather is good for something. Thanks, Mom. What a kind gesture. It makes me feel young again!

A little Madness in the Spring is wholesome even for the king -- Emily Dickinson

Lines Written In Early Spring
by William Wordsworth

I heard a thousand blended notes,
While in a grove I sate reclined,
In that sweet mood when pleasant thoughts
Bring sad thoughts to the mind.

To her fair works did Nature link
The human soul that through me ran;
And much it grieved my heart to think
What man has made of man.

Through primrose tufts, in that green bower,
The periwinkle trailed its wreaths;
And 'tis my faith that every flower
Enjoys the air it breathes.

The birds around me hopped and played,
Their thoughts I cannot measure:--
But the least motion which they made
It seemed a thrill of pleasure.

The budding twigs spread out their fan,
To catch the breezy air;
And I must think, do all I can,
That there was pleasure there.

If this belief from heaven be sent,
If such be Nature's holy plan,
Have I not reason to lament
What man has made of man?

"The Earth Laughs in Flowers" -- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Flowers dipped in Kool-Ade?

My birthday may not have had lilacs, but it did have what Marci's family celebrates as "Crazy Daisies." Shasta daisies with their stems like straws, and the plain old white variety (They seem so fresh) are more my speed. These Technicolor blooms seem unnatural and a bit odd .....well, crazy. But I loved that my friend Mariann gave me flowers for my birthday and now four days later, they are still a-bloomin'. As a special bonus, the stems slowly release the dye from the blooms so your water could also dye Easter eggs.

Simple.

Lovely.

Fresh Air Blooms Fragrant....

The lilacs are nearly done. I wait for them every year. At home, up north, they used to bloom on my birthday. Here, they bloom a few weeks earlier and are nothing more than a fragrant memory by the time I am officially another year older. As I type this I am listening to "Lilac Wine" by Jeff Buckley, totally by chance. Ironic, eh?

I picked these today on my bike ride to the library. It sounds nice doesn't it? My bike ride to the library... a little relaxing jaunt on a Sunday afternoon. Truth. It was a frantic trek across town against the wind to return to films before the library closed at 5. The entire time I kept thinking, "I would really like bike riding if it wasn't so much work and so damn exhausting." I like the way it brings me closer to the world around me than I am when I am closed off in my car.

Last Wednesday when I took a day off, I made a discovery while walking. A field full of gophers. It was an unlikely sight and tried to take a picture or two. They are shy little guys. Here's the best I could do. How odd, that such a simple thing could make me feel such joy.

Something about Spring.....

...reminds me I'm alive.

Peony Passion

Long ago established as the traditional floral symbol of China, the peony is a flower I find enchanting... The tightly wrapped blossom. The nectar, the density.... Then the parade of ants.... The beginnings of emergence like a butterfly from a cocoon.... Then the bloom looking like it couldn't contain any more petals, until it does drooping with exhaustion.

More Flowery Goodness

A Sunday Walk Yields Flowery Things

So here's my latest new thing. I have decided that from now on I am going to focus my walks on the alleys that run behind people's houses. It's very stalkerish and cool. Not only did I feel totally at liberty to stop and take all the pictures I wanted of various natural forms that were in my path or very close to it... but I discovered some crazy bumper stickers or junk stacked by sheds which I didn't photograph but could have. Basically, it's a voyeuristic treat. Alleys are the way to go on a well-lit springy day.