Crazy Weather and Lots to Do

On Monday we had snow on the ground. A few days later, I was mowing the lawn and walking around the backyard in bare feet. The tulips opened. Yesterday I was back to wearing a winter hat and gloves for my daily walk. Nutso weather that's hard to predict. The next three days are supposed to be rainy.

We've been tackling a lot of yardwork that has been neglected over the past year. Cut down two mugo pine trees that were dying from rust, pruned the taller pine that was with them to cut away diseased branches (hoping to save it), and put down mulch. Tore out other damaged bushes and hopeless plants and put down more mulch. Got the two fountains going. Spread some rocks. Hacked the front hedge down to a manageable height. Raked a jillion bags worth of last year's leaves that I'd been using as mulch in the vegetable garden. Started pulling out a jillion baby maple trees, offspring of the maple that gave me all the leaves. Started my tomato seedlings. Mowed said lawn and spread topsoil over some sparse spots. Weed-whacked the perimeter. The yard waste collection truck actually came to our place twice this week to empty our bins -- it was a ridiculous amount of material that took up most of our boulevard.

Also took time, of course, to play games and soccer and go for walks with the grandkids, who both have birthdays this month. Read a book. Went to the dentist. Watched entirely too much Person of Interest. Went to church on Sunday. Did some grocery shopping. Drove to Brampton to pick my son up from a friend's. Finished crocheting a teddy bear for a neighbour's coming baby. Trips to Home Depot and Canadian Tire. Dealt with a broken water heater and had a guy come measure for some new windows we need to install. Took a two-hour walk yesterday just to enjoy the briefly nice weather and blue sky, and to revel in not having to join the traffic inching by. It's a lovely feeling, walking past stuck cars with a smirk on my face.

So it's been a good week, all in all. Still lots to do, but we're getting on top of it. When I look at the list of what we did in one week, I don't feel tired, I feel energized. I'll take long hours in the garden over sitting at a desk any day.