Spring?

It's hard to believe that I'm sitting here in the middle of February with a few windows open and listening to the sounds of birds return.  As we headed out to soccer this morning, sure enough, I caught the first glimpse of crocus' peeking through.  That was enough to inspire me to do a little light clean up.   Who wants to be doing indoor chores when the sun is calling? 

I began dead heading a plants that I'd left up for winter interest and with the lack of snow just look dead and scraggly.  Funny how these things start, I did the one bed and then another.  Then decided to walk the yard in the glorious sunshine to pick up the trash that had blown in over the last few months.  As I get close to the barn, I begin to inspect the asparagus bed.  It will be some of the first produce to come up in the spring.  As I look for little tops, I notice not only is the bed almost completely thawed but there are actually weeds growing!  So one thing leads to another, I set down the collected trash and weed.  I had almost forgotten how good it feels to get my hands dirty in the garden.

 Now, do I take all of this back to the fire pit?  No, it occurs to me that maybe a few avian would appreciate a lush green snack.  That they did, attacking it like it was candy.  All the while the rooster kept a watchful eye on his harem to make sure they all got their fill.  I'm sure the winter (though I use that term loosely this year) is not over yet, and maybe I have just jinxed myself by getting my hands dirty early, but it sure feels like Spring outside!

Strangely Cathartic

 I wasn't sure if I was going to like it when I  followed Martha's instructions on leaving fall foliage in order to create winter interest above the snow.  I typically like to have things all tidied up in the fall so that I do not have to worry about it again.  I must say that we enjoyed having the added texture in our winter landscape.  With spring so incredibly slow to start this year, I have been itching to get outside; and now all of that lovely "interest" has been driving me absolutely bonkers.  So this afternoon, when the sky became blue and the sun was shining (despite the weather channel saying that at that moment there was an 80% chance for rain), I grabbed by biggest pruners and off I went. 

Let me tell you, there is another benefit to leaving all of the "dead heading" until the spring.  You do not need the above mentioned pruners to get the job done.  Everything is so dried out it just breaks off nicely at the ground.  There is something strangely cathartic about getting on your hands and knees and literally ripping out winter and revealing all of the lovely bits of spring that are resting beneath what was once winter interest.