welcome, spring!

Oh, vernal equinox! You mark the arrival of spring, truly the happiest season of them all! (And yes, I'd say that even if it were hailing outside.) Us northerners are spring lovers, drawn to her cheerful, upbeat manner, her determination to push those flowers through against all odds, her resilience, her countless pretty surprises.

Welcome, spring!

Since we are to have a stunning day today, Ed asked if I would like to go and do some volunteer work with him out on the Ice Age Trail. They'll be cutting down invasives that withstood the controlled burning of the prairie. I almost said yes, because we do use the trails and helping maintain them is important to us, but really, I have a plateful of stuff to do at the farmette and I don't want to give away a day of good weather. Trail fixing and clearing for me fits well into the Fall season, when I absolutely do not feel like working in a dry and tired garden. In spring my work stays in the farmette flower fields. And so after breakfast...

... Ed goes off to clear away honeysuckle and I begin the task of digging and dividing those flowers that needed to be dug out and divided (as the cheepers enjoy their moment in the sunshine at the base of their favorite hydrangea bushes).

Anything blooming yet, besides the snowdrops, you ask? Not really, though stuff is stirring. The daffodils planted in the west facing bed benefit from the warm afternoon sun and so they always pop up first. And indeed, I can just see those flowers forming!

Somewhat sheepishly, I pause in my work to drive over for a car wash. Our snow last week brought out the salt trucks and it pains me to see those salty spots on Blue Moon. And because it's just a basic car wash, I'm not satisfied with how things look afterwards, so I spend a handful of minutes polishing up the old girl with a rag, thinking all the while -- it has come to this! I am actually buffing up my car on a weekend day, just like a car loving dude or dudess out there. (Ed chuckles mightily when I admitted this to him later.)

 

And then I return to the garden -- back to my early spring work.