Full on spring

The weather has continued its up and down trajectory this week. Sunday was absolutely gorgeous, no wind and reaching a high of 18C (65F). I know that doesn't sound particularly warm to many of my readers but after days near or slightly above freezing it feels incredible. We managed to get a good amount of outdoor work done over the weekend, cleaning up winter debris, working on the raised garden bed, and putting out containers and outdoor furniture. I planted several tulip bulbs, that I bought last year, with the hopes we'll see some flowers next year. 

The photo from Wednesday is a surprise I found in the front flower bed, according to Google lens, a striped squill. This is a bulb that I found in the garden at the old house and transplanted here last spring. I had no idea what it was, but decided to see if it would grow. According to the internet, it is hardy (no kidding), grows about 6-8" in height, blooms early in spring, and depending on the site is either non-invasive or invasive. I guess I'll find out one way or another in the next few years. 

The poppies and day lilies are popping up too. The lamium/dead nettle are greening out. I expect they'll fill in much of the raised bed over the summer. That should keep the weeds somewhat at bay. In addition we found some flatter rocks and build a pathway through the bed, which should help with access for weeding. I can't tell you the number of times, I've nearly tumbled out of the flower bed from tripping over the rock edge. On Tuesday, I picked up some gladiola bulbs and will plant those after the final frost/freeze. 

Eli had a day off on Tuesday because his people (TA's/teachers) were away for various reasons. He does like his routine and does best with those he trusts. The school did send home more phonics schoolwork for him and his mom to work on. After our trip to the next door community, the two put in an hour or so on some of the new work. D had an appointment for blood work in the morning, then we drove to the nearby community to do our shopping, went to a favorite park for Eli to play, before another quick stop for fruit and bread before heading home. After a quick lunch, I hopped into bed for a snooze. I'd been awake until 2:30 a.m. watching the results of our federal election. The results weren't entirely decided, and more counting happened in the morning. There are four or five ridings (districts) where recounts are also likely as the differential is less than 400 votes.

The weather was cool'ish Tuesday, warmed up a bit on Wednesday, so I got outside to start on the spring clean-up. First up, though was moving several rocks out of the raised bed. (All the ones near the fence in the photo above.) I used my new wheelbarrow to move them to the edge of the alley and posted them to a free group on Facebook. I cleaned up the small garden area, digging out weeds and preparing the area for planting. After setting up the trellises, I planted the sweet peas and peas, as well as a row of carrots. I won't expect to see these sprout for a few weeks yet, but the seeds will be fine in the ground. 

I also moved some things around in the yard, including installing the bird bath and filling it. I've seen several robins and heard Blue Jays in the neighbourhood, the latter having quite a distinctive call. The chair my brother built for me is placed where I can see the gardens and keep an eye on the cat when he's in the catio. My final tasks for the morning were cleaning out the window wells of the leaves and other debris, and I started digging out grass that has infiltrated the day lilies. In some places it has actually choked out the day lilies - I was able to dig up a few of those and plant where I'd cleared the grass.

By lunchtime, I was to quote Patsy, kapooped! I went indoors, had a shower and cleaned out all the dirt under my fingernails. I always start off wearing gloves but soon peel them off to play in the dirt! After a refreshing shower, clean clothes and a good lunch, I settled down to stream "Beyond Borders", and began crocheting a dishcloth. Baseball and hockey took up the remainder of the day.

We got a wee bit of rain Thursday morning, and the temperature cooled. As a result I spent most of the day indoors, first rearranging my bedroom in anticipation of Saku's residence (in July), and continuing my crocheting. When the skies cleared some in the afternoon, one of the resident cats, Stanley convinced me to take him out to the catio. :) I planted green onions before settling into my chair to have a cup of Chai. 

The weather started to warm up a bit more on Friday, though it was early afternoon before I headed outdoors to do a bit more yardwork. I did get our groceries in the morning, and took my daughter with me to pick up the bags of potting mix, garden soil, and mulch I'll need for the containers and to mulch the flower beds. We also stopped at the city hall office to purchase our fire pit license for the year. 

Eli and D came outside as well, and we got one of the two rain barrels we picked up on Monday set up. This is in the corner where the water came into the basement when our last dump of snow melted, and I'm hoping diverting it to a rain barrel will help keep it from reaching the basement. We may just find out on Monday as we are expecting rain then. We also prepped the area for the second barrel. D cut back a ground-cover juniper (that smells like cat pee according to her), while I gathered the branches and filled the garbage bag of debris. We plan to finish that set-up today.

There is still other work that needs to be done, putting out the solar lights, cleaning out grass between the rocks that line the raised bed, a day lily bed out front, and the mulch needs to be spread in all of the flower beds. Since I plan to be in the city later this month, I'll also work on prepping the containers for planting ahead of time. I'll leave a list of plants to go in each container. This time of year is always busy, but exciting, at least to me. I enjoy the fresh air, the sunshine, and seeing the green growth.

Have a great weekend everyone!