Yard Work, It Can Actually be Fun!

Miss V. and Miss G. preparing the front yard for their Fairy Forest

This week has definitely made me feel confident that spring has sprung. The weather was in the double digits for most of the week. I even got my first sunburn of the season. And, I think the snow has finally melted from all those shadowy places that snow usually holds out in.

With spring comes yard work and tons of it. Even though I thought I did a pretty thorough job in the fall, cleaning up the leaves and other debris, when the snow melts I am totally proven wrong. The leaves seem to have multiplied, little sticks litter the ground and holy pine cones Batman! In our front yard I have never seen so many cones as this year. There must be well over a hundred. As of writing this they fill about a fourth of the bin you see in the pictures, and we are not even close to being done picking them up.

Today the girls had the day off from school, and I needed the work in my front yard started. (I do not trust Miss P in the front yard at all. It is too close to the road, so it is hard for me to get out there and get it done.) I told the girls that the fairies came last night and told me that they love to dance in our yard and help their fairy flowers grow, but they couldn't get to their flowers because of all the leaves and pine cones. The fairies needed two girls to help them so they could come and dance. While Miss G. was skeptical of that story line, Miss V. loved it and soon both girls were out with their work gloves cleaning up. I know... I lied... but it worked and they are having fun. I hope not too much damage will be done to psyche.

After about 5 minutes they started planning more than picking up. They are planning to turn the front yard into a fairy town complete with university and "death school" (I don't even want to know). With a few gentle prods from me for them to keep going they kept up the work. While I still have lots to do out there, it is a start. I think the most important thing here is that the girls had a great time using their imaginations and are now so excited to make their fairy town a reality. I will make sure to post some pictures of their completed town, if they are actually serious about it that is.

What kind of yard work do you have planned? Do you use fairies as an excuse too?

I Love This Time of Year

If I had to pick anytime of year that I absolutely loved more than any other, this would be it. It is warm but not sweltering. It is not humid, and even when it is it is bearable. The leaves are out in full and the flowers just explode out.

In our backyard there is a beautiful poppy patch. When I first moved in I knew there were poppies, but I didn't realize how much they can spread! Last week I saw all the poppy buds, and then a couple of days ago there were two flowers. That made me happy. I love poppies. Today I looked out from my dining room and this is what I saw!

Isn't that super exciting and beautiful. I love the bright orangy red colour. A house down the street has pink poppies in the front yard. I am tempted to go and get some seeds from their plants to add variety.

Also spread throughout our backyard and some in the front are these beautiful irises. They aren't the typical irises with the broad leaves. I love how fine their leaves are. Last year almost ripped them out because I thought they were day lilies. (We have so many daylilies in our yard and they are so tightly bunched, I need to thin them.) I am super glad I didn't.

I forgot to take pictures last year of what the gardens look like and what plants come in different seasons. This year I am going to be diligent so that way I know what I want to keep and what needs to go for next year. That's the thing with inheriting someone else's garden. You don't know what they have put in for different seasons, what are weeds and what aren't. This will be our second summer fully moved in to our house, so this is the year to keep track and figure it out for next year.

In the back corner of our yard we have what we have termed, The Meadow. It is a beautiful sea of forget-me-nots. My middle child loves to pick flowers and she was so excited to see all these beautiful  flowers free for the picking. My husband doesn't have the heart to mow them down yet as the kids are having such fun. I hope our neighbours don't mind as they do spread.

can you see the kids hiding in the flowers?

Next year at this time I will have my vegetable garden planted. We weren't in a position this year to get it done. We are concentrating mostly on getting the inside de-cluttered and so the garden needs to wait. There are only so many hours in the day and so much energy to be had. But, I am excited about establishing a nice veggie garden. I know my kids will be excited too. At least we have an awesome farmers market just up the street. I will be going there soon to get strawberries to make strawberry jam. Last year I made enough jam to last us the whole year, and give away some as gifts. Nothing is better then strawberry jam, especially freshly made. Yummers!

This time of the year is awesome. There are so many beautiful things to see and look forward to. What do you love most about this season?