good reasons why i haven't posted.

I have been a very busy girl. When I say I have been "working in the yard", I mean it literally. There's no dilly dallying like picking up a weed here and there. The past week has been nothing but hard labor from the moment I get home to the moment the sun goes down and by then, I don't feel like posting a blog or calling my friends or even having a beer at UJ's. If you don't believe me, let me show you...

First, I planted many seeds which, by the way, isn't for the impatient. Here, you see zucchini, cucumber, bell pepper, jalepeno, green onion and tomato plants; cilantro, rosemary, dill and basil herbs; lily of the valley and clematis, grown by roots. After the last frost, I will plant them in my yard.

After that, I cleaned out my flower beds around the laundry room, which was no easy task-it had not been touched in over a year and was overgrown by grass and weeds. I cleaned them by hand and afterwards, had blisters on my hands to show for it. My mom came over and we made a plan for the flower garden, involving many bulbs and roots to be planted. The side bed is finished. I'm doing the back bed tomorrow.

Raking the yard was a feat in itself. It hasn't been raked since I've lived here. I simply just mowed over them and left the leaves against the fence to rot. That was a bad plan, obviously, so I decided to take care of it once and for all. It took 3 hours one day to rake the side and 4 hours another day to rake some of the front and take all of the leaves to the front ditch. I gave up halfway through the front yard because the grass was too high and I was butt tired. What you don't see is all the brush I cleared out on the side of the house. That little piece caused a bit of poison ivy on my forearms. I was on the lookout for it, but the little bastards were hiding. However, I did find a ton of forsythia back there which should be beautiful next year, since it had been mowed over previously.

I still have alot to do-I have taken most of what was left of the shed base apart. When that is done, it all needs to be taken to the dump and I will then plant my vegetable garden in its place. I have to take all of the stones up behind the laundry room and clean it up for the patio project Brad and I are beginning soon. I also bought a weeping willow to plant-the last one died but I am determined to have one before I die. The house needs to be pressure washed and the flower beds in the front need to be rid of the wood chips and replaced with mulch. All but the patio will be done by myself. Whew. Not bad for a single girl, huh?