Me too, me too! It was so sunny and delightful earlier today that I couldn't stay inside another minute.

A few days ago the wind really picked up. Blew all the leaves off the front shade bed right in front of the gate so a person could barely get thru it, lol. Maybe it wasn't such a bad thing though, since I discovered most of the bulbs (tulips too!!) were up in that bed and my darling Corydalis plants were showing new growth. I did put a few tufts of dead grass around on a couple tender things that still may need a bit of protecton yet.

I have two composters out in the back, a nice black box composter and then a cheap extra one to store leaves in. Stashed all the leaves in it, poured water on, and covered it with tarp. Going to see if that will help get them to decompose faster, so they will be ready a little later this spring to add with the rest of the compost for the gardens. After all that I took a little break and had some iced tea and sat in front of the shed soaking up some Vitamin D.

AND I saw a robin digging out in the back yesterday- a sure sign of spring if you ask me! ;-D
CMK

I couldn't resist the outdoors yesterday either despite the snow that's still 3 ft. deep all over my garden. I kept going out and setting more winter sown containers down in the snow, filled the birdfeeder that I hung on the breezeway. I haven't been able to get to the ones in the crabapple tree since December due to the deep snow. It was so gloriously warm and felt like the real deal--spring!

Haven't seen any robins yet but there were 3 bluebirds on my suet feeder one day about a week ago. Forecast calls for snow on Monday but at least whatever we get this time shouldn't hang around too long.

Now look!

Any body who gets out raking in the wind or getting out to work in snow is a real gardener. It has been beautiful, and I saw my first butterfly of the season yesterday...and the bluebirds are already scouting the houses.
kay

Butterflies? We have a ways to go before we see butterflies, but I also saw bluebirds and flocks of robins. The robins have been around for several weeks now. Ben, the man who built my big birdhouse, gave me a brand new wren house for free. I should take advantage of this break in the weather and put it up.

Yesterday, the calves of my legs were sore let me tell you! This morning they still ache a bit, couldn't understand why until I suddenly remembered all the raking I did on Saturday. Time to get in shape all over again.

No sun here but I've just come in from a couple of hours tidying up. Trimmed the clematis, roses and fuchsias back to good buds. Raked leaves from under the medlar where they tend to compact. Liberated quite a few yellow leaved bulbs. Trimmed off the old hellebore and Epimedium foliage.
In flower today: double snowdrops (nearly over) crocuses, Pulmonaria, hellebores, winter flowering honeysuckle, Chaenomeles, first daffodil, one solitary confused Tulip praestans, violas, heather. Lots of pairs of birds around. No butterflies but a bee did a brief fly past. Caught a couple of frogs off guard when I moved wet leaves.

Sore calves are a good thing! It just shows you what good exercise gardening is.

Too cold and wet to do anything here, yet, but it was nice enough to go outside. I think I only lost two roses, but they're own root, so they may come back. Everything seems to be slowly waking up...but it's still squishy to walk in some areas, especially in the kitchen garden. The grass is a little thin in a few places, so you sink when you walk. Oh, the joys of clay...but the plants seem to love it :)

I probably will not be able to get out of bed in the morning.
The brush truck comes tomorrow, so we did a lot of prunning. Mostly the roses. But a few frost damaged plants.
The temp was 82 ish part of the afternoon.

k

I've been out all week. I've amended the new raised veggie beds. Planted Swiss Chard and White Radishes. I've spread out the screened bits and pieces of the compost pile to give a nice core to the new compost piles. And I've started raking the leaves to add to it as well. Then I rotated the wood pile so I'm all ready to add the 3 new cords of wood I'll need to cut this year to be ready for winter next year. It's going to be a busy year.

I am so tempted to rake the debris off my daylilies and tidy up the beds, but I dare not do it yet. Lots of debris to toss in the compost. I can do that though.
The mulch pile composted on the bottom, so need to turn that over and add the good stuff to the beds where there are depressions. With all the earthquakes we've been having, the ground is moving and there are places where the ground just sunk, so I have quite a number of sunken areas that need filling.
Lots to do in the spring.

Annie, how do you keep doing all the things you do, Just listening makes me tired and achy. :)

It was sunny out but a tiny bit chilly. Still, I was able to work in the rose garden. I saw a little yellow butterfly flittering about today while I was out watering!
I did a triple take. A butterfly in February???

Planted a new rose bush today - I bought another Rosa, Mirandy. It is a beautiful rose and smells so wonderful. Had to reove a few irises to plant it where I wanted it, so set them out in two new areas. I also dug up one clump of Day lilies (wine with red edges and yellow centers) that had spread and become crowded against the new path I built in early January. I divided it in two pieces and replanted them in nice soil in two other spots.
Dug up some of the blue Larkspur seedlings that have come up in the path between the stepping stones. Reset them in with some pink and pink-yellow blend roses and pink and blue irises. Got them all watered in. It is looking nice already. Sowed white and blue nigella in front and chocolate-vanilla nigella at the end of the row.
Sowed Pink Tutu in one place and Black Penny in another along the new path. Sprinkled white Baby's Breath hither and thither between the Pink roses.

I am fencing the rose garden to keep out the chickens and small wildlife. Just need two more sides to complete the fencing. Gotta get more posts. I'd would like to have picket, but will make do with what I have on hand. Besides, wire will last longer.

It sure felt good to be digging in the dirt again.