It’s been a long………….long…………very long winter and I’m glad to say that it’s all but behind us, aside from some still chilly temps at night. Over the past few weeks I’ve been getting things ready for summer. A windstorm last fall mangled our aluminum Ikea gazebo so Jenn picked up a new patio umbrella. It came with a base that was bulky and a tripping hazard so I decided to anchor it directly to the patio. Let me tell you, drilling four 2 inch holes through aggregate concrete with a household drill is no easy task.
Made me think back to my carpentry/construction days when I used a tool called a roto-hammer. What took 20 minutes and gave me sore hands couldv’e been done in about 2 minutes. Oh well, the umbrella is up and working great. I have also been working to get our gardens in order. Weeds seem to be rather prolific this year. I’ve already had to rip a ton of them up and was out on Saturday with my trusty Roundup sprayer.
We’re hoping to get some good stuff out of our veggie garden this year. Last year about all we got were tomatoes (albeit many) and some herbs such as dill and cilantro. This season I planted more tomatoes; 2 varieties of grape (love those) and 2 varieties of the traditional large round ones. I also planted sweet peas, carrots, 4 varieties of lettuce, and more cilantro, dill, basil, parsley and marjoram. Phew! The only problem is, in planting all these items, it makes me realize how small our garden is.
I think because it was such a wet Fall and Winter I’m tired of being cooped up inside and am particularly excited and appreciative of Spring. The dogwoods along our driveway are flowering, tulips are out and the heather is exploding in color. Spring is here…bring on Summer!