C'mon, spring! Hurry it up. Actually...

I was so excited to see sun, and to see temps above 50, today, that I stuck my flower seeds outside for a few hours.

It was so windy, though, that they dumped over. Also, about 2 billion brown leaves have been blowing from the woods all onto my freshly raked and freshly mulched yard.  Even my garage is full of leaves.  Everything looks dead and ugly.  I'm dreaming of warm days...actually, spring, you can just move along so we can get to summer! I'm ready to see green instead of brown, in my yard.

Newts/Salamanders, anyone?

L and C went out to the yard about 30 minutes ago, for a recess-break salamander search. They found a bunch! Always an exciting spring milestone, finding the first cool critters of the year. 

The boys are always so gentle with these newts, and barely handle them(oils from human hands can damage their skin). They have already released them all back to the wetlands on our property.  Happy spring, newts and salamanders! 

Google, how much does one cubic yard of mulch weigh?

Yeah. So, Mark and I had 16 yards dumped in the driveway, yesterday, around 1.  By 9:00 tonight, it was gone. 2 wheelbarrows(1 when Mark did some alone yesterday, and 1 when I did some alone today, plus buckets that I used for smaller areas.  So we shoveled, wheelbarrowed through our hilly property,

dumped, and spread 6,400-12,800 pounds of mulch between Sat afternoon and Sunday evening.

If I never see a pile of mulch again, that will be just fine with me, thankyouverymuch.

When Mark had to leave this afternoon, I was able to recruit a few boys ;)to help me a bit, for a couple of hours, by cleaning up more leaves in the beds I needed to mulch, and also by helping to spread the mulch in a couple of the areas I'd dumped it.  Elijah also made a "first dinner" for them at 5pm(french toast), so I could keep plugging along outside.  It was a big help. I made them "second dinner" when I came in at 9(burgers and sweet potato fries).  

I had a staff meeting at 8:30 this morning, so again had to set my alarm and leave the house by 8.  I also had to leave early yesterday, as E and C had soccer practice, back to back.  Our meeting was outside.  So between yesterday and today, I have been outside from morning until night, with the exception of going to the bathroom.  

Despite the sunscreen, I have a pink nose, and have bruises and scratches from ankles to wrists.

 The only "break" from the outside work was last night, when we had a homeschool spring fling dance to go to.  Let's just say I've burned some calories this weekend, even without a run!

Pass me the Advil!

PS- first spotted salamander and snakes  found yesterday, and first tree frog found today! :) 

16 cubic yards

Plus 2 wheelbarrows (1 borrowed from a friend).  Plus other gardening prep work.  Plus five hours. Equals a lot of mulch left to shovel/wheelbarrow/dump/spread, and also equals 2 very sore, exhausted grownups! E and C were home today and helped for an hour each, after they each had soccer practice, so they are tired, too. 

The old swingset area got about 10-11 of those yards... It is deep in a lot of the area. We will hopefully have an outdoor table area there soon, and hopefully my half-high blueberry plants will be delivered soon, to go into my new hugelkultured barrels(a trick I learned at a gardening class)...

The wheelbarrows will be waiting for round two tomorrow (and maybe into the week).  Over the past four days I estimated that I've done outdoor manual labor for 25hrs.  My lower back is throbbing!

Front porch view, last night...love.

Sore muscles and peepers

Made it through my first "week" of part time work! Worked 19.5hrs.  I have bruised knees and legs, my toes are so beat that the polish on my toenails even rubbed completely off, and I yelp a little when I go to sit down, due to sore muscles.  But- it has been awesome.  Nothing like hard work to do my body good.  

For some reason, I was determined to work on my own garden beds when I got home, even though every cell in my body wanted me to lay down instead.  The morning's rain (i wore a full rain suit at work today) had given way to sun, and the temps were perfect for raking out/pruning beds, so I just had to.  Watching the boys play w a wiffle ball in the grass, and seeing Nellie play with a random dog that stopped by the yard, all was just awesome.

Sadly, several of my specimen trees were badly beaten up by the winter's record snowfall.  My viburnums and my weeping Japanese maple, shrub-form, were badly hit, with several large branches snapped off. Also, so much evidence of moles...holes and tunnels all over the place. I ordered some nematodes and will be trying to get those applied to the yard asap.  

Mark cut down a few more trees (we have so many messy trees/branches to clear this year!) and started to dig in a few barrels that I am using for blueberries.  He also made me a homemade rain barrel, and we will be working on making and setting up a drip-watering hose...trying out these new systems with the info I've learned this spring. 

I'm exhausted but happy.  Seeing tiny little gems of plants starting to peek up from the ground, after brushing away leaves and debis, to me, is...magical, for the lack of a better word.  

I worked outside in the yard until almost 8:30 tonight...I could barely see, but I was on a mission to clean up more leaves.  Plus, I could hear PEEPERS!

Welcome, spring.  The moles and chipmunks(and broken branches) can go away, but everything else that comes with you, spring, can stay.  Even the sore muscles! 

Weird endorsement

Hung one of these in our mudroom a while ago, which goes out into our garage.  Forgot about it until today, and, yeah, apparently, it works! (You can see that the bottom part- the bag- is filled with water.)

I just hung a new one in there, and put one in the garage as well. If you have an area that can get damp, I recommend these! They do have a bit of an air-freshener type scent, but it's not bad- more like a dryer sheet.

Aching, Filthy Feet

Had my first day of work, today.  Mark is able to work from home often, which is so helpful with this new chapter! 

I am so tired that I can barely type this in, and my head down to my toes are aching.  But it's the "good kind" of tired, the kind where I've only sat for 35-40 minutes in a 6.5hr time slot, where I stood bent over, squatted,  kneeled or walked with a wheelbarrow the rest of the time.  

I had the privilege of getting to clean out/de-winter some portions of the (amazingly beautiful) viewing gardens, which entailed pruning, raking out, and wheelbarrowing/dumping the leaf litter up a single-file ramp up to a pickup bed.  

The only thing I heard was the breeze, my pruners and rake, and birds.  I felt the sun (it was strong today) and my sore muscles.  I also felt a headache, I think because I was dehydrated...(even though I drank half a gallon of water, plus a gatorade). 

My first assignment was to cut back and clean up a large section of a groundcover called Allegheny Spurge.  I got a demo on how the foliage needed to be pruned off, being careful not to cut off any buds that were on the stems underneath the old foliage.  I also had to go tidy up another area that had received a first go-around at clean-up.  

I had a 2Way Radio type thing clipped onto the back of my pants(which pulled them down most of the day...I now know which pants not to wear), and radioed my boss to tell her I had finished those areas, and she came and showed me a large area that I could tackle next.

I got to clean up/prune/rake out/wheelbarrow several other garden beds...I could not remember all of the plants that were there, but I can remember: lamb's ear, several bigroot geraniums varieties, ground phloxes, bearberry, irises, Happy Returns daylily, lady's mantle, several varieties of yarrow, and also some rose bushes and a couple of spruce trees, among others.  

Between walking to my van, porta potty, tool shed/break area, and my work areas, I probably walked 1-2miles today(Now that I'm learning my way around and making mental notes on what to bring vs what to leave in the van, etc., that should cut down the walking amount).  With me all day was my radio, water bottle(that I'd refill from my van), wheelbarrow, a bucket, pruners, 2 regular rakes and one smalll rake.  At the beginning I also had 2 thin coats that I eventually put in the van. 

I wore a tee shirt, old, black yoga pants, socks and my old sneakers.  By the looks of my feet, you'd think I'd been barefoot! They are a filthy wreck! Haha!

By the way, I had as much dirt on my face and in my ears, today.  I was sporting a sweet, black, dirt moustache, when I walked in the door.

Back at it again tomorrow morning! :)

(Names I want to remember:

Nettie-boss

Kimberly-boss

Todd-boss

George-grounds

Jamie-w Carl, wants to do medicinal herbs as a business one day

Sam

Megan- met as I was leaving)

Pros and Cons

Had a big moment this morning.  Went with my youngest boy for a tour of the elementary school.  He might be giving public school a shot for 5th grade! I think now that he is getting older and his brothers are more independent with their schoolwork, that my little guy is getting bored and antsy.  I think being around more kids that are his own age would be a great experience for him.  I also think that my teaching style does not really work for him anymore, like it used to when he was younger.  

The tour was good and today he will be making a pros and cons list for both homeschool and public school.  If you are the praying type, prayers for discernment would be great. 

PS- one of his best homeschool buds will be going to the same school, next year, too! He was able to take the tour at the same time, with us, today.  I think having his friend there helped with the jitters this morning, for sure. If they both go next year, they would be trying this new chapter together. :)

Did you ever...

...have a time when you went out to run 14 miles for the first time in your life, when the furthest you've ever run is 12, (the furthest outside run was 8!) and you got to mile 13ish and realized that your water bottle is missing from the water belt? Realized that it fell out somewhere? And then realize that not only are you now water-less, but that you've miscalculated, and that after you get to mile 14, you will have to walk 3 miles to get back home?? And realize that your husband is not home to come get you, so you'll have to call a neighbor? And then have a neighbor bud come and pick you up after your 14 miles, who also brings you a glorious water bottle?

Yeah, happened to me, too.

(Thank you Justin and Tracey, for saving my rookie runner hiney!) 

Hey-  I RAN 14 MILES!!!

Oh, Happy Day

Other than the crazy high winds, which kept us from doing a run, Mark and I got some other stuff done that we'd wanted to accomplish, today.  

We walked Nellie and then went over to Ace Hardware for a major gardening supply shopping trip. 

I have taken 2 workshops taught by the UNH Master Gardener program, and have 2 more to go.  The gentleman who has been teaching them (so far I've done a 2 hour class on container gardening, as well as a 4 hour class on berries) has given us his special soil formulas that he uses in his organic farm.  I have been able to grow perennials but have never had a ton of success with berries or veggies here.  I still may have issues, due to the many wild animals/pests that share these woods with us, but at least I will know that my soil mixtures are in good shape! I have learned so much in these classes and can't wait for the other two.

We got everything on my list, and Mark showed me how to use my RotoZip to cut drainage holes in the bottom of the barrels we are using as containers for a few blueberry plants.  Fun!

We also started edging out a couple of perennial beds that are on the side hill, and added edging. The soil and mulch just sneaks out of those beds, and grass creeps in, so hopefully this will help.  Some of the ground was still frozen- and we still need to topdress and mulch those beds but we at least got started.

Raked a few snowless areas, tossed some grass seed down on some of our muddy areas, and helped the boys and 2 of their buds assemble a small, portable firepit, and helped them get a fire started.  Now that the swingset is gone, we will be mulching the area and moving the hammock there, and will hopefully be able to get a new outdoor table/umbrella, and the small firepit will be there as well. Looking forward to more yard-workin' days...preferably warmer, less windy ones! Today was a good start, though. QT with my favorite guy, a little Vitamin D from the sun, dirt under my nails =Happy heart! 

Smooth Operation ;)

We had such a funny, weird day yesterday. I woke up early, and started packing up for my first day of work, but ended up getting a call to say that due to the freezing temps and ice, that my first day was again postponed.  I was glad, because working outside in icy conditions isn't fun, yet I was disappointed, as I am ready to try this new gig out!!

Mark has some Fridays off, so he had been planning on taking the boys to their field trip at the Microsoft store, an hour away, in Salem.  I realized we could make a date out of it if I went with them, so I did.  Mark and I walked around the mall a bit, bought Log some shirts, and then sat and had apps at Red Robin. Before we left the mall, Mark had to run back to Red Robin, when he realized that his credit card was missing! He had left it there! Luckily, they had it waiting, in a safe.  Phew!

 By the time we got home, we only had about an hour and a half before we had to rush back out to take the older two to a youth group event at a friend's church, which was 40 minutes away.  So we walked the dog and quickly made french toast for the boys, and rushed back out.

It was foggy and had started to rain, so the drive there wasn't fantastic.  We got to the church a bit before 6, and sat in the lot looking around for anyone we recognized.  We quickly realized that something wasn't right, because nobody else was around and the lot was empty! The rain was coming down in big, cold, fat, drops.  I double checked my email and, yup, oops, the event was not from 6-8. It was from 7-10!!! Oh dear.

We figured instead of sitting in the van trying to figure things out, that we would walk in the rain over to Margaritas restaurant, which was practically next door. The number of people outside told us what was confirmed- at least an hour wait for a table.  We didn't want to stand outside to wait for a raw, damp hour, and didn't know of anything else to do in the area.  Also, Mark and I had originally planned on a dinner date with our youngest, while the other two were at the event...but we did not know what we could do with him for four more hours. We were already tired from the day.  We stood around, trying to decide if we should just cancel and head back home.  All of us were in favor of that, other than my middle son who was really disappointed! Sigh.

So we headed back to the van, which we had moved to a parking garage, and tried to get warm while figuring things out.  We decided to drop the middle boy off, drive the 40 minutes back home so the other two could relax and get to bed early, and then one of us would drive back to get the middle son for 10:00.

Ahhh, that seemed like a lot of driving, and the fog was thick, so...nah, we decided not to do that.  Ok, at this point it was around 6:30, so Mark and I were in a silly mood.  We decided to just wait and stay, since at least one boy really wanted to. Mark decided to call the restaurant to have our name put in- we would still take the youngest out to eat. Imagine how much we giggled when he was put on hold...waited...waited...and then was hung up on.

TWICE!

He decided to go put our names in, in person, when he went to walk over to drop the boys off.  

Okay. So, I waited in the warm van with the youngest, while he dropped the boys off and put our name in, and I saw him walking back to the van.  I unlocked it for him, and- the alarm started going off! Very echoey in the parking garage.  Ha!

We waited a few more minutes before walking over- the wait for dinner was now only "30 minutes"- and walked back over to be called to a table.

One.hour.later. 

We finally got to get in and get out of the raw night...

We were slap-happy at this point, and Mark and I were very hungry.  So we ate and goofed off with the Wiki sticks that were given to C with his menu.

The service was quick and we were already done around 8:40.

Back to the parking garage we went, where the three of us sat in the van until it was time to get the boys, at 10pm.  Mark and I occupied ourselves with funny YouTube videos, and the kiddo played on a gadget. 

We had a slow ride home in crazy, thick fog, and were home before 11.  The boys were wired, but Mark and I were so tired that we told them to put themselves to bed...my poor husband was snoring before his head had even hit the pillow.  We are getting old, and days that are not a smooth operation wear us out! Glad to have chuckled our way through most of our weird Friday.