Spring is sprung

The grass is riz, I see my little crocuses.

And, with bright sunshine and a good breeze, I decided it was time to hang laundry outside again. The first load of the new year is up on the line. The birds sat in the trees and fussed at me the whole time. I guess they aren't comfortable having a person so close to the feeder (about ten feet away). But I learned what the titmouse song sounds like!

James is busily installing our new kitchen faucet, with only minimal cursing. He figures the plumbers earn such good money because they have to be contortionists to work on plumbing.
He has been quite busy working in the yard as well. We now have woodchips on most of the paths in the backyard. (I got him a load of free wood chips from the guys who were trimming trees around the power lines this week. Unfortunately they don't match the all-poplar chips we got in the last load, but what the heck. Given a few months of aging, I doubt the difference will be that noticable.)

Now that the ground is thawing, James and Samuel will finish moving the dirt at the end of the path, smooth the hills, level the top, and we'll be ready to start planting. James wants to lay a brick patio (like the one under our front yard swing) between the big window in back and the french drains. Then we'll fill the spaces with something low and fragrant, like thyme. Liriope is the current thought for groundcover on the slopes. We'll be splitting hostas to line the paths, and planting bulbs between them in the fall. We're still thinking about what we're going to use to cover the visible side of the compost bins, but may continue the theme along the back fence.

We're open to suggestions if anyone knows of a beautiful, shade-loving, evergreen vine or climbing shrub, preferably one with some flowers or berries for color. . .

The last of the winter indoor projects is the livingroom/diningroom rehab. The thought of sanding and mudding is daunting enough, but we have to move all this furniture (and junk!) before we can even get to that point. . . The effects are worth all the effort, as the other rooms have proven, but we really know how much work is better where we are and getting finished. I'm experiencing some motivational issues. . .

Guess I ought to get back to doing something productive.

Aloha!