Spring is Here, So is the Yard Work

Oh, spring is finally here. But, along with the nice weather comes all the yard work. This year I decided to have someone come out to aerate, fertilize, cut grass, and rake leaves for me. Guess what, I forgot to ask them to put down black dirt and mulch.

Friday I went to Home Depo to pick up 25 bags of black dirt and compost (a mere 1,000 pounds).  It took all day to get that spread in my front and side flower beds. When I woke up the next morning I was stiff, I mean really stiff.  To limber up I took Willow for a long walk, and then went back to HD for 44 bags of mulch, another 1,760 pounds to carry to the flower beds. I spread 21 bags in the front and side of the house, 23 more to go in the back yard hosta bed (that will have to wait until Monday, no work for me on Sunday). This year I decided to try Scotts Brown Mulch instead of the Red I’ve put down for years, I really like it.

To think I’ll be 72 this fall makes me wonder how life can go so fast. It seems I was just in my twenties with small kids. Now I’m wondering if I’ll have 15, 20 or maybe even 25 years on this beautiful earth.  Mom and Dad lived to be 89 and 86, I’m hoping I can stay healthy and get a bit older, say maybe 95-97??  As I get older I appreciate nature so much more, probably because I’m retired and can take the time to enjoy it.  There isn’t anything I enjoy more than to sit on the patio in the morning with a large strong cup of coffee and listen to the cardinals.  It seems their feathers are such a bright red this year.

After doing the yard work (6:00 pm, too early for bed) I decided to work on a Brother XL-5030 sewing machine that was in need of some oil and cleaning.  Once that was done I tried to sew a few stitches with it. Guess what, the tension was way off.  The top wasn’t too bad, but the bottom looked like a straw stack.  After working on it a couple of hours I finally had the tension right, the stitches look really good. Now all I have to do is post it to see if someone wants to buy a good used sewing machine at a good price, but that will have to wait until tomorrow, now I want to take a long hot bath.