Finally a Saturday with sun. It was fantastic to get outside, go for a run/walk, and start the process of getting the yard ready for spring. The fountains needed cleaning, the topiary needed reshaping, the camellias, azaleas, and hydrangeas need feeding.

David took a nap while I shuffled around the yard, pulling weeds one minute, watering a dry pot the next. I love putsying in the garden. Chuck does the big maintenance leaving me the small, fun jobs. Being a gardener has taught me things including tenacity. Every year I weed by hand and every year the weeds come back. This year’s rain has brought back more than my fair share and I’m a bit overwhelmed. But it’s like the saying “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time”. I’ll just keep trudging along and every day I will see a few more weeds eradicated. When I think back to my younger gardening days, the amount of Roundup I used was appalling. I hand weed now and use soapy water on aphids. So now the fountains are clean and burbling away, home to the neighborhood birds. The boxwood, privet, and ivy topiary are pleasantly round again. There are still weeds to pull and always will be. They are here to teach me tenacity.