The Joys of Spring

Spring has sprung, all right. Although this weekend, it seems as if we went straight from winter to summer, with temperatures in the upper 80's, near 90.
The horses are shedding all over the place, the grass is growing in the hayfields, the trees are leafing out beautifully, and I am in full gardening mode.
Last weekend, my sister in law and I planted 'taters and onions in a field. I had never planted potatoes or onions, and simply took a couple hoes and the boxes of sprouting roots and attacked the job. Ten minutes in, I was disgusted, covered in dirt up to my ears, and wondering if it wouldn't just be easier to buy them instead. Two hours later I was worn out and annoyed. I mean, isn't this what we have tractors for, after all? Apparently, we have plenty of tractors and hay equipment, but not one attachment to make a row for gardening.
We have also been constructing flower beds around the house using free rocks from the fields and toppled over chimneys; brick walkways using old bricks from the chimneys; and dirt from everywhere.
I have been discovering all kinds of flowers that have lived here for years that didn't come up last year due to the disturbance of the bulldozer used to clear the land when Kevin first moved in. Hydrangeas, peonies, several varieties of daffodil, iris, sweet pea, lilac, day lilies, phlox, climbing rose bushes, and perrywinkle; and I have planted azaleas, lavender, and other herbs.
We put in our tomatoes, three different peppers, lettuce, squash, zucchini, raddish, carrots, and beets, with plans for more to come. (I like to can and freeze.)
This week Kevin surprised me with and "insta-lawn" - he works for a big seed company/sod farm, and brought home two pallets of sod to place around our new flower beds, where the grass was killed and the ground disturbed. It was fun to watch a lawn unroll under my feet.
He also went to an auction and bought a attachment for the tractor to make rows in the garden - whew!! Less hoing for me. While things are growing outside, inside we are incubating 40 or so chicken eggs, so in roughly 20 days, we will be chicken farmers.
I set out my hummingbird feeders, and have enjoyed watching the friendly little buggers in the evenings, sipping a glass of lemonade, watching my husband grill on the grill, and laughing at our young cat trying to figure out a way to catch the hummingbirds- while the old cat watches her in disgust.

Another one of the joys of warm weather are the yard sales. My mom and I went yard saleing a few weekends ago, and satisfied our need for bargains, goodies, steals, and highway robbery. (I feel like a highway robber, when I stop alongside a steeet, or road, and get something really swell for pennies. I feel like I should drive away fast and hide my stuff.) I spent maybe $20 and had a backseat full of what I like to call "junque."
This weekend, I decided to hold my own yard sale, and it all came to nothing. Not one person stopped to look at my junk, so I packed it up and went home. (I had set it up in my mom's neighborhood, hoping for more traffic.) I took a load of stuff to our dumpster, and there was a woman in her pickup truck with all kinds of goodies she was throwing away! So I came home loaded with great free junque.

Ahhhhh......... the many joys of warm weather.