Waiting for May

When the weather turns cold and dreary, usually around November or so, I begin to anticipate the month of April.

Ah, April, when the temperatures begin to rise and the daffodils pop up and the days get longer.

Yes, it's April and those things are happening, but now I'm waiting for May.

May is when we might be able to relax the social distancing and see people more often. May is when I might be able to go back to the office to work instead of telecommuting. May is when I may be able to begin leading my exercise class again. I'm waiting for May.

In the meantime, I'm avoiding contact with the outside world as much as possible. I do go out to buy food once in a while. I'm pretty well stocked with canned and frozen goods, but fresh fruits and vegetables need replenishing.

I'm doing more cooking than usual since we're not going out to dinner a couple of times a week. Going out to dinner often means doggy bags as well, which is an additional meal I don't have to cook. I like to cook and I'm reviving some recipes I haven't made in a while and trying out a few new ones. I have a large supply of recipes I've collected from various places and haven't yet tried. Now's a good time.

It's still a little chilly most days to work outside, but I do that as much as possible. There are old plants to be tossed into the woods and leaves to be gathered and tossed in the woods too. I'd like to start some geranium cuttings, but space in the house is limited and it's too cool for them to be outside. Sometimes I wish I had a greenhouse. I have lots of good sunny windows, but I can only put so many plants in front of them. By May, I'll likely be able to fill the decks with flowers. I love all of the color.

Yes, I'm waiting for May.

Gardening

Most of the last 6 weeks of my time has been spent outside working in the yard.

It began on April 28 when we drained the pond and cleaned it. That sounds a lot simpler than it was, which was a grueling day. It meant renting a sump pump and power washer, draining the water, catching the 30 or so fish and putting them in temporary buckets (they were not happy), vacuuming out leaves, removing lots of leaves by hand, power washing the algae off of the rocks, removing all of the plants in pots (heavy!), cleaning and dividing them, then putting everything back (especially the fish). I was very sore for 2-3 days.

The rest of the gardening work has been a lot easier, but there is still much to do.

There are LOTS of geraniums, most of which I bring in for the winter. They get leggy and need to be trimmed before going back outside. Some need repotting and I usually re-root several more.

Then I need to buy and plant annuals so that I'll have lots of color. The back yard is very sunny and that's where the geraniums spend their time. The front, the north side of the house, gets far less sun. I usually put begonias and/or impatiens in pots scattered around.

And then there are the house plants which periodically need repotting or re-rooting.

The back of the house

I also have a container herb garden on the east side of the house on the screened-in porch. I started an herb garden in the sunny back yard, but it meant going down a flight of stairs every time I wanted a bit of basil or parsley. Having herbs in pots on the porch just outside the kitchen works much better. The screened-in porch has a glass roof, so it's like a greenhouse. Geraniums and herbs do very well there, though they need a lot of watering.

I still need to buy a few more plants. Many of the water lilies did not survive the winter and have to be replaced. There are also some bare spots that I want to fill with something interesting.

The view from my bed

Many years ago, I had a vegetable garden. Then I realized I spent most of my summer tending it and getting far more vegetables than I could possibly use. Now I visit the plethora of near-by farm stands every few days. That's much easier.

I've decided I don't really enjoy gardening that much. I don't mind a little bit of it, but day after day it loses its charm. I do like the results, though, and I'm willing to put some time in so that I can sit back and enjoy the yard, the pond, and all of the color.

Soon, I'll be able to spend some time visiting art museums and lunching with my retired friends.

Gardening

In my younger and more energetic days, I went through a long period of trying to live off of the land as much as possible. I knitted all of my own sweaters, socks and mittens. I made a lot of my own clothes. And every spring I would have a large patch of the back yard rototilled and I planted a vegetable garden.

While I was a student, the vegetable garden was a literal life saver as most of the food I ate came from there. Lettuce sandwiches anyone?

Post-student years, I continued the garden out of habit, but soon realized that I was spending most of my summers weeding, trimming, and fussing trying to have the most perfect garden and then I ending up with more vegetables than I could consume, freeze or otherwise preserve. I longed to take weekend jaunts to the Berkshires and visit museums and listen to concerts on the lawn.

As luck would have it, I moved into a condominium and discovered container gardening. Quick! Easy! Minimal time and effort! As for fresh vegetables, I live in an are where there's a farm stand about every 10 feet. Why should I sweat and hurt my back when, for a few dollars I can buy exactly what I need for the next day or two and then head for the nearest tag sale or flea market? After all, I'm not a poor graduate student any more but a gainfully employed professional (semi-retired). And why not contribute to those who have vegetable gardens and excess vegetables?

So now, after some purchases and a few weeks of dividing, repotting and rooting,  I have lovely, colorful begonias, petunias, impatiens, and geraniums on the decks, patios and along the walkways. I no longer live in a condominium, but I much prefer container gardening. On the screened-in porch off of the kitchen, I have ceramic pots of basil, parsley and rosemary.

What do I look for at those tag sales and flea markets? Why more pots, of course!

In or Out?

I love this time of year. The weather is getting warmer, the days are getting longer. I'm feeling energetic and motivated to do all the things I've been putting off all winter.

The problem is, the change of seasons means there are even more things to do! I've brought my warm weather clothes out of the spare closet and am putting the cold weather clothes away for a few months. I wear hats. I needed to unpack my summer hats and pack up the winter ones.

I'm more aware of the fingerprints on the refrigerator door and the smudges on the windows. I want to clean the house and have it be all sparkling. I want to give my office a thorough cleaning and reorganization.

But other duties call as well. This is the time of year that flowers and shrubs are growing. With them grow the weeds and other things I'd rather not have in my yard. If I let things go too long, I'll never be able to catch up. I always plant some annuals so that I can enjoy their color all summer long, and I can't wait much longer to do that.

Then there are the herbs. I love using fresh herbs when I cook. I buy a few small pots and transplant them into much larger pots that I keep on the screened-in porch off of the kitchen. It's so handy.

But which do I do first? Can I finish everything I want to do? It's best to work outside when the sun is shining and it's not too cold, but that's also when I want to vacuum and scrub.

I was able to get a lot accomplished this weekend. I crossed several things off of my to-do list, so there are fewer items vying for my attention.

I'll just have to do the best I can. After all, I want to do all of these things so that I can relax and enjoy the results (pretty flowers, a clean house). Driving myself crazy for not doing them kind of defeats the purpose. I need to continually remind myself:

1. Don't sweat the small stuff.
2. It's all small stuff.