—————- is it spring YET? ——————————–

We may not be buried under a blanket of snow like most of the yankee states are right now, but I am definitely buried under a blanket right now, a big snuggly one. When will it ever end? We aren’t bred for below 40 down here! Of course, according to the local weatherman, we will be seeing upper 70’s by week’s end. I’m sure it won’t stick, though. It’s going to be bonkers weather from now until May. Never a dull moment down here!

In between the cool snaps, there has been lots going on around our little home. You know how scheduling a party becomes a deadline for all the major upgrades you’ve been putting off? Well, that is what the Spanish Town Mardi Gras parade became for us. The interior of our place has been complete for almost a year now, but the exterior projects have been creeping along. Until about 3 weeks prior to the parade. Then they kicked into full tilt mode. Within a span of just three weeks, we had a contractor friend replace a few rotten areas on the exterior, then painters pressure washing, caulking and painting the entire exterior, then, the final touch, fabrication and installation of a roof structure over our wooden deck and an awning over the front door. Phew! We barely had a moment to breathe before Mardi Gras overwhelmed us for an entire five days. And the projects still aren’t complete. Well, the ones that were critical to our guests’ overall experience are. The others are more for OUR overall experience.

The current project is a rain barrel system that we have been planning and prepping for over a year. We were lucky to acquire three bright blue plastic barrels free of charge from a friend who no longer needed them. They have been patiently awaiting their next purpose among the backyard debris that collects behind every backyard shed. I personally can’t take any credit for the actual preparation of these blue barrels into their new use. I don’t think it was even my idea to have rain barrels in the first place, now that I think about it! Hmph. Snaps to the hubby on that one. But I do think we will both enjoy watering the garden with the new system. Hey, I did help install the gutter that will catch all that beautiful rainwater!

Next in line for an upgrade is the blank space between the end of the walkway to the front door and the wooden deck. At its best, it may have scattered bits of runaway grass growing spastically in bits mixed in with stray pebbles and mud. We now have a solution for that space, but the weather keeps us from it. As soon as it warms, and as soon as we have a free minute, that little no-man’s-land is getting a complete facelift. A walkway of square pavers linked by ‘coral carpet’ sedum, a galvanized feeding-trough-turned-water-feature and a planting bed of ‘bar harbor’ juniper, silver thyme, flowering kale, ‘Lemon Zest’ carex, black mondo grass and a key lime tree, will hopefully come together into the lavish garden I have created in my head.

Hopefully that day will be here soon. I can’t take much more below 40.