I grew up a long long time ago. My mom was pretty strict and had a few rules which we didn't break. One was lying. Lying wasn't acceptable. She would say the punishment would be a lot less with the truth than what it would be for finding out we were lying later. Another thing was respecting others especially adults and the third was we could never use the word HATE. She said we could dislike very very much, but never hate.
My mom has been gone for nine years so I feel free to tell the truth and say I HATE yard work. I am not good at creating a beautiful yard. I would not even want a
manicured property. I like it rustic, but right now it looks like a
deserted landfill. I had no choice but to begin what will be a very
long process. I am not a girly girl by any stretch of the imagination, but I don't like to sweat or get my hands and feet dirty. I know it's a little too early, but we have been having some warmer weather and I
have many days work ahead of me. It isn't unheard of to have snowstorms in April, but I need to start. If I get delayed by a snowstorm, so be it. Another reason
not to start too early is that many organisms and insects shelter in the
dried grasses and foliage. To make myself feel better about disturbing
them, I hauled the raked up debris to the woods. I promised my friend that I would never show my 73 year old feet on Facebook, so I won't here either, but you can imagine how much dirt seeped through this shoe. I really should get some proper footwear and gloves, it may make the job easier.
I started at one end of the house. I raked leaves and debris, I pulled weeds and began trimming bushes. So far I have hauled eight large wheelbarrow loads to the woods.
I may never finish, but it looks better than it did. The grass is almost ready to mow for the first time this spring and a lot of the perennials are coming up. Some of them like the bleeding heart plant and and hostas are coming up in areas I haven't cleaned up, so I am just leaving those areas. I don't want to disturb them. It's justification for being lazy. Just being green makes everything look better.
I am very glad I live in an area that can't be seen from the street and therefore don't feel the pressure of living in a neighborhood where everything has to look nice although I appreciate the effort made to make it that way. So even though I HATE yard work, I love the flowers and trees that bloom and flourish in the spring in spite of my neglect. With rain, cold, and snow squalls sprinkled in the nice warm days, I have had several days off so I don't feel as sorry for myself as I would doing it day after day after day. I'll keep plugging away and eventually our yard will look just fine. I have had a lot of ticks so far and that is another reason I don't like working on the yard. It won't be close to perfect, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
