Welcome spring! And of course I have an ear infection. It’s pretty typical with the snow melting off and all the allergens starting to become airborne. I am not going to let it hamper my plans too much as my treatment program that was prescribed yesterday seems to be working. I am going to walk around the block again today for some fresh air and sunshine. If I am able, I want to cut down the stems and dead foliage in my garden, that may be a little ambitious but it is supposed to be 60 today! It will all depend on how the ear tolerates bending over, the pressure may be a little too much yet. I can hear the fairies calling to me out in the fairy garden but it is too soon to set their village up.

I have been slowly getting thru the week. I have the usual things to do this weekend and my coffee ritual is to watch about 20 min of Gardener’s World. I love how they end the show with “jobs for the weekend.” In addition to my garden jobs that I already listed, I want to work on loading my pineapple quilt to long arm and finish adding a border to my hexie temperature quilt. I also have a T shirt quilt that I am putting together like a jigsaw puzzle.

I found Gardener’s World on YouTube quite a while ago but it wasn’t until I found it on Amazon Prime that I fell in love with the show because I would watch it in order and watch the garden slowly mature. I was familiar with Monty Don because he hosted a show on Netflix that I adored. Gardener’s World has turned out to be a perfect Zen show. I love the pottering in the garden, Monty Don’s knowledge, the field trips to other gardens and meeting the other hosts of the small segments. It is the salve for the wounds that the world can inflict regardless of living through this pandemic. I guess I am not the only one who found this show healing, see the link to the NY Times article. Even non gardeners are hooked on it, just goes to show you that the therapeutic power of gardening goes well beyond getting “stuck in ” your self. I would recommend getting your hands in the dirt however, even on a small scale because the healing power of nature is something that can’t be measured.

How a British Gardening Show Got People Through the Pandemic – The New York Times (nytimes.com)

The pandemic did bring a big change to my garden due to the neighbors tearing up the property line last year and they crossed into my garden and ruined it. They did their work because of the pandemic. I spent more time than ususal with my hands in the dirt and using my spade. In cooler season, I bought several indoor plants and even before the lock down I had several house plants given to me. So my houseplant collection grew. I am doing so well with them they need to be repotted and today may be the day. I never had house plants before and I am hooked on them too.

I was getting my coffee this morning and I saw some birds in the new feeders as I gazed out the window over my garden. I can see all of it now because the snow has melted. I see some new spring green growth of my iris and tulips just starting to break through the earth. I believe the cedars shrubs we planted along the property line in the late summer are going to make it. I am really super excited as I always am for spring gardening. I usually don’t mess about with it much past the end of June and let it become mature except with a little bit of weeding and a tiny amount of dead heading. We have plans to add more bits of nature to the garden by expanding it with a wild flower bed. That will be easy compared to last years hard landscaping and moving everything.

I anxiously await to see new leaf buds on the flowering crab apple that we planted last fall as the garden’s focal point. It’s white blossoms will be a lovely sign of spring.

Vicki