Thursday, April 22, 2010

Spring Cleaning

What a job! 

We started on Monday afternoon and spent two hours cleaning and sweeping out our garden shed as well as taking out all the stuff that had been stored away for the winter…patio furniture, yard art, clay pots, hoses, b-b-q…the usual stuff.

Tuesday was a perfect day for yard work.  It was sunny and the temperature was in the mid 60’s.  Four hours later, I had completed the edging and weeding of half the flower beds.  There’s probably still another four hours of work left to do before the spring cleanup is complete.

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Because of some health issues I had last year, I didn’t devote the usual amount of time to my perennial gardens as I normally do.  As a result, I have twice the amount of work to do this spring.

I the edges around my beds to be crisp and tidy and weeds and I just don’t see eye-to-eye.  This is the last of four wheel barrows full of edging and garden waste that Mr. PQ will dump near the compost pile at the edge of the woods behind our property.

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When we had the unseasonably ‘hot’ couple of days over the Easter weekend, the gardens seemed to come alive over night.  Since then, the growing has slowed down somewhat because of the cool nights and more seasonal daytime temperatures.

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Mac is having an early stroll through the garden with me this morning.

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Oops!  Think I caught him in a private moment.  Sorry, Mac.

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More edging…

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And more…

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The large bed beyond the one in the foreground as well as the one to the right of the shed are on the agenda for today. 

And then, they arrived!

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I think I’ve mentioned before that our property backs onto a cornfield.

The local snow geese are having their breakfast this morning as I’m writing this post.  If only I could attach the sound that is coming from the field because it is deafening.  They sure are noisy eaters and they’ve worked their way to about 20’ from our fence.

They first circled and then started to land about 500’ away.  Click on the photo to see a larger image.

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The service must have been excellent because several hundred of their closest friends decided to join them.  There were even  some Canada geese invited to breakfast.

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They’re making their way closer.

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And here they are about 20’ beyond our fence.

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About five minutes after I took the last picture, something must have spooked them because they all took off at once in a path that took them right over our house.  The air was so dense with geese that you could barely see the sky. 

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If yesterday was any indication, they should be returning for dinner and a little siesta around 6 p.m. this evening.

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 I hear the backyard calling my name so I guess it’s back to the ‘spring cleaning’.

Happy stitching!

Kaaren ♥

29 comments:

Abby and Stephanie said...

Pretty gardens are happy places! Oh my goodness that's a lot of geese. I hope they don't fly overhead! What a mess. We have Canada Geese that live here year round. Yes, noisy and messy too but you should hear them when they land on the roof! Maybe you do too.

Terry said...

Wow! That's a bunch of geese! Good work on the flowerbeds! Mine are about half done too. The rest are going to have to wait until next week now. I don't think they'll mind! LOL

Jocelyn said...

I love working in our yard. It gets too hot pretty quickly, but I have been planting a few things already. Even a few tomatoes :-)

Lori said...

Your beds look great! All the hard work has padi off. Doesn't that feel great?
That's a lotta geese!!!

Shelley said...

I love the shape you gave your flower beds. Did you put that black edge liner around the inside edges?

Connie said...

thing is so pretty, love the shape of your flower beds. It make one feel good good to get this all done and set back and relax.Enjoy your day!

Tanyastitches said...

I think you were very brave to be looking up when all those birds flew over LOL. Your garden is gorgeous I wish mine was flat.

Linda said...

Love all of your flower beds.
What good pics you got of the geese so close by. So now I know where they all go when they fly over my house!
I have a couple of early girl tomatoes that I am babying on the enclosed porch....they go out for the day in the warm sunshine but back in at night until I can plant them the middle of May.
Have a good week.
Linda/simplycountryseasons

Darlene said...

What a sweet spot - your garden is like Heaven on Earth. I could while away the hours sitting on your deck enjoying the view. Blissful.

Susan said...

Your artistic nature even shines in your garden. A place to please the eyes in every direction.

Cathi said...

Your flower beds look lovely! Definitely worth all the work.
That must be an incredible sight -- all those geese in one spot. And noisy, I bet.

Sherri said...

The geese are amazing...and your yard is looking beautiful...reminds me that I need to get out and do some weeding/spring cleaning myself!

Annette said...

I remember you had such gorgeous gardens last year. The geese look like a fun diversion to your work. Or is it really "work" to you?

Heidi said...

Don't work to hard dear Kaaren! You need to save strength for those little quilts which by the way, I am dieing to see. Can I have a pre blog peek??? :-) See I even smiled sweetly???

Your garden is looking beautiful.

Hugs from Holland ~
Heidi

Mary on Lake Pulaski said...

I so enjoyed the garden and geese photos Kaaren! Thank you for sharing your little piece of the world with us!

Allie said...

What a lovely yard you have! I don't mind spring cleaning inside the house, but leave the outside to the boys. That's a LOT of birds!

Linda - Behind My Red Door said...

As well as the old saying "a woman's work is never done" - I'd lke to add "a gardener's work is never done". Your yard is looking good!!

Jane's Fabrics and Quilts said...

Oh my gosh I have never seen that many geese, I bet the noise was very loud!!
Your yard looks wonderful, I am sure you will be thrilled when you are done and can enjoy everything.
I still cannot get over that many geese!!

Patty said...

You were very productive this week.The geese are amazing! I don't think I've ever seen snow geese before.

Marilyn Robinson said...

Just wanted to thank you for sharing your garden and Mac. We have two westie females and a westie/pom male. I'm working on getting them to help me garden, they have the digging part down!
Again thanks, Marilyn

Sue said...

Your garden is so pretty Kaaren. I love the idea of so many geese to watch. We don't get geese but we do have cockatoos in flocks of hundreds. Boy do they screech loudly!

WoolenSails said...

I love how you sculpted the beds, really looks nice that way.

Debbie

paulette said...

What a lovely yard!! And the geese are incredible..we have a pond nearby and in September the geese start their practice flights over our house...honking as they go...LOVE it..They must be so noisy when they take off as there are so many of them! Enjoy!
Paulette

Siobhán said...

Wow!! Lots of geese! ;) Good for you on the flower beds. I admit, I love flowers and pretty gardens but don't enjoy doing the work. Luckily, I have a college age daughter who can always use some extra cash. I bribed her to spend a few hours last weekend pulling weeds. ;) Have a great weekend!

Carrie P. said...

Your yard is so beautiful. The edging looks great. That is hard work.
Wow, those geese are going to clean out that field of any leftovers!

Kim D. said...

I also love working in the yard, yours is lovely. Thanks for sharing it with us. Mac is adorable. I have 2 maltese who would enjoy playing with him, there's something about seeing another white dog.

Chookyblue...... said...

lots of gardening...........it will be worth it later.......and there sure are lots of geese on that paddock..

Janet said...

I love crisp garden edges too and it must be so nice to be working outside in the garden. You have a plague of geese, Australia has had a plague of locusts. I know which one I'd rather have.

Gloria J W said...

What great pictures of the geese. We are going into our Winter...but it is mild compared to yours. Your garden is sooooo neat and tidy!! Mine is mainly trees. Thank you for the first friday freebies. I have yet to stitch any...but I live in hope!
Rainbow smiles...Gloria
PS. Some of my trees are on my blog .. Airdmillan Ayrings... hasn't been updated for awhile...ah well...sigh