JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: This past Saturday was the astronomical First Day of Spring here in the northern hemisphere, and amazingly, here in Maine it was the start of several days of bright and sunny weather. (As an aside, when growing up, I learned the equinoxes and solstices were on the 21st. Has that changed? Or do we just know about the exact day and hour because of the internet now?) In my yard, 
piles of snow have melted to a few icy lumps, and you need wellies to walk about anywhere outdoors because the turf everywhere is the consistency of a peat bog. No sign of crocuses yet (I didn’t rake out the bed in the fall, so they’re fighting through sodden dead vegetation) but the daffodil shoots are up.
All of this gets me thinking about… spring chores. We all have them - even you snowbirds will be thinking about cleaning and planning for the move north, right? For the outdoors at my place, it’s going to be clearing away branches and raking. We’ve had a freakish number of wind storms, and wherever I have trees on the property it looks like a massive game of pick-up-sticks. As for the raking, I confess I wasn’t quite on top of it this past fall, and so got caught out when we had a November snowstorm. The good news is it’s a LOT easier to tote old, dead, dried leaves than it is to move them around when they’re fresh off the tree.
Inside, the increasing sunlight has led me to notice the effects of a whole winter’s worth of 1) multiple pets indoors 2) blown hot air going constantly and 3) burning wood, ditto. In the Before Times, I would have been cleaning up the dust/hair more aggressively, but let’s face it - with no friends over, no dinner parties, no one except me and occasional daughters in the house at all - there hasn’t been a ton of motivation. But it’s got to be dealt with by the time the really warm weather rolls around, if only to prevent dust tornadoes when I have the windows open. (What a sweet thought! The open windows, not the flying dust.)
How about you, Reds? What’s on your list of spring chores?
JENN McKINLAY: I just spent last weekend spring cleaning - washing every inch of the inside of the house, including moving the furniture to see what new pets have spontaneously generated out of a few months of accumulated pet hair. Today is yard work day! Here in AZ we have to 
get it done before it gets too hot and with the thermometer flirting with the mid-80’s, that means NOW. My modest yard will be mowed, pruned, and edged and my annual sunflower patch will be planted to welcome the love birds back in June. Yay!
HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Chore number one: waiting for the ducks. Chore number two: watching the crocuses and then tulips coming up. Chore number three: Watching all birds in our back yard. Chore number four: Wondering who is going to dust around here, la dee dah.
RHYS BOWEN: we arrived back at our Arizona house to find it immaculate! We had loaned it to a friend of our daughter who couldn’t move into a new home on time and obviously they paid for a cleaning service. And left us a toaster oven! So no hard cleaning here. However when we get back to CA I’m sure there will be plenty waiting for us. We have been going through closets, throwing out clothes, also John has reorganized the pantry. Otherwise enjoying glorious weather and seeing friends!
HALLIE EPHRON: Our crocuses and snowdrops and blue scilla are starting to emerge and today I took the patio chairs out of the garage. And I walked to the mailbox without a coat. And a screech owl has returned to nest in a tree across the street and the bird bath is teeming with chickadees. Yesterday I saw 8 robins on someone’s lawn. SPRING!
I’m ready for it. Last fall I had the house painted and the yard cleaned up; a few months ago I had all the area rugs removed, cleaned, and replaced. Now I’m looking out through smudgy windows. I’ll call the window washers and soon I’ll be spring-watching through clear windows.
LUCY BURDETTE: We will be packing up and heading north sometime soon, so that’s as close to spring cleaning as I’ll get. John has quite a garden out on our small balcony, so all that will have to be given away or something. Meanwhile, what I really need to focus on is WRITING!
DEBORAH CROMBIE: You and me both, Lucy! But, ugh, my house is so dirty, worse than it's been this entire last year, and I just can't seem to get on top of it. And now spring chores! Putting up winter clothes, throw pillows, blankets, etc. Getting summer clothes out of the attic. Lots of stuff to do in the garden, getting all the dead plants out of pots, putting in new ones. Fertilizing roses, drenching crape myrtles, etc. The house desperately needs power-washing before we can spring clean the windows, but that is NOT MY JOB. A fun thing--the hummingbird feeders should go up today!
JULIA: How about you, dear readers? What's on your spring chores to-do list?
Yay for spring!
ReplyDeleteRaking the leaves out of the daffodil garden was at the top of my list; now the daffodils are playing peek-a-boo! As far as the lilacs go, hope springs eternal . . . perhaps this is the spring they won’t all die on me . . . .
The rest is raking up leaves and then planting the garden . . . .
Do you live in a not-always-freezing-in-winter locale, Joan? I've always thought lilacs were the hardest to kill of any garden shrub (tree?) but I know they're extremely climate-sensitive. In fact, my two favorite flowering trees are lilac and dogwood, which never grow in the same zone, so I can never quite be satisfied.
DeleteJulia, I live just south of Lake Erie in northern Ohio; I have dogwoods and lilacs--both bloom every year. Lilacs are my favorites--I planted one called Beauty of Moscow. It's white with pink--love the scent!
DeleteIt does freeze in the winter, Julia . . . after some research, I've arrived at the conclusion that it’s the pine trees that are the issue for my lilacs [we live in the Pine Barrens] and now I'm investigating what I might do to the soil to make the lilacs happier . . . .
Delete
ReplyDeleteSpring started this weekend with abnormally warm temperatures (15C/59F) and sunny skies here in Ottawa. So like Julia, most of the snow on my street has melted except for a few lumps, but no spring flowers, buds on trees or robins!
My major chore is to get my edible balcony garden prepped and to make it more squirrel-proof. My nemesis, Satan the black squirrel, has already visited twice and was rummaging around my veggie seedlings. Maybe I need to place a bird feeder further down my balcony to distract him and give him something else to eat? I can video his bird feeder antics like Hank does!
HANK: I LOVE your list of chores, lol.
Yes, that’s about the extent of it, I fear :-) xxx I might take sweaters to the dry cleaners. :-)
DeleteHmmm, that reminds me that a sure sign of spring would be to clean my North Face winter parka and put it away until next winter!
DeleteAnd I forgot that I really should book an appt for a bicycle tune-up. I did not get it done last year, and I hear the wait times are going to be extra long. So many new cyclists are wanting to safely travel solo.
DeleteThat's true, Grace. I was talking to someone who wanted to buy a new bike, and she was describing the difficulty in finding stock and in getting the old bikes worked on.
DeleteJULIA: Yes, the available supply of new bikes is pretty low here. One of my group walk leaders tried to buy a new bike last week. She went to 4 different stores in Ottawa and across the river in Gatineau (Quebec) and had no success. She has an old 1-speed bike and wants to upgrade to a better, faster bike but she's out of luck.
DeleteThe calendar says spring and the weather gave us a burst of unseasonal warmth this past week (15C/59F) with lots of sun, so the snow is gone. However, the ground remains firmly frozen here in Manitoba, so no raking yet. I'll soon start wandering through the front yard to see what might be poking up its nose, but I don't expect to see anything until well into April.
ReplyDeleteIn the meantime, I'll contemplate just how dirty the windows are...but wait until more consistently warm weather to play with the idea of washing them.
I agree with Grace: Hank, your list of spring chores is the most fun!
Your unseasonal warmth is now here for the week but I have no doubts that we will return to weather nearer 0 soon.
DeleteLike you I don’t expect to see something until April.
The principal sign of spring here are more and more birds around and singing in the morning.
DANIELLE: You're right, this warmth will only last for a few more days. Our normal highs are 4C/39F with lows of -5C/22F.
DeleteHere in Maine we're usually a warmer echo of you all up north, so I'm expecting a return to chilly weather soon. This week, however, we're having a crazy heat wave for the third week in March - daytime highs are going to be in the low 60s/15+ to the mid 50s/12+.
DeleteAmanda, thank you for reminding me I have to wait until the turf has warmed up and the grass is returning to rake the old leaves. I've been chomping at the bit to get them up, and I had forgotten I might damage the grass and soil below if I start too soon.
Hallie had me at "Call the window washers!" I was just noticing how dirty all our windows are. I think my stimulus check needs to pay for some help around here.
ReplyDeleteOtherwise I have the excuse of a healing hand and can't possibly doing any actual cleaning, or raking, for that matter. I love that the cardinals are back, and we can sit on the deck to read and eat again, and we can start seeing friends outside again without dying from the cold.
Edith, I think dirty windows are another one of those things we're all noticing because we've spent SO much time in our homes. I'm going to be window washers will be very busy this spring!
DeleteHere in the St.John Valley of Maine we call spring cleaning the grand menage. I began mine this weekend and got through half the kitchen. Still have one cupboard, the spice cupboard, and the oven to go through. Windows will have to wait until it's a bit warmer and I can get outside. We still have more than a foot of snow on the ground, but I've been checking those few cleared spots to see if I can spy any of the spring bulbs I planted last September peeking through. No robins yet. Perhaps typing those words will bring them to the neighborhood!
ReplyDeleteKAIT: "Grand ménage" is perfect! Weird, I have not heard that term here in Ottawa and we have a lot of francophones.
DeleteKait, even the crown of Maine is due for highs of sixty/fifty this week, so hopefully, that snow will disappear fast. Leading, of course, to mud season, which is the topic of tomorrow's blog!
DeleteHi Grace, I've not heard the term outside of the Valley and New Brunswick. My Quebecois friends give me odd looks when I use it. I think it's very local, but I agree, it is the perfect term.
DeleteHi Julia, today is supposed to hit 60, yesterday was a high of 58. Mud season has arrived in the plowed parts of our driveway and the part leading to the garage where we haven't hot topped yet. The rest of the yard is still snowy but it's that soft serve consistency. Still in all, I much prefer mud season to black fly season. I can't find my fly nets. Going to have to head to the sporting goods store - or maybe Amazon!
DeleteAh, yes, the four seasons of Maine: Winter, Mud, Black flies, and Mosquitoes.
DeleteI am just exhausted reading all of your lists. Passover begins this Saturday evening with a seder and usually a feast. In past years I have cleaned the house thoroughly, even vacuuming under cushions, cleaned the cabinets, the refrigerator and freezer, washed the special Passover dinnerware and flipped everything to Kosher for Passover. I have even papered off cabinets holding food we don't eat during this time. Not this year.
ReplyDeleteI cannot even think about it all. One more excruciatingly lonely holiday coming up. I think I'll flip the dishes, wash out the fridge, and prepare one cabinet. I'll make a mini-feast for 2 and we'll do an abbreviated seder. I think that G-d will understand, and honestly, Irwin couldn't care less.
I ordered food from Goldbelly for our Seder! We shall see....
DeleteJudy, I'm quite sure God understands. This Lent, instead of my usual prayer and fasting, I'm doing... bupkis. This whole year has felt like penitence. I've often thought of the phrase, "Next year in Jerusalem," during this long, lonely shutdown. For each holiday, I think all of us have been wishing, "Next year, together."
DeleteJulia, you had me gafawing at bupkis! Too funny!! Next year together sounds perfect!
DeleteWindows...need to have them cleaned and then cleaning out the closets of non-used items.
ReplyDeleteWindows are high on the list of people who have been looking out them all day for a year...
DeleteAin't that the truth, Julia.
DeleteSo true, Julia!
DeleteSquirrels! They're the reason I no longer have any daffodils (they dug up the bulbs and dined upon them) or tulips (they behead them when they start to bloom)... so jealous when I see them in other people's garden
ReplyDeleteHank, I'm intrigued by Goldbelly! You can get bialys and pumpernickel bread (AFTER Passover) from Russ & Daughters which I sorely miss from our NYC days.
Hallie, squirrels have never bothered our daffs or tulips, probably because there's a LOT more easy food around in the form of oak trees. But we've never been able to keep lupins, which I love, because something nabs the bulbs every time we planted any.
DeleteWe have natural seeding lupines. They are generally blue, the occasional pink sneaks in. Remind me in the early fall, I'll send you seeds. Hallie, I promised you some this year, but we'd just moved back and I didn't have a chance to collect and dry them before they all popped.
DeleteWe have to replant tulips here in North Texas because our winters are not (normally) cold enough for them to naturalize. But I gave up doing that years ago because the squirrels dug up all the bulbs and ate them. So annoying.
DeleteThe poor squirrels probably wonder why that nice lady isn't leaving food out for them anymore!
DeleteNow that it is so wonderfully bright and sunny and most of the snow is gone I can clearly see so much work that needs doing. I toyed with the idea of raking yesterday and then forgot about it and took a walk instead! One job I really dread is raking some of the gravel back into the driveway. When the guy does the snow blowing, if the ground isn't totally frozen, a lot of those stones get blown too. If I wait too long the grass will cover them. (Is that rally a bid thing?)
ReplyDeleteBut the windows! There is no getting around the windows that must be cleaned. Why do I have so much glass? Full of nose marks!
LOL! Judi, I can only hope the nose marks are from the pets and not the people!
DeleteYesterday was pick up sticks day. Puppy Louie is now tall enough to put his paws on my shoulders. I can trace his growth from the muddy pawprints on the windows. The maple trees are blossoming, the daffies are up, and the birds are nesting. Despite not having driven more than a 100 miles since October, the car people insist that I need an oil change.
ReplyDeleteYou do, Margaret! My brother-in-law just stopped driving his car when his office went virtual, and after sitting untouched for a year in the driveway, it needs new tires, an oil change, and a new battery. I guess "use it or lose it" doesn't just apply to humans.
DeleteMy list looks much like Hank's and Hallie's -- hire it done. And this year I have no choice. Most years I'm responsible for planting the patio pots and the tomatoes and beans that grow so well in the bed between the driveway and the house. This year is a conundrum. I see the NP on Friday, hoping to get splint removed and graduate to a boot, but I doubt there will be any weight bearing yet.
ReplyDeleteThe house is no dustier than usual. We've kept the wonderful housecleaner thru the pandemic. At first we were never on the same level that she was, and of course everyone was masked. Now she and I are both vaccinated and we think Julie is, although she and Janette continue to mask. The cleaning happens every other week, and I highly recommend it. We have a guy who comes in for a day every spring and washes all the windows, forty of them, inside and out, including the storms. It's money well spent.
Our spring garden looks much like Hallie's, except the squirrels replant bulbs instead of eating them. So I'm looking forward to tulips before long. A chickadee has been cleaning out the wren house for days. We haven't had a wren since this squatter moved in years ago. But we are beset by robins, cardinals, and the odd hawk who has been eyeing Julie's furry hat all winter, surprised it survived being raptor dinner.
Happy Spring. It came again, just like every year.
ANN: Switching to the fracture boot is freeing. You can sleep better, and take showers! But you're right, I had to be non-weight bearing for another couple of weeks after getting the fracture boot so I had lots of practice using the crutches on the stairs. But it's progress!
DeleteThose chickadees! They're little squirts. Yesterday Steve was watching a pair who seemed to have co-opted the bluebird box, right out from under the bluebirds who've been working on making it their own.
DeleteGlad to hear you're getting the boot, Ann!
DeleteYesterday was glorious weather! Pruned half of the fruit trees, cleared about 1/4 of an overgrown black raspberry patch, picked up branches and sticks from about half of the side yard, reseeded the strip of grass that caught on fire late last fall when the wind topped one of my neighbor's tall pines onto the electric wire--completely ignored the dust, the smudged windows, etc., in the house. Today's agenda includes raking the patio area (the crocuses were thick and vivid reminders of spring), refilling the bird feeder, and sunshine permitting, enjoying a tall glass of iced tea on said patio.
ReplyDeleteMmm, black raspberries! That was work well spent, Flora.
DeleteWhat kind of fruit trees do you have? This year will be my first time growing any kind of fruit--we have two North Star sour cherries, and two dwarf pear trees. I'm very excited.
Oh, Flora, good call staying on top of those black raspberries. We have them, along with blackberries, and even a season or two of neglect leads them to sprout up EVERYWHERE. As I have learned, alas.
DeleteKaren, one Bartlett pear, one red pear, and McIntosh, golden and red delicious apples. Two sour cherries and two peaches are long gone. The trees were all here and neglected when I acquired the property. I'd like to replace them all with dwarf varieties--something I can manage. But the wildlife appreciates the fruit we can't get to or use!
DeleteAnd Julia--not only neglect, but BIRDS--berry canes sprout up everywhere. I'm always digging them out of flowerbeds and the vegetable garden.
My husband was inspired a few days ago to start opening the windows and washing them, until i reminded him (a) it was still very cold out and (b) I'm not sure this particular chore is a strength of his. I've called Fish Window Cleaning a year or two in the past, and I'd love to have them back, but if I'm not letting people I love in my house yet, am I inviting the window crew? Maybe not...
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, starting to focus efforts on outdoor garden and lawn prep, getting a bunch of clothing and household good donations ready for some various fundraising events in my community, and dreaming about some social times with friends and family outdoors again as the weather warms!
Exactly, Kathy. Every time I think I want to get some housecleaners in here, I remember...pandemic. The dust bunnies can wait.
DeleteGood thought. And Kathy, your mention of donations makes me realize I stopped my attic clean-out halfway through, when it got too cold to work up there. Might be a good springtime chore to add to the list.
DeleteIt's a perfect time to get into attics (not too warm yet) and basements (not so cold anymore) and garages (let the sun and fresh air in!!!).
Delete(this comment was brought to you buy your neighborhood Professional Organizer :-)
Since we are now both vaccinated, I'm thinking of getting our housecleaners back. I have really missed them.
DeleteRhys, what a nice surprise! And to everyone who did NOT rake last fall, I applaud you. There is now a lot of evidence that raking and disposing of garden litter before spring warm-up kills all the beneficial insects hiding in that litter. See, you were just being environmentally conscious and responsible, not lazy.
ReplyDeleteI've had so little energy this past year, trying to struggle through what I'm pretty sure now were long-haul Covid symptoms. Since the second shot, though, I've stopped napping every single afternoon, hurrah. And I've gotten more done in the last week than in any month of the winter. Yesterday I painted all the ceilings in the first floor--the drywall guys were here last year, at the very beginning of the pandemic, to repair the nail pops, etc. from construction, and we have lived with the unlovely mess of patches and other evidence since. Not only did I not have the energy to deal with it myself, but we didn't have a high enough ladder to deal with 9' ceilings, and no way was I having anyone in the house to do it. When our daughter moved to Kenya we inherited her tall ladder. So I fired up an audiobook yesterday and tackled the ceilings. I don't think I've ever been this tired. But it's a different kind of fatigue than the low-energy state of the past year.
My husband, seeing that I was going to paint, took it upon himself to get some longhandled window washing implements, so he's going to tackle the incredibly filthy windows, hopefully this week. Then I guess we'll be able to see what else needs doing!
Our crocus are almost done, but the first wave of daffodils are up, the yellow Alfred type. There are at least a dozen different kinds planted here, between what I've added and the many my father-in-law planted since 1960.
DeleteKaren, your long-haul symptoms are why I was yelling at a report I saw yesterday in the NYTimes that said while Republicans (as a whole) underestimate the dangers of Covid, Democrats (as a whole) overestimate the dangers. It based this on the fact that Democrats surveyed grossly overestimated the percentage of Covid cases that wind up in hospital.
DeleteBut that's not what I'm afraid of - I don't want to be sick for five weeks and dragging for months afterwards, or risk heart damage or other less-understood consequences of the disease. None of which were mentioned in the Times article.
Okay, rant over.
JULIA: I agree with you that people are underestimating the impact of long-hauler symptoms. Many think I am ok with being sick for 2 weeks, but not a whole year.
DeleteI passed my first anniversary of getting diagnosed with COVID-19 yesterday. Some people think I must be fine since I am active, and doing long walks most days. But I'm like Karen, with persistent fatigue that really affected my daily routine. And there's no rhyme or reason why some people have no symptoms or mild symptoms, while others become long-haulers.
One more fact: the rough estimate of long-haulers in Canada is 10% of confirmed cases, so that is 93,000 people. Do the same math for the US. That's a lot of people with long-term symptoms that are not being properly cared for/supported.
DeleteKaren and Grace, I've been reading that people with long-haul Covid are feeling better after getting the vaccine. So interesting!
DeleteDEBS: I saw a news article that some people who got COVID had a strong reaction after the FIRST vaccine instead of the second shot because of the residual antibodies they carry. The study hypothesized that they might not have needed the second shot, but that's knowledge after the fact.
DeleteI'm trying to get my sister to reconsider not getting the vaccine. She had Covid in late October, and is still unwell, plus her hair is falling out by the handsful. She is so worried about worsening side effects, but I think it's more likely she would feel better.
DeleteAlso, everyone who persists in saying Covid is "like the flu" is wrong. The flu does not have these long-tailed symptoms, ever.
DeleteThat's another good point, KAREN.
DeleteI have two friends in their 40s who got COVID just after Christmas, They were both sick in bed for a week, and seemed to recover. Their two teenage boys tested negative and had no symptoms. Fortunately, they are both back at work full-time but still have 1 or 2 random days/month when the extreme fatigue knocks them out. Nick can work remotely but his wife is a high school teacher with in-person classes, so she has extra stress. They are not official long-haulers but these persistent residual symptoms flare up ranndomly.
A study at Stanford on those who appear to have long lasting effects of Covid, found two things, most of those people still have very high inflammatory markers and several have long-term organ scarring, which can also increase inflammation, Bloid tests can test your inflammatory status, but it is unclear how it should be treated.
DeleteBlood!
DeleteA study at Stanford on those who appear to have long lasting effects of Covid, found two things, most of those people still have very high inflammatory markers and several have long-term organ scarring, which can also increase inflammation, Bloid tests can test your inflammatory status, but it is unclear how it should be treated.
DeleteHank, I'm waiting for your ducks too. Our Canada geese, Fred and Ethel, arrived yesterday morning, flying over my house and honking their hellos. Your ducks shouldn't be far behind.
ReplyDeleteI'll wait until we have longer, warmer days before I wash all the quilts and bedspreads and mattress covers. Yes, the windows need to be washed but I usually do that the day I put in the screens. Last fall, hubby bought a power washer, which I'm eager to use on our wrap-around deck, porch swing, and lawn furniture. I have a feeling that gadget is going to be lots of fun! The one thing we're prepping is my new cold frame so I can plant lettuce and spinach and broccoli. And hubby, under my direction, is creating an herb garden out of old gutters which will adorn the aforementioned wrap-around porch.
ANNETTE: I am envious of your new cold frame and herb garden setup.
DeleteOur daughter who moved to Africa also left us her power washer. I'm wondering what I'm going to wash with it!
DeleteDang, Annette, is your husband available to rent?
DeleteOld habits die hard. Springtime to me is tax season, although my chores in that arena have been reduced drastically in recent years. Finally! I've done all but our own. I have done some hauling away of dead branches from bushes but am playing a waiting game for now to see what comes back. I see buds on the tips of the gardenia, so that is good. The jasmine is releafing and I see the lily Mom gave me years ago has come up. Carnation of India, Mexican honeysuckle, shrimp plant are all wait and see. The banana tree has been hauled off but I'm sure new pups will come up. Ditto the elephant ears and philodendron. The waiting game. . .
ReplyDeletePat, I'm wondering if our elephant ears and cannas survived the Deep Freeze. No signs of life yet.
DeleteCannas are coming up in the front berm today!
DeleteI have some quarterly chores I do - changing the heater/AC filter for example. Nothing specifically I do for spring.
ReplyDeleteMark, one of mine in that vein is having the furnace cleaning guy over. Customers get a $40 discount for having the cleaning done in march or April instead of in the fall, when he's run off his feet.
DeleteNo robins here that I've seen, but I did see snowdrops and a thick shoot of daffodil leaves this weekend, so I know it's coming.
ReplyDeleteAfter years of "light" spring cleaning, The Hubby and I think we're going to have to clean deep this year, including all our filthy windows in the sunroom (which all this glorious sunshine highlights nicely). One room at a time. Then clearing the gardens, putting down fresh mulch, planting annuals in our boxes and planters, extending our fence to give Koda more room in the back yard...the list goes on.
It's amazing how much more UGH there is in the house this spring, isn't it? I'm not sure if it's all the non-stop residence, or just being home 24/7 gives you more time to notice the grunge.
DeleteI think it's a combination of both. Annette, I may have to rent your power washer. :)
DeleteSaw my first two robins today!
Great post today! Though I would love to donate clothes, now that Goodwill is closing their local Goodwill near me, I'm trying to figure out where to donate clothes.
ReplyDeleteAnd I have TOO many books. Since our public library CANNOT accept donations, I am thinking of dropping off extra books with hand sanitizers at the Free Little Libraries in my area.
Very busy week with appointments this week! Fingers crossed that I will get vaccinated soon.
Diana
Diana, check to see whether there is a St. Vincent de Paul near you. They're a wonderful charity, way better than Goodwill, too.
DeleteDiana, I love your idea of books + hand sanitizers in the Little Free Libraries!
DeleteAnother clothing donation idea: if you have professional things you're no longer wearing, Dress for Success and Jails to Jobs are both organizations that help people get back on their feet and enter the working world.
I am going through last year's book shelves and off loading books that I have read to make room for this year's crop. I am not a book hoarder, which is a good thing because the Hub is and our bookshelves are always crammed until I nag him into weeding. It's the book circle of life around here - buying, reading, shelving, weeding.
ReplyDelete"It's the circle of liiiiife..."
DeleteTell the truth, Jenn: as a librarian, it gives you a little thrill to weed books.
Leaving the leaves until spring is actually good. Many of our pollinators overwinter in leaf litter and downed brush, so you're helping both the pollinators like bees and caterpillars and the birds that depend on them for food for themselves and their nestlings. So you weren't lazy - you were pollinator-friendly!
ReplyDeleteYou all have exhausted me with your cleaning plans, so I think I'll just take a nap. Hahaha! Everything has been on hold for so long, and I am waiting to get my second shot this Thursday before starting to plan anything. Up for scheduling is window cleaning (by professionals, not me), some kitchen redo (cabinets, counters, appliances), back screened-in porch renovation (maybe make into a sun room), buying new couch and chair for living room, sorting books, sorting clothes, and finishing going through a couple of tubs of memorabilia from parents (I did pretty well on that last year). With catching up on reading, too, it's going to be busy.
ReplyDelete