Hard Work on a Glorious Day

Today was one of those rarefied days for those of us that live in the Pacific Northwest in the Spring... It was sunny, over 80 degrees, and gorgeous. I took full advantage of this and continued my yard work that I have been sneaking in the last few weeks between rain showers. I am slowly building a flower bed in our front yard and a large garden bed in our back yard. The front yard, although a small plot, is painstakingly slow to dig. This is because when the yard was laid before we moved here, they used the instant lawn, but neglected to remove the netting that held it together and it was not of the biodegradable variety. So every dig just below the surface results in a fight to chop through the tough vinyl netting. I'm slowly working my way through, breaking the netting, turning the piece over, removing the netting, then mulching the grass and sod in. I have been and will be planting flower bulbs out here.

The back is less painstakingly slow, as my father rototilled the whole thing last year, but I am digging a large plot, about 8x15 ft. Small in comparison to the large garden that I grew up with, but perfect to have some fresh veggies all summer. I'm digging out an area, then Matt and I are going to put board sides on the plot, then fill it with soil. The digging work out back is made difficult by the large rocks, as we are not too far from a stream. I even found one the same size as a softball today.

I accomplished a lot on both plots today, despite the unexpected heat, and running away from the mowing of the grass as I have a fairly violent allergy to grass... my knees are still raw and red from kneeling in the grass over 12 hours ago. But I am so happy that I was able to do the work. Proud that I'm still healthy enough to do it. I may go a lot slower than most, but on slow work like that that takes endurance and strength I do well. Don't ask me to sprint, but I do have some endurance. I definitely consider all my digging today my exercise. Did some of it last night as well. I only managed to make it to the pool once this week, but I also took a bike ride around the neighborhood another day, taking advantage of these not so rainy Spring days... by Monday it's supposed to be back to cool, dreary, and damp... and I'll back to gardening between rain showers, but I loved the sun while it lasted.