Spring has sprung!

Despite the fact that it is BARELY March, I already have peaches on my peach tree! And, a lot! Dozens, in fact. Crazy isn't it???

I was a little surprised to see almost all the jasmine coming back in, after such a harsh dry summer and after a few slight freezes too (that we did nothing to protect them from). I lost a couple, so when I went to Lowe's to get some other stuff, I was looking to replace those. I wanted just small (and cheap!) starter plants. Couldn't find them. The cheapest were HUGE and were $28! I don't think so. Well, dug a little deeper into the store and found some on clearance for $7 that were even huger! :)

And, the jasmine plants are for a purpose...not just to be pretty. I plant them behind our fruit trees to get the bees to come to pollinate the fruit trees! There is a method to my madness. :)

So, while I was home with the girls and Brad, there were a few pretty days outside. I decided to tackle the garden and flower beds myself. Dumb me. Its a LOT of work for one person. Probably b/c we let it go over the winter months so it is like starting from scratch every spring. Most years we pair up and Brad helps prep the garden (which is the hard part honestly) and I do the planting and prettying. But he was sick. And I thought.. Eh, I can do this. Pfft!

I did it. But holy cow! My arms were sore the next day. No rake would work. Not even a hoe was strong enough. I had to use a pick axe to till up the garden. Then rake it out, then pull out the remaining weeds, then finally get to planting. Whew! I'm still tired. :P

Anyway, but I got it all done. Flower beds too! (and those take the same amount of work, trust me).

The garden...

1/4 or more of the garden is planted underground, so you may not see that many 'plants' yet, but they are there! It should be a full garden soon. :)

The final day I was out working on it was the day Brenna started to feel a little better and actually WANTED to be outside with me. She helped. A little. Or at least pretended to. ;)

And we have a tiny flower bed next to their swing set that they usually get to do whatever they want with. This year, since everyone was sick, I just picked some flowers. But Brenna got to feeling better, so she helped plant them at least.

Then, Brooke got home from school and WANTED to help with the front flower bed.

This poor little flower bed needs some leveling. I know. But....sigh.... it ain't happening this year.

And this morning, I went out and the lillies had started opening up! So pretty! :)

Too bad the rest of the yard still looks like this... (thanks to the City tearing up our yard...ugh)...