Spring Fever

I have spring fever in the worst of ways. Those of you who know me will likely find this very odd, since I'm a cold weather, fire in the place, snugly socks, hot coffee/tea/latte kind of girl. Yes, I do love the cold weather and winter, but I have to confess...the older I get, the less I like it to linger. I like it to be cold for Christmas, New Year's and Valentine's Day...then it needs to be warm for St. Patrick's Day and Easter. It's not unusual for us to have snow in March in Arkansas, and I can remember at least one Easter that I had to swap the boys' shorts and polo Easter combos for long sleeved oxfords and khakis because it was too cold for short. So, that's a long way to say that spring could be almost here or it could still be a ways off.

Lynn is not helping any, either. Every day he's got the Farmer's Almanac out, checking out planting dates for our area. He is so eager to get his garden planted that I'm afraid we're going to have a repeat of two years ago. He was eager then too, and we went to the garden store and spent about $100 for plants, seeds, fertilizer, and other gardeny stuff...then just as the little plants were peeping out of the ground-bam, a late freeze. Got it all. So then we went back to the garden store and spent another $125 for more plants, seeds, fertilizer and other garden items. We did have a nice crop of peppers and tomatoes that year, but I believe I could have bought bushels of them from the farmer's market for $225. But, hey-it gave him something to do and kept him off the streets, right?

We actually have several things planned for our spring projects, as usual. We'll see how many of them actually get done. Once again this year, my biggest goal is to get the back yard landscaped and accessorized. I still want to screen in the back porch and add ceiling fans back there, along with opening two doors. I want to transform one of the windows in our bedroom into a door to allow easier access to the bathroom, and then create one from the laundry room, creating easier access to the kitchen for when we're grilling. Also, we have an extra refrigerator in the laundry room, so that would be a great place to stash ice and drinks. I have a lot of other things I want to do on the back porch, and you'll hear all about it as we go along with this project.

I also have visions of a rock or paver patio with a built in fire pit off of the porch. It would be wonderful for our outdoor Halloween party that we host each October.

I have donated use of my flowerbeds in the back yard for Lynn's veggies that need to be separated from others...something he read in the Almanac. I think veggie plants can be pretty too, so I told him he could put some in with my flowers. I am also hoping to put a water feature out there, but am concerned about Elvis bathing in it when we're not looking. Elvis is the dog.

And, I am still not content with my laundry room. I had intentions of gutting it last summer and completely reorganizing it, but just never managed to get it all done. I'm planning on doing that this year while it's still too cold to work outside. I have a vision of a black and cream, well organized area to do laundry and store my craft supplies. We'll see...oh, yeah, ya'll don't know that I have a new washer and dryer. Out of necessity. Merry Christmas to me.

By the way-Saturday's breakfast was a fun time. We only had 12 of us and it was cold and raining, but Lynn had a beautiful fire in the fireplace, we had warm drinks and conversation and lots of fun. Can't wait until next month.

I did get a few pictures, but they'll have to wait. I've got to get ready for (ugh) work right now. Thanks for dropping by...see you soon!!

Later!
Cathy