Yesterday I bought flowers at Cook's, but it didn't manage to start planting until 8:30 pm! I did the front yard first and so when I ran out of light I moved to the back where we have flood lights so I could finish.

I planted a flat of Red Patriot geraniums, some lobelia between the pansies and some marigolds. For the first time I bought a flat of primroses; they are a shade plant and I loved the yellow and red color. I planted some in the shade of the tree by the mailbox and in the back yard where I have lots of shade.

I also bought three hanging baskets for the back patio. I have a love/hate relationship with hanging baskets out there. I love the beautiful color when I look out the kitchen and sitting room windows, but by the end of the summer I hate having to go out there and water every morning.

My next step it putting new bark in all the beds and planting tomatoes in the topsy planters we bought online.

Well, I didn't get right back outside like I expected to in the last post, but today I finished cleaning up the backyard. Put down a new layer of the black stuff to prevent weeds and put the rocks back. While I was putting the rocks back I felt in a small way like I was creating my own little spot on the earth. I was thinking about God creating the earth and placing all the rocks. I also cleaned out the hammock bed. Dug all the dead grass out and moved dirt to holes in the grass and then spread Scott's EZSeed hoping that we can get the grass growing in better. And next week I get to plant flowers!

Back to the Garden Journal.

I've started working outside. On April 24th I cleaned out the front beds and the garage. On the 28th Trevor helped me clean out the shed. (so they could store their washer and dryer in there)
Today I spent 3 and a half hours in the backyard. I got most of the yard cleaned up and the back bed cleaned out and spread some dirt from the garden area around in some holes. I pulled all rocks out of the strip behind the cement court and pulled up the old black weed barrier. I'm going to lay down Preen and new black barrier and put the rocks back tomorrow. I still need to clean out the hammock bed and fill in some more holes around the tramp.

It felt good to get out there and get it cleaned up so that next week I can plant some flowers and grass seed in spots that need it.

Last ski of the season at Sundance. Beautiful sunny day, 8 new inches. And hour and 15 minutes of bliss. Pictures on my other blog.

I was determined to get one more ski in so I headed up to Sundance this morning. I knew it would be icy and then slushy. Kathy didn't even bring her skis, but planned to snowshoe. I put my skis on and headed up the trail. It was SO icy. Going up wasn't bad, but there was no way to get a snowplow going down in the ice. So after about 15 minutes I just took my skis off and walked back down to the parking lot and put on my snowshoes. I bought snowshoes at Costco in the fall and never tried them out. I really did enjoy snowshoeing for about an hour in the beautiful sunshine. It's basically hiking in snow. It will never be as fun as skiing, but sure beats being inside!

Slush Skiing

Today we got 6 inches of snow at home. But it turns out none of it fell at the Sundance Nordic Center. Nevertheless, I had a good 1 hour ski for 3 miles and it was beautiful and sunny. It's sad when the spring temperatures make the snow the consistency of a slurpee.

I rented skate skis today and gave it a whirl. My goal was to get all the way up to the "middle earth" trail. And let me tell you, it was tough and I wanted to give up several times, but I knew that I'd never forgive myself if I didn't reach my goal. Skate skiing is much harder than classic and requires so much more effort. I'm not in good enough shape for it. Maybe if I lose weight and get more cardiovascularly fit I'll try again. But for now I'm sticking with classic skating. In spite of how hard it was, I'm glad I did it. I skied for an hour and 15 minutes and went 3.14 miles. I had some crazy weather: sunny, cloudy, and finally snowing. I have a lot more respect for those Olympic skate skiers!

P.S. I hurt my right knee yesterday so I'm mad about that. Just like when I ran on the 4th of July and then my knees hurt for a couple of months when walking. The moral for me: don't do extreme stuff that gets you hurt so you can't do the regular stuff! I need to keep walking and classic skiing and not mess that up by trying harder stuff.