Spring (Break) Is Here!

     I have been very excited about this Spring Break. The thought of an entire week left wide open for me to use however I please leaves me feeling giddy. In reality, so much has been let go around the house all winter that I feel compelled to regain some order. So, my ideal Spring Break, the Spring Break that excites me the most involves spring cleaning and gardening. Woo Hoo! I am all in!
     After I stripped the master bedroom of all linens and curtains and started the washing machine, I went outside to take stock of the garden. The sun was just rising over the tree line, setting such a pretty glow on everything that I went back inside to grab the camera. Mockingbirds, Robins, Cardinals, Blue Jays, and House Finches were all over the yard, singing and searching for breakfast. I realized how much I have missed mornings by rushing out of the house every Monday through Friday at 7:30. Mornings become a blur after that point. How nice to be able to slow down once in a while and savor a morning.
     I ended up spending the morning out in the garden. I planted more asparagus in the asparagus bed and some Dahlia bulbs in another raised beds. I also moved the sage to the herb bed and moved Steve's horse radish from a tub into a raised bed. I divided the Ajuga from under the Dogwood and planted it back under the Flowering Plum where I didn't like the look of the Pachysandra that was growing there. I took that Pachysandra and transplanted it under the Maples. I planted two pots of Pansies in the wall planter and took two adorable Primroses given to me by a friend and planted them in a terracotta pot where they can live in the shade. Then, I got out the lawnmower and mowed paths for Henri and me to walk through the fields. The grasses are growing quickly now!
     By 11:00 I needed to get back inside and keep the washer and dryer going for the bedroom linens. After I got cleaned up, I wrote a shopping list and ran some errands and did our weekly shopping at Kroger. All-in-all it felt like a productive day and I can't wait to get outside again tomorrow.
     On a side note, we still have a problem with mice getting into everything. Steve brought the lawnmower out from winter storage in the shed on Saturday. He had covered the motor area with mothballs and the mice still made a winter nest in there! They chewed the foam around the air filter but luckily left the wires alone. I also noticed they (or something) had nibbled the Irish Spring soap that we left out in the shed. I see neighboring cats hunting in the field around the shed and I'm glad for that, but we are otherwise flummoxed as to how to keep the mice out of the equipment. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. We thought for sure the mothballs would handle it, but no.
     Here are a few pictures I took first thing this morning. The Mockingbirds were singing to me while I was out there, but in my head I was hearing "Spring is Here" by Ella Fitzgerald except I was hearing it in my mother's voice which was very similar.  : )

Facing the sunrise. Suddenly everything is green!

These Viburnum, Nantucket are ready to burst into bloom.

Happy daffodils along the driveway

A little friend in the Crabapple tree

They're sweet until they start singing at 4 AM.

I planted these Pansies last October and here they stayed all winter.