Follow Through Friday - Daffodils and Mulch, Mulch More

My patient, accommodating family. Last night, I was sitting at the computer loading pictures and thinking about this post. The rest of the fam was to my back - on the couches watching the madness of March.

When, out of the blue, I erupted with, "Hey! Pause the game! Listen to this title I just thought of for my Follow Through Friday post!" I was giggling before I even got the words out, and I said the title printed above. I said the first part quickly, because we've all heard that before, and then I slowed down and emphasized, "Mulch, Mulch More!" I paused slightly before I started howling at my own "cleverness" for thinking of such a title. They smiled and a couple even chuckled - more at me than at my attempt at cleverness. Elizabeth then said sweetly, trying to be nice, "Oh, that's good, Mom." When no one else offered any acclamations, I let them off the hook with, "OK, you can un-pause it now." And we all went back to what we were doing before my volcanic moment.

I think they really did like it, and it was fun to share my excitement with those I love over something as small as a blog post title.  My Follow Through Friday's probably generate the most conversation about my blog from my family members - well, that and how much more time I'm spending on the computer. I'm really having to watch that. I don't want my blog to become a god.

But I digress from the subject at hand. To refresh your memory, here's March 18th's stated task:

Next week: The weather looks hit and miss for this next week, but I'm going to try and weed around some of the trees in the front, and get a least one load of mulch down.


Done! By Monday, no less! It helped tremendously that Lou was off and the weather was perfect. It also helped that we had a tree to cut down that he and our friend, Tom Sneed, had planned on taking out.  Dead tree standing was into its second year in front of our house. We were not going to let another season go by with that going on. 

So even though Lou and Tom weren't out there to help me weed and mulch, just their presence - and the entertainment factor of a tree being felled - made what I was doing fun. The guys conquered a tree, and I conquered some weeds!

While I wouldn't say that pulling weeds is my favorite thing to do on the planet,
it is something that gives me great satisfaction. You do something, and you can immediately see the good you've done! In my best moments, I remind myself that God has given Lou and me 2 acres on this planet to make beautiful. I need to celebrate that. It really is quite a gift - a privilege that not everybody has. No whining allowed.

Since squatting makes me feel like I'm 90 years old, I grabbed my gardening stool that David made (but didn't finish painting) many summers ago,

and started dominating some weeds. Slow and steady wins the race here, and yields the desired result.  Spread a little mulch, and voilá!
                                   "Befores" on the left; "afters" on the right.

As you can see, we have lots of daffodils. These flowers are near and dear to my heart. Dear friends, Jim and Cheri Jones & John and Deb Jones, gave us 200 bulbs back in 2004 to plant in memory of my dad. What a thoughtful, hopeful gift. They not only bring beauty to our yard every year, but joy to my heart.

I'm not done by any stretch of the imagination - still lots to do -  but I'm off to a good start. Gardening gloves are ready. Welcome Spring!

Next week: Easter is one month away. Every year, the day after Easter, I tell myself that I'm going to emphasize this holiday more next year.  I have my wreath out (see March 9 post), but otherwise, I have nothing celebratory around the house. And I have no special plans for Easter week. This week, I'm going to work on making the house more Easter centered and I'm going to plan Christ centered activities/readings for Easter week.