spring in the country

 

Spring cleaning here,

I'm sorry to say,

Was not in March,

And here it is May!

And April too fine

To sweep remote corners

And polish and shine.

But in this fair month,

I have motivation.

If I don't clean house now,

I'll miss summer vacation!

-Unknown

Shared with me by a friend, the above poem is spot on for my days right now!  Yes, I began early...sorted & organized, dusted & donated, but still, there's much to do. 

However; once the air becomes warmer and the sunlight dazzles as the days become longer, it's time to shift focus...weeding, pruning, trimming, mowing, and mulching fill the days. Animal sheds get cleaned, barns begin to be repaired, and paint is touched up. 

On rainy days, with a dustpan in hand and renewed determination, I'm back to the inside. This week, a wise friend reminded me that to every thing there is a season...we've decided that goes for spring cleaning, too.

                                        

So beyond my Domestic Goddess chores, as I like to call them, there's been excitement...my daughter graduated from university with her BS in Psychology, magna cum laude, so proud of her! It was a beautiful sunshiny day for graduation followed by a family dinner out to celebrate. A week earlier, my son came home for summer from his freshman year at college...as the designated comic relief here, it's good to have him back home - both celebrations made Mothers' Day a treat!

In my last post I said I'd let you know about a mini greenhouse that makes my heart happy...here's the story.

For years, and by years, I mean decades, I've had my eye on the lovely Little Cottage Company greenhouses. While a large one would be a dream, I was even enchanted by the mini one.  Go take a look...aren't they sweet? Then, click on the link to see the details...blink as you look over the prices, and then read the fine print to see that those prices are for KITS...UNPAINTED AND UNASSEMBLED. Yikes!

I kept looking online, searching for second-hand greenhouses that were for sale. Yes, I found them...again, for thousands of dollars. Resolved that yet again, this spring the mudroom would be filled with a few trays of seeds, because any more than a just few trays makes it impossible to get in and out of the mudroom. Sigh...

Then one evening while looking online again, I came across this for sale:

Wait, that looks like the Little Cottage Company mini one. 

Nah, it couldn't be...below is the "real" Little Cottage Company greenhouse...back & forth I bounced comparing photos.

It was the Little Cottage Company mini for sale...and because they'd had it for 20 years, it was being sold for a reasonable price. The family who owned it has decided to start a flower farm, and they need a much larger, commercial-size greenhouse. This one was only being used for storage.

Oh joy, rapture! Okay...a little over an hour away - I'm thinking this is doable. I let my family know this would be my birthday and Mothers' Day gift for the year!

The owners wouldn't deliver, but if I could rent a truck, they would help me load it. My daughter and I drove up to look it over, and struck a deal...yay! And you know what, as we chatted, they offered to deliver it that same day - it was perfect. They decided they could look at wholesale flower growers in the area, and when I compared the cost of renting a truck and the price of gas, the additional charge seemed fair.

So here she is after being dropped off - Azreal is giving her a quick inspection. 

I can't tell you how many oodles of flower seeds I was able to tuck inside, while too small for them, it is just right for me. 

This week, as we had freeze warnings and icy winds blowing from the North, I was so glad that everything growing inside stayed warm and safe. In another week or two, we'll be past our usual frost date, and it'll be time to do some planting. 

As for today, quilts & sheets are on the clothesline, and one of my very favorite things to do is watch them billow, then wait and listen to them snap smartly in the wind. While sweatshirt weather today, I know soon summer will creep up and land on us with a blast of heat and humidity.

Hmmm, I'd better get back to that to-do list!