Ah, Spring! Time to Clean Up the Mess in the Garden!

This weekend was perfect for that all-important spring ritual - cleaning up the mess in the garden. The snow was finally gone and it was warm, so I put on my wellies, gathered various tools, and faced the bleak, brown clutter of dead vegetation in my three flower gardens. Looks awful, doesn't ii? Nothing to do but get in there and start pulling and cutting and raking.

I filled up my wheelbarrow several times and hauled loads of dead vegetation and weeds down to my firepit to burn in a good roaring fire. Another spring ritual!

And here is my reward. I uncovered these pretty little crocuses that were hidden under the mess of stuff. They were just coming up. My first flowers of the spring! And as I yanked and raked and pulled, I found dozens more little plants just starting to emerge - the tender green tips of tulips and daffodils and perennials. All very exciting!

I had to stop because it was getting late - also, my poor hands were all scratched and sore. But just before I quit for the day, I put this copper sculpture back in place. This is a very special piece for me because it was made by my late husband, Peter. Actually, we collaborated on it. I drew the outline of the cat and flower, and Peter cut it out of copper and welded it to a piece of pipe. We made it as a marker for a cat we had had for many years. She died and we buried her in the flower garden and put this marker over her grave. Her name was Titi, and she used to love to sit in the garden and look at the flowers. About a month ago, I noticed Titi's marker had fallen over but I couldn't fix it because the ground was too frozen. It felt good to put it back in place this weekend - a final touch to set things right in the garden.