Aaahhhhhhhh ...

Yes, you read that correctly. You might even have heard it, that happy exhale of delight wafting through the air. Spring -- real spring -- has come to NJ. Not those strange days of wearing wool sweaters in April. Not those depressing days of cold, cold rain day after long day. Yesterday was Spring Perfection, and we milked it completely.

While my dad continues to recover from his seed implant procedure for prostate cancer, he had to relinquish the chore of lawn mowing to Don, who was more than happy to spend those few hours outdoors. I spent the day swapping out sweaters for t-shirts, corduroys for capris. All of the windows were open; the house was finally aired out.

We spent part of the afternoon at the beautiful wedding of my brother's wife's sister (got that?), a perfect day for such an affair. The kids were so excited to attend, as it was their first wedding. Grace especially was ecstatic, wearing her fanciest dress complete with a large plastic jeweled ring and headband adorned with an enormous blue flower. When we returned home, I couldn't resist the call of my own personal Siren. I just had to jump into the garden.

Each year I find myself posting several blog entries about my garden -- its plan, its progression, its fruition. I guess I just can't help myself. Yesterday I did a complete walk-through for the first time, inspecting every square inch. I pulled weeds (and my goodness, were there weeds!), I searched for slugs (and couldn't find a single one! Hallelujah!), I separated and transplanted a few things. I was overjoyed to find that my lovely clematis, which had suddenly just "up and died" last summer, is returning! My hands were dirty, as I had forgotten to wear gloves, but I don't mind that one bit. I drafted the kids into helping with the weeds, and they did a great and thorough job.

We finished the evening with the first fire of the season, putting the kids to bed and enjoying each other's company on the patio. OK, we did have to call the cops at one point on some insanely insensitive neighbor two blocks away who was blaring some horrifically awful synthesizer music (Don took a walk to find out where it was coming from -- it was beyond bad!), but other than that it was a perfect evening.

Yesterday was medicinal for me.
It's a metamorphosis I forget how much I look forward to, and completely embrace, each year.
I felt absolutely fantastic.

Outdoor Living is officially ready to go!

The vegetable bed, now prepped and weed-free and ready for beans!
And yes, that's rhubarb on the right -- I've never seen it so full this early in the season.

About a month ago I transplanted the astilbe. It was in a previous bed that just got too much sun and it was burning. I think it's very happy here.

I should have taken a picture of this bed a few weeks ago in its prime. The splash of color was magnificent.

For Sandy:
Remember last year's pathetic "dwarf lilac?" To my surprise, it's doing incredibly well!

A fun re-creation:
A few things died in this front bed, including a beautiful tuft of ornamental grass. I had fun playing around in this space yesterday, sinking a large pot and transplanting some lavender. I was happy to see two of my three creeping geraniums return. This will be a fun space, I think, with lots of different textures and color. Stay tuned ...