Category: Spring

While we’re waiting on spring!

We are getting awfully close to Easter, and spring seems to be nowhere in sight 😦

Even though everything green is waiting on warmer weather, we have had a few beautiful days. Days where you wake up to that thin layer of frost in the morning, but then the sun comes out, and the day turns into a perfect outdoor, lounging in the sun kinda day 🙂

So guess what…  perfect time to start the garden season. And what better way to do that, than to do a bit of spring cleaning! So out came the pressure cleaner, wellies and work clothes 🙂

I have raised flowerbeds with supposed to be white(ish) edges, that was in desperate need for a clean! Not only did the edge need a clean, it also needs a lick of paint… but I have to wait on warmer weather for that particular task.

To spruce up the place a little, I splurged on a tiny, tiny bit of yellow 🙂 and I got my begonia tubers (bulbs) into some soil, for them to sprout inside first. Oh yes, and before I forget.. guess what I found? This years first ladybug!

Maybe, it is almost spring after all…

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Spring is finally sprung!

Hi there 🙂

I’m sure some of you are wondering how my packing party is going (as I haven’t written about if for a little while), but I’m going to leave you wondering for just a little spell longer 😉

You see, I’ve been busy, with just about everything but the packing party! We have had some really wonderful weather here the last few weeks (in between a few rainy days) and I’ve been prioritizing the outdoors, rather than the indoors.

Part of my reason for moving towards minimalism is to have more time to spend on the things that gives me energy and joy, and as some of you know, I love, LOVE my garden 🙂 I love getting my hands dirty and seeing the results from my garden work.

So, I thought I would give you a quick look into what I’ve been spending my time on lately;

Garden stuff

I’ve been spending some time mixing up the “perfect” potting soil (800 litres worth), consisting of a mix of what we call “living soil” (which is really warm composted soil/mulch), sand, peat and cow manure compost (great potting soil consisting of cow manure mixed with peat). I mixed a big bunch last year to refill my raised flowerbeds, and the plants have just loved it. So I thought I would mix up a big batch this year also. Especially since I knew my sister and one of my neighbours needed some as well.

After having mixed part of the load above, I took about 300 litres of the stuff, over to my sisters place, to fill up a huge planter box she got from me earlier this year (hmm, guess I really should take a picture of it, to post among my decluttered items).

In addition to doing a bunch of my own stuff in the garden, I’ve been helping out a few of my neighbours as well. Let’s see… I’ve been planting a whole bunch of plants (using my mixed soil), I spent a few days cutting hedges (my part of the hedge took all of 10 minutes…) and I’ve checked the roof and cleaned the gutters, on all 7 units in my town-home (I kinda figured that since I was on the roof anyway…).

So what am I missing? Oh yeah, I’ve unpacked my garden furniture and potted my Begonia bulbs – which I cultivate indoors, it’s still too cold outside, on a good day we are barely into the 50’s (10 C)

If the weather holds, I think I’ll pull out the pressure cleaner and start attacking my white (or not so white) concrete raised flowerbed edges, to clean them up some. My plan is to paint them this year (I think). But as the forecast predict rain starting today, I might hold of on this job for a little while longer… we will see.

Exercise

I love this time a year, when the weather clears up and there are more days you can actually fathom being outdoors 🙂 So I’ve been outside as much as I can. Mostly working away in the garden, but when I haven’t had my fingers burried in soil, I’ve been out taking a lot of good walks. And not to mention all the exercise I’ve gotten from cutting hedges, mixing soil, carry planter boxes, cleaning gutters ++

A few days ago I decided to pull out my Skikes and try them out, for the first time ever. It was hard going (lots of hills here), and not a pretty sight I’m afraid, I looked like Bambi on ice, so after about 1,5 miles I was done in, and threw in the towel on that first try.

The day after my Skike “fiasco” I decided to pull out my Rollerblades instead, to see if I could get my blading balance back before I try Skikes again. A much better idea, if you ask me! It was my first time on them since 2009, so a hint of Bambi here as well 🙂 , but it sure rolled a lot better than the Skikes. A small 2,5 mile trip this time around, but hopefully with practise, I can get back to the 7 mile trips I used to do, when I lived in Houston.

Stuff at home

Believe it or not.. I am still chipping away at my decluttering, as part of my so called “packing party”. I do have a few pieces of items that are going out the door! I just need to get my act together and write about it.. and as you see from my focus above…. well, it hasn’t been hight on my priority list… It will come, I promise. I’m just waiting for that rainy day…

I’m adding a few pictures for you to enjoy, including this years first ladybug 🙂

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April tally!

Month four! Sorry it’s a bit late, I almost forgot about it for a second, but here it is 😉

Let’s see, what I have I been able to shed this month?

APRIL TALLY of things “out-the-door” =  58 items and about 4500 emails

  • PC nicknack’s – I forgot to count out the items when I did this job, but what I can see from the picture I got rid off:
    • 2 mouse
    • 1 laptop hard-drive
    • 1 wireless adapter
    • 7 converters (Europe to US and the other way around) (count as 1)
    • 1 Bluetooth headset
    • 1 Apple charger station
    • 1 FM radio sender
    • Bunch of USB, firewire cables (count as 1)
    • Bunch of other stuff I have no idea what was (count as 1)
  • 2 bundles of sticks
  • 18 books
  • 1 bottle of port 😉
  • 1 compact camera with chargers, extra batteries ++
  • 1 handbag
  • 8 clear plastic boxes
  • 1 old broken cooking thermometer
  • 15 vases and other flower related stuff
  • 1 screwdriver set
  • Around 4500 emails at my work mailbox (still working on the 5000 I promised)

So what else have I’ve been up to? Not much, except for enjoying the heck out of spring 😉 And I’ve done a major patio overhaul.

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Happy as a clam…

I can’t even begin to tell you what wonderful weather we have had here the last week, it feels like summer (actually, you never know, it might be our summer! )

In my post Spring cleaning a month ago, I cleaned up the wall around my raised flowerbeds. After this, my patio looked a little forlorn 😦 probably wondering if I had forgotten all about it.

Well I’m happy to say that with this great – and I mean GREAT weather – the perfect opportunity presented itself for a little patio TLC.

He never knew what hit him, before he had time to take a breath, he was stripped bare of furniture, plants and stuff.

One proper clean-up with cleaner and a pressure washer, and my patios hair was standing up in pure shock.

Well we couldn’t have any of that, could we! So next day when everything was dried, out came the sanding paper and my Black and Decker sanding mouse. Throw in a few hours of “elbow crease” and my patio was smooth as a baby’s bottom 😉

Fast forward a couple of days, and about 40 minutes ago I finished putting on the last lick of oil!

The patio is positively radiant! Happy as a clam, in mud at high tide 😉

And here it is! Before and after – and a couple of more, for good measures 😉

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There is Spring in my step!

We are having some really pretty days here this Easter, the sun is out, and I can’t help but hang out in my yard 🙂

Walking around this morning I suddenly glimpsed a tiny, tiny bit of red out of the corner of my eye, and it stopped me cold.

Could it be? No really.. could it be my first Ladybug of the year?

I stopped and took a closer look, and there – hidden in the middle of some dead leaves still hanging on my “blood birch” – was the first Ladybug I had seen this year.  I don’t know what it is, but for some reason that first Ladybug in my yard each year, put’s a smile in my heart. It’s almost like that – for that tiny moment – all is well in the world.

Maybe it’s because seeing a Ladybug, brings back a moment in my life, a good memory from when I was about 6 years old. When my best friend at the time and me, ran around in the neighbourhood (in the middle of urban city), picked summer flowers (that we would “sell” to strangers walking by) and “hunted” for ladybugs to count their spots, and see which one of us would find the most “spotted” one 🙂

This years Ladybug inspired me to take some pictures of my tiny garden (with my phone) – and I just thought I wanted to share my joy of Spring 🙂

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March tally!

Month three! My gosh I thought I had spent February focusing on my digital clutter, but February don’t even hold a candle to the month of March.

Unfortunately, getting that focused on digital clutter, have taken away some of the focus on tangible decluttering, and it’s time I step it back up in the month of April!

Looking at my monthly tally this month, you’d think I’ve done nothing. I might not have been decluttering to much, but I have still been up to a couple of things 🙂

MARCH TALLY of things “out-the-door” =  12 items and 7535 emails

  • 1 ice cream spoon
  • 1 leather vest
  • 10 bottles of hotel “candy“
  • 7535 emails at my work mailbox

So what else have I’ve been up to? Well let’s see, there is:

 

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I love spring!

I love spring! That time of year when the days are starting to get a little longer, the plants are slowly starting to come alive, and the weather clears up with a few nice days, here and there!

Even though it is still cold outside, there is warmth to the sun, and if you find a secluded corner, it gets nice and toasty 🙂

Sine the weather forecast is “promising” some fine weather the next few days, I thought it time to unpack the garden furniture. I love how putting out all the garden furniture, makes the outside suddenly look like an extra “living room”. It makes the whole place look much friendlier and welcoming 🙂

I’ll be waiting for some warmer weather, before the furniture pillows comes out though 😉 Still, spring is here, furniture unpacked…  woohoo!

I love spring 1

I love spring 2