Spring Cleaning

A little chickadee poking his head out of a hole from the tree in our front yard:


Mikey and I have been on the ball this week about getting our yard into shape for spring, and making some lifestyle changes to be more Eco-friendly. After that nasty windstorm that sent a huge branch into the greenhouse, our yard was covered in branches and leaves and twigs that would have to be picked up before we decided to mow it. I spent one whole day raking up as much as I could (our yard is huge!) and also pruned a few trees.

Some branches on a few trees were so low that they were touching the ground, so I pruned a few pieces off here and there, trying to allow the branch to sit more upright again. Some trees needed more help, I took whole branches off - if they were dead or just too low in general. I like the idea of having some room to maneuver around the base of the tree, and hopefully it will allow the rest of the tree to fill in a bit better.

Mikey and Colt helping out with the yard work:


It was so nice out yesterday, I actually sat out in the sun, and it felt as if I was going to get a tan! I definitely made use of the new patio furniture we got (the whole set was only $200 from Wal-Mart!) which fits perfectly on our front deck! Its a smaller round glass table, with 4 chairs and an umbrella! I was so excited to find this set, because everywhere else I was looking had larger sets, for $700-$1000, and we dont have enough room for a whole dining set on our small deck. Here are some photos: (the green is a lot nicer looking in person!)



Another addition to the house to make out summer a bit more Green, is a clothes line! We purchased a kit for about $40 from Canadian Tire, and hung it up in about a half an hour. Now I just have to master the art of clotheslining! Honestly! You have to hang everything a certain way to make sure it all fits, and that you dont use up all of your clothes pins. You have to time all your loads right so that you dont have wet clothes waiting in the washing machine, and then you have to throw some items into the dryer after they are already dry on airfluff with a wet cloth to remove pet hair, etc... But all the work its worth it, especially when we get out electric bill this summer.

Here is the cat (Rocksteady) walking under the new clothesline:


All thats left now is organizing the garage to have a Garage Sale this weekend! Yay!