a roll in the grass

It was so nice outside today that I decided to do a little work in the garden.  I've been seeing a lot of weeds, which are back in the garden as soon as the temperature gets above 50 degrees.  But I was delighted to see so much new growth of the good stuff!

Especially when it looked like this a few days ago:

The older I get, the more I love spring.  Todd and I were both out working yesterday.  When we moved into our house last year, it was too late in the season to get a handle on fence weeds - and they were a mess.  Even now, with most plants dead or still dormant, they're weed-choked.

The multiflora roses are already greening up.

I will need to decide soon how many of the roses - and the blackberry bushes - that I want to allow along the fence.  I'm mainly interested in the fence lines bordering the barn yard and the front field, so I'm basically leaving the side fence and its brambles alone...for this year, anyway.

Thankfully, I got most of the front right fence line cleared out in the fall.  I'm going to burn out any new weed growth this spring, and plant flowers all along this front in mid-April.

We're going to pull up and replace the old fences and even move the fence line a bit, so we can potentially mow down the old fence line weeds.  But we still need to pull up the old brush and burn it, like Todd did yesterday.

Claudia did her best to enjoy the sunshine while we worked.

Borga had a romp, too!

After a while, she settled down to watch the fire.

The birds were out and about, too.  After I filled the feeders with sunflower seeds, a flock of American goldfinches descended.  This juvenile is molting.

All birds molt at least once a year, so if you see a scruffy-looking or bald bird, it's probably mid-molt.

We've always got lots of woodpeckers around...

...and more common 'reds,' our house finches and cardinals.

Lots of sparrows, of course!

I love working in the yard and hearing them sing.  The red-wing blackbirds are in full chorus now, and last night, for the first time this year, I heard the spring peepers in our pond!  Ah...spring!  Soon the front garden will go from this...

...to something like our old garden in Indianapolis.

I'm really looking forward to this upcoming growing season. Have a great week!