Gardening, Sunburn, and Weeds...Oh, My!

Yesterday, I mowed the lawn, put down Scott's turf builder plus weed killer, trimmed back the ornamental grass around the pond, and sprayed home guard to let the spiders know they are not wanted in the house!

Today, I spent the afternoon picking up the spiny balls the sweet gum tree continues to drop. Clearing these from the flower gardens among the bark mulch was a killer! I looked very strange with my hubby's knee pads over my jeans, my "Welcome to My World" Elvis t-shirt, tan and black leather gloves, my once white-now green tennis shoes, and a black baseball cap. I crawled around in flower beds like I was looking for a lost contact. I did fill one of the large lawn and leaf bags with those sticky, spiny balls. I must say the garden area looks good. When I finished, I sprinkled Preem to detract any weeds from growing.

I've never been a gardner. I do NOT like crawly things which always seem to be on the attack when I'm outdoors. But with my full armor and leather gardening gloves, I'm getting braver. Just hope this early start on the gardens will help me keep them in good shape this year.

So, I have gotten my exercise big time the past two days...and I also received a nice sunburn on my arms! Not bad for mid April.

Now, I need to get caught up on my writing! We're looking at three days (at least) of rainy weather, so I can get back to work on my manuscript.
We've had two beautiful days in my area of the world. Sunshine, 70 degree temps. I just couldn't resist spending as much time outdoors as possible. I needed to get exercise, too, so I decided to begin weeding and preparing our flower beds for spring. Some of the hostas are already growing nicely. Also, when cleaning the front beds, I could see shoots for the cone flowers coming up as well. We have a number of knock-out rose bushes, and they are already growing and looking fantastic!

Cats and Flower Gardens...Oh, My!!

My office is on the lower floor of our bi-level, which puts it half way underground. Thus, my windows are at ground level. Outside my windows is a beautiful flower garden. I love the colors and all the lovely bees and butterflies.

So do our outdoor cats. Even though hubby put some large chunk mulch around the plants, the cats continue to use this garden as...gasp...a litter box. As you can guess, my view is ruined when the windows are open. We've tried multiple things to discourage them, but none have worked.

I suppose, I'll have to take my laptop out to the deck to work today.

If you have any suggestions, I'd love to hear them.

Be sure to stop by my blog on Monday. I'll have a guest blogger, Diane Craver! She's one of my favorite authors, and people. Talk about a woman of strength and values! I'm thrilled to host her and learn more about her newest release. I hope you'll visit and leave her a comment, so she'll know you stopped by.

Thanks for stopping by!