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It's been a week since we got back after a long winter up north, in the snowy coldness and desolation of New York (ok, I am exaggerating the desolation part, but just a little bit).


Getting back was pretty amazing. The weather couldn't have been better - 70+ degrees and sunny. The drawback - weeds in the front yard were chest-high (ok, exaggerating again, but not by much). Plus the lawn mower wouldn't start. So I pulled what I could by hand and let the rest grow. By my estimates we've got a couple more weeks before the city fines us.


While in the yard, I was making grand plans (as usual) for growing all sorts of delicious and beautiful things. I planted one bed of spring greens, radishes, swiss chard and some other odds and ends. Then picked up dahlia tubers at Lowe's, totally on a whim and planted them in the second bed. Also planted some peas into the middle of the third bed. And then I started thinking about all the other awesome goodness - a fig tree, a plum tree, a few blueberry bushes in between, a peony to the right of the fig tree, some lingonberries by the window... Plus finally edging the drive-way side of the yard with brick... Thankfully the weather turned cold and rainy so I could catch a breath.


Which turned me onto an indoor project - M's room. Yes, I'm repainting it since M wants it to be all about Cosmos, what else. Which means, of course, that all those crazy shelves we've attached to the walls had to come down. And all the picture frames. Which meant lots and lots of holes to fill. Which meant no going back on the repainting idea. So I've been painting this one room since Friday. Granted it's a huge room and even has knee walls which are a huge pain, especially for someone short like myself.


M helped me quite a bit with one of the walls. He got so into it that he even painted a bit of the window trim. I didn't notice it in time... Oh well... My paint job isn't perfect either. In some places it looks as if I was painting under influence. But the important thing is it's getting done and looking good.


Other than gardening and painting, I also started working out at the gym. The horrible winter of not moving much, not doing much, and eating delicious freshly baked bread left its mark on me - 10 extra pounds. So I'm at the gym 3 days a week now working them off because I don't want to spend money on all new summer clothes (I hate clothes shopping).


Chris is hopping around on his crutches and trying to help me whenever he can. And I try to run interferance so he could just sit down, put his leg up and rest. And he complains that he's bored to death. And then he makes delicious crepes for breakfast and bakes bread in the evenings.


M is doing great. He ends up working on whatever I work, but not really helping. Like today I was fixing dinner so he wanted to do the same. He started making some kind of salad with pieces of cucumber, salt, pepper and cinnamon. Then he said it was going to be "Butter Barrel" candy (something he picked up from a Mercy Watson CD). So he asked me for some butter. I gave him a small piece which he proceeded to cut into tiny pieces one of which he put into the bowl with the other ingredients. The bowl then went into a microwave (don't worry, under my expert supervision). The rest of the butter was left all over the kitchen, including on the floor.


All this keeps me plenty busy so I don't have time to even take pictures - very unusual for me. So this is a post with no pictures in it, sorry... I finish painting the room this week and get my camera out, I promise.