Spring-Like-Break

I am off today and tomorrow!  Yippee!  J. just returned with a breakfast burrito (to share) from the Taqueria and a trenta black iced tea to jump start the day.  Many, many things we want to accomplish around here and while I took days off 'cuz my psyche needs them, I do not want to look back on this time and think I wasted it.

I came home Monday evening to take advantage of the daylight that results from the time change - after the longest day on the planet 'cuz it was a struggle to get up that morning - and J. and I turned the soil in the raised veggie beds.  As I shoveled, I noticed some curled up caterpillar like creatures - and we started pulling them out of the beds.  We think we took out over 100 that first night - and thanks to the power of the Internet, we were able to identify the creatures as Japanese Beetle larvae!  Yuck!  Had we left them in the bed, they would shortly awaken to feed on the plant roots - so glad we didn't just plant this year - but instead took the time and effort to work the soil - 'cuz if we had just planted, we would have essentially provided just the smorgasbord they would need to come out of their winter sleep, eat away all the roots and then surface as full grown beetles which devastate any plants they can!  They are voracious eaters and can strip trees, shrubs and flowers bare in a matter of days!

We are still turning the earth over and over and still pulling out beetle larvae like crazy....and I was so 'in the mood' to garden that I decided to split what was to be a full week off into two long weekends...thus making today and tomorrow officially non-work days.

There is so much happening at work that my head (and heart) are spinning and slipping and sliding all over the place lately - and I think my boss understood that I just needed to step off the slippery treadmill for a couple days.  I know it won't help as much as I wish it would 'cuz Monday will be here in the blink of an eye.  But then I'm off next Thursday, Friday AND the following Monday to celebrate 23 years with my husband!  No plans - just time together piddling around the homestead.

I am looking forward to long conversations with B. who will be on a 36 hour 'pass' this weekend!  Talking to him with no time limit AND possibly texting back and forth a bit is something I can't wait to do.  I miss that young man!

Time to get showered and dressed in my garden clothes and ready for a day of yard work!  The lawn needs fertilizing, patching, etc. and there are plenty of things to trim and pull and plant!  Son #2 has been hired for Sunday (prepaid 'cuz he needed money for a date - his envelope system is working well and he knew that he really didn't have budget for a date - so he asked for an advance on Sunday work and we happily obliged.  Now we just have to see if he really shows up at the appointed time 'cuz being late for 'work' is never a good thing) and so it's going to require some thought of what things to leave for him vs. doing them today.

Spring is here - blue jays are nesting in the trees as they do every year - and we hear them 'scolding' anytime the stray cat that hangs around our yard appears.  He is a 'Scottish Fold' - can't believe he's out and about and seemingly abandoned - and he walks along the fence really slowly which freaks out the jays something fierce!