My Tireless Retirement - Week 56

 

It is May Day my friends.  I’ve always wanted to purchase and plant some flowers in celebration of May Day (but I usually had to work) so that is what I’ll be doing today.  I’m excited to finally be able to put some flower pots together and add some color to the beds I put in last year.

 

No more piles like this in my backyard anymore - hurray!

Looking back I cannot believe all that I was able to get accomplished in April.  My gosh, it was a lot!  From nagging punch list items that I’ve needed to finish for a couple of years to more decluttering to yard clean up and pruning my fruit trees.  I even got the garage completely cleaned up and reorganized.  A lot of extra scrap wood I no longer needed ended up being given away on Facebook Marketplace.  I’ve taken in a load of stuff to the thrift store, a load of stuff to the hazardous waste disposal site, a bin full of glass to be recycled and I’ve set a very full recycle bin on the curb along with a full trash bin too.  It feels wonderful to have made so much progress.

 

She is so cute!!!

Also in April I finished up several projects on Laverne and she visited the mechanic and got all new tires.  That was a huge accomplishment.  I’ve also been “moving” things into her in preparation of some summer travel, mostly camping.  I am super excited about that.

 

In spite of this I was still able to make a lot of progress

We’ve had a rather late start to spring but things are finally popping up and my rhubarb is growing and the tulips are blooming.  Normally I can cut of bouquet of tulips for the table on Easter, but not this year.  The trees are starting to finally leaf out as well and soon I’ll be able to enjoy my leafy canopy over the new yard I put in last year.

 

I should probably work on getting that beer out of here 😆

I’ve been steadily working on my pantry and freezer challenging myself to use up items so they do not go to waste and I will be continuing that into May as well.  I still have a ways to go.  I had used up all the beef I had enjoying the last steak on Easter, but I do have a lot of chicken and pork.  I was able to add some beef to the mix by purchasing four packages of meat I found on markdown.

 

Score!

I top dressed all of the raised garden beds with the compost that had wintered over.  The chicken coop got cleaned out and I added all of that matter to the compost bin so the process starts over.  I’ve also added some leaves I had cleaned up in the yard to the pen area of the coop so the girls wouldn’t have to be in the mud.  They love the leaves and it keeps them busy scratching and picking through them.  While out running errands I stopped at the feed store to pick up a 50# bag of scratch grains for them.

 

Last month I started a new quarterly checklist and managed to tick off about a third of the tasks on the list.  I love that I no longer need to dedicate time to spring cleaning and now since I’ve done so much decluttering this year it takes me even less time to do laundry, clean and keep house.  Even better!

 

A much tidier garage - Love! 😍

I definitely think I had a mad case of both cabin fever and spring fever, but I sure am happy with the results.  I would love to hear what you’ve been up to lately.  Have you been touched by spring yet?  Have you planted flowers or have plans to do so soon?  I hope all is well in your world.  Happy May!