Spring, including the spring edition of fall leaves

Well, it seems as though several days of warm weather followed by some serious rainstorms have allowed some trees to develop some tiny lime-green leaves, the pears and redbuds to blossom, and the tulips to begin to show their colors. At last! Here's a photo of what I planted last fall in my back yard's forest as proof. All this is just in time for us to go to Wooster tomorrow to take care of our yard there in hopes that some planting and mulching in the front will improve the sales potential of the house (we're not holding our breath). In Wooster, the pear trees have probably already bloomed and faded. But friendships are holding strong and we intend to enjoy them as much as possible as well.

A couple of weeks ago (I'm not blogging as much now that I'm on facebook....yes, I gave in), I called the city to ask when their spring leaf-recycling would take place since we had 13 bags of leaves left from the fall. The harried man on the other end said that in order to save money, they weren't having a spring session this year. So what to do with all these leaves that have waited patiently under their cover of snow all these months??? After investigating the options, we decided to have our private garbage pickup company pick up our yard waste as well. It costs some money but it saves a great deal of anxiety about leaves and branches. So far we've gotten rid of 11 of the 13 bags and then we can start on the pile of brush in the far back. (We'll need to rent a branch mulcher in addition.) Having gone through one whole seasonal cycle, we think we have a better idea of how to survive with our wits and bodies intact!