Fresh Air

What a difference fresh air makes! Today it's 52F, which felt like a heat wave after the single-digit mornings we had at the beginning of last week. Although it was still rather gray and gloomy outside, the unusually warm temperature gave me a chance to open some windows and doors and air out the house.

It was also a great day to get outside and quench my garden withdraw. I accomplished quite a bit in a less than two hours:

• I planted some cat grass seed for our greens-lovin' kitties
  
• I winter sowed my first two containers, penstemon and Echinacea purpurea
• I cleaned up the garage bed and finally pulled the mostly dead annuals
• I raked bunch of leaves, putting most of them into my beds for added nutrition and winter-protection

I found some surprises too. Some of the lettuce I had planted last spring was still alive growing. I thought the summer heat had pretty much taken care of it and if not, you'd think the snow and frost would definitely have. I also found a few live leaves of lemon balm, which I potted up and brought inside (along with their roots of course), I don't have a lot of hope for it, but it'll be interesting to see what happens.

It really is amazing how much better I feel after getting to work outside for a bit and how much better the house smells after being aired out. Tomorrow it's supposed to be 57!!! It's beginning to feel like spring is right around the corner. Soon it'll be daffodil time.