Country living

 
Every spring I think the same thing about living in the country. It consists mostly of moving things. Over the weekend, my husband raked up the gravel that had been plowed out of the driveway, shoveled it into the wheelbarrow, and put it back into the driveway. I raked leaves, piled them into the wheelbarrow, and dumped them along the edge of the woods. He picked up sticks and hauled them out to the brush pile. That's all we do. We pick up things - sticks, stones, rocks, grass clippings, leaves, plants, trees - and put them someplace else.
 
We're also trying to move a groundhog, which is living under our porch. This is also the time of year when we try to get whatever's living under our porch to move. One recent spring it was a fox. Very pretty and kind of cool, but a little scary, living so close. Some years, it's been a skunk. There's just nothing good to say about having a skunk live under your porch. To move wildlife, we set a Have-a-Heart trap. We've never caught a single thing in it, but the sight of it seems to scare off the trespassers. 


In case you were wondering, this is not the wheelbarrow we use for all of our chores. This is a decorative wheelbarrow. I have kind of a soft spot for wheelbarrows, perhaps because I spend so much time using one. If you look around the base of the wheelbarrow, you can see all kinds of bulbs poking up. There's a lot to do when spring comes, but there are a lot of rewards, too.
 
The fabulous weather this weekend has really given me gardening fever. Even the empty pots in my messy shed look good to me. I have more ideas than I could ever get done in a lifetime, let alone a season. Pushing a wheelbarrow gives you a lot of time to think and dream.
 
A cover photo on one of the spring gardening magazines features an old red shed with a white door, a vintage metal lawn chair, and all kinds of flea market what-nots. I have, in fact, an old red shed with a white door, a vintage metal lawn chair, and all kinds of flea market what-nots. What I don't have, which the cover photo has, is an abundance of flowers. So I took a picture of my shed, in the hopes that I'd come up with a garden plan. Here's my shed now. I don't have Photo Shop, just some generic photo editing program, with which I converted my shed photo to black and white, then turned it into a negative, then used the contour line feature. I'm so wild about the result that I almost don't want to draw in the flowers and fence I was thinking about.

Comments

[Sherrie]

Your photo is so cool, I would like to try that. I know what you mean about moving furry things. Last year it was groundhogs that had burrowed under the corner of your shed and if we didn't do anything about it, are shed would have sunk down in. We have a heart trap caught 8 babies and relocated them. They were so cute, but it was them or the shed. Oh well. I am looking forward to getting out into my shed. Happy Spring.

[Carol @ Old Glory Cottage]

I finished reading this post probably 5 minutes ago, but I keep staring at that stinkin' cute wheelbarrow! I've got one that my husband made for me for Christmas a few years ago, and it's been painted so many colors. Now it's red, and I was just looking at it yesterday, thinking it needed a new paint job. And now I'm thinking it needs some tulips too!

[LiLi M.]

I had to google groundhog, I remember that I did that before, but what use is that if you don't remember the meaning of the word? Ha, I suppose I 'm getting older. Love that drawing like photo.
You asked me about the cup and saucer holder. It is 'old', my friend had one at their home as long as I can remember, which is about 45 years. I bought the one I have myself about 25 years ago at a flea market. I knew what it was, they are not common here, but I great item to display your cup and saucers. Funny how items of my youth 'suddenly' are vintage not to mention the word old.

[LiLi M.]

I meant: but a great item to display..

[Tina]

Good luck with your latest critter!

I see hydrangeas - big beautiful hydrangeas against that barn. The other flowers aren't as clear, but I think I see dianthus and lambsear, oh, and some shasta daisies.

[Karla Nathan]

As a fellow country dweller, I know what you mean. I spend a good deal of my time picking up sticks, raking over ruts made by pickups or raking over hills made by moles. And trying to convince grass not to grow in the gravel drive. And running into opossums or raccoons in the dark on the porch.

All of it makes moving to the city sound really nice, until we have a beautiful day by the bonfire, or go for a walk in our very own woods. Kind of makes it worth it.

[Julie]

For me, just like last spring, it seems to be the attack of the pine cones ( and pine needles, and pine branches...)They all seem to have come down at the same time! Not quite warm enough here to remove ground cover (my Mum has this thing about waiting until May to do such things but that is wayyyy to far off). So I'll just enjoy pictures of Spring at your place instead. Smile. Jewels

[Into Vintage]

A wheelbarrow - need to get one of those. Today I am using my car to move bags of leaves from my porch to the composting center a few blocks away. We too have 'something' under the porch -- so far it remains anonymous but my vote is for skunk. Just a feeling...

[Martha]

I think a snowball bush.... and that vine with orange trumpety flowers that you can stick on your fingers and pretend to be a witch...and some honeysuckle and hollyhocks that you can make into princesses with a bud and a bloom. Those are some of the plants I remember that grew around my grandmother's shed.

I love what you did with that photo.