Thank You Puxatony Phil!!!!!!!!

   Well, friends, it's official! It's almost spring. The wizened groundhog did NOT see his truth telling shadow this morning,

"So ye faithful there is no shadow to see,

an early spring for you and me!"

   So we do NOT have to brace ourselves for six more weeks of winter! We may have as few as two weeks before the cold, dry months are behind us, and this girl could NOT be happier about it!!!

   On that note, by the way, the Farmer's Almanac predicts a drought recovery for our little slice of paradise, so DOUBLE wahoo!!

This year I crave to fill every one of my thousands of weird containers 

with tens of thousands of beautiful plants, careless about formality. 

This year I am embracing Dee's phrase,

"English with an Oklahoma accent!"

   As if to cement the prediction, here is our central Oklahoma forecast for this coming week:

   Gorgeous, right?? Those nighttime temps are barely chilly enough to justify the house heater, so I am looking forward to opening every window, airing out these flu-ish germ clouds, and sanitizing our cave with sunshine. I want to force fruit tree branches indoors, too, being a firm believer that fresh foliage purifies the air and lifts the spirits! Nothing to aid the flu there.

   And the daytime temps??  My goodness... Swoon worthy... I have five dirt manicures scheduled this week, one for every weekday. I'm super excited to finish off the raised vegetable beds with layers of organic matter, excited to scrape up some manure from the middle fields and wait for the rains (this is he recipe for GREEN fields), excited to start seeds in the dining room in anticipation of planting week.

Do you remember last year when we built these garden boxes 

from lumber reclaimed form the kids' playhouse?

They still stand, all four of them, and the fodder from last summer's bounty has been 

melding and leveling all winter long.

Just a few wheelbarrow loads of manure 

and a quick stir with a pitchfork will have them ready to plant!

These colorful zinnias were grown from seed last year, 

and around Thanksgiving I collected THEIR seeds, about tenfold.

The garden this year will be OVERFLOWING with zinnias!

P.S. the chickens love 'em.

I have mixed feelings about this.

   Honestly, this is so flipping exciting, it's like someone called and said, "Hey guess what? Christmas is six weeks early this year, so get ready!!"

   Nope, it's way better than that. It's like someone said, "Hey guess what you get two birthdays this year!! AND vacation is extra long AND Christmas comes early and lasts late!"

   It feels like I won the bowling championship of the UNIVERSE. My cousin Jen knows how this feels.

   Spring is beautiful to me in every sense, from the physical and sensual to the philosophical and spiritual.

   New life, renewal, vibrancy, color, energy, texture, redemption... All this dormancy and waiting is on the verge of paying off. We're all about to redeem our wintry patience for vernal abundance!! Tears sown in grief will soon be blooming.

   I have no doubt.

Just hang on.

   Happy early Spring, you fine people!! Please tell me what yo're planning and planting. This is EASILY the most hardworking and thrilling time of year for me, so I can't wait to shake off this annoying fly and dive in! I even have new rubber boots and canvas gloves. Wahoo!!

"Spring makes its own statement, so loud and clear
that the gardener seems to be only one of the instruments,
not the composer."
~Geoffrey B. Charlesworth
xoxoxoxo