Easter Monday

One whole glorious week off. And I have such plans ... in fact, my plans far exceed the time I will have to accomplish them all. But that's okay since some are dependent on weather and some are alternative indoor projects if the gardening plans get rained out.

There will be visits to the nursery to get annuals for my planter box at the front of the house, new patio containers for the backyard patio, and more vegetables and herbs to fill the new and old patio containers, as well as a bit of manure and peat moss to enrich it all. I'll also be checking out their patio furniture department looking for a wrought iron bench to add to rather eclectic set of patio furniture. And a visit to the local hardware store to buy a steel brush, some concrete sealer and some outdoor paint [white] suitable for refreshing the ugly old concrete retaining wall.

And of course, before I can even start that project, I'll have to rake all the leaves that spent most of the winter buried under several feet of snow. I'll be storing all those leaves in a bin to make lovely leaf mold to add to the rock garden I plan on constructing in front of the retaining wall. Rockland County is well named and over the years I have dug up many many rocks while gardening in my very small garden. More rocks were uncovered when the patio was put in last summer ... the ground had to be excavated and leveled before the Belgian stone could be laid. So I have lots of rocks with which to work. I hope to make my rock garden a herbarium of sorts. I am currently researching the herbs I wish to grow, the types of soil they will require, etc.

Thre are some stitching plans as well: returning my attention to the neglected Autumn Faerie, finishing up the little Rabbit pin pillow whilst the Easter season is still upon us, and doing a bit of sewing finishing.

And housework ... oh, the mountains of housework I have been neglecting as work has demanded more and more of my time ... I'll even try to get a bit ahead of it since the next three weeks at work will be consumed with First Communions, Confirmation and 2011-12 registration.

And, on another topic entirely: reading in Mainely Stitching's blog today about geese will have me searching out my old VHS copy of Gary Cooper's Friendly Persuasion. Barbara's post brought flashback's of the scenes in that film of the younger son's private war with his mother's pet goose and of her own valiant defence of said goose from pillaging Rebel soldiers, her own Quaker pacifism notwithstanding.

Well, I am off to begin the day with a pot of tea, some English muffins toasted to perfection and some coddled eggs ... the right sort of breakfast with which to start my vacation week.