Easter Sunday dawned with a bit of clouds in the sky, but no snow or rain.

Last night my roommate said she wanted to put some straw as mulch on the first garden bed. I really wanted to clean the weeds out before she did that. When I got up and saw she was still sleeping, I went out to the garden and began pulling weeds. I really couldn’t imagine having the mulch on there before I did this. It is hard enough to tell some of the good plants that have similar leaves as the weeds from the weeds.

Later I saw her just pulling the straw out of her car and putting it along the wall. She didn’t come talk to me then, and as she drove away, just barely said anything. Later in the day, she walked past me in my office numerous times without saying a word. And then went for a walk after she and a friend had talked on the porch. Not sure if she is upset with me, or just in mood of not wanting to talk. But not her usual way of being. I guess I will just have to wait until she gets into a talking mood again.

I had meant to just work on that one raised garden bed. But since the soil was so perfect for getting weeds out, I dug up some of the Bouncing-Bet that is keeps getting me in trouble with Manitou Springs. It is considered a noxious weed and is very hard to get rid of. It has a lovely flower, but is poisonous. It was used to make soap for many years, then suddenly it lost favor and became listed as a noxious weed. It also has a root system that goes on forever and will grow under rocks then send out shoots. So I was a little pro-active in starting to dig it up when it was just beginning to show up in some areas. I know it will be an endless task this summer. Good Exercise?

Being Easter Sunday, quite a few people were out and about. As always, people walking by tried to engage me in conversations. Some just say “Beautiful Garden” or “Hello” or “That’s a lot of work.” Then keep on walking. Others ask me questions about the plants and how long have I lived here, etc.

This time I met an artist just returning to Manitou Springs. I mentioned to her that Commonwheel was looking for a “wall artist” we got to talking a little more. She told me that she grew up here and graduated from High School the same year I bought my house. When I told her when I graduated, she looked a bit surprised and said that I didn’t look at all older than her, let alone 6 years older. That was a nice compliment and made my day a bit brighter.

Then there was the local bee-keeper with a baby on his back, who asked if he could buy some of my poppy plants. I told him he could have many that have escaped out of the one raised bed dedicated to them. He said he was really interested in perennials. He said he would come back this week and perhaps if he gets a good honey harvest will trade me some honey in the fall. I had no intention of selling the poppy starts, but barter for honey, that works for me.

I also have lots of real catnip that I offered. It started long ago in one area of my side garden from seeds I harvested in the fall from a couple of hiking trails. Then was pooped out by my many cats over the years into every area of the yard and garden. I have to treat it like a weed or it would take over all the raised beds. I do replant it in areas I want it to grow, but it really prefers the areas I don’t want it growing.

Hopefully he will come back this week to get the poppies and some catnip, and when he does, I had realized I have lots of mint and some Iris that could also be thinned. Not the perfect time of year to move iris or poppies, but I imagine they can survive as they are both very hardy plants. And I know the mint will as it also thrives like a weed even where one doesn’t want it to grow. I didn’t dry any last year, and can hardly wait to have fresh mint tea again as I just ran out of the dried mint for a couple of years ago harvest.

I was really happy to see the Peonies starting to sprout up and dug up the invasive catnip and other weeds that were trying to grow in the same area. And there looked to be a couple of Columbines in another bed that I gave growing space to by removing more catnip and weeds. Plus there is chard and onions growing from last years vegetable planting that needed some weeding around.

So I kept doing “just a little more” weeding and digging until it really hurt to stand up. Plus I was hungry and thirsty, as I hadn’t had my usual brunch and it was almost 3pm. So it was really time to quit working in the garden for the day.

I had a light snack, then did some cleaning in my office and now am blogging to catch up with days I have missed with my focus on the “Old Spokes” gallery show for Commonwheel Artists’ 40th Anniversary.

Feeling a bit of stiffness setting in as I write . . .

All day I have tried to connect with my hiking buddy for a hike on Earth Day this Tuesday. Can’t miss my weekly hikes very often or it will be hard to catch up and do the goal of 52+ hikes this year . . .

Can only hope for my garden to look this beautiful again this year. This is the bed I was weeding today as it looked some years ago.