Anxiously Awaiting...

I live in a relatively mild-winter climate.

Yet I cannot wait for spring!

Hubby and I got very lucky in our new home. It's not be the subtropical climate that Florida has to offer. In fact, think a bit closer to desert. We have desert on the other side of the mountains.

No, our environment is warm and arid. Humidity doesn't really exist here. At least, you can't slice it with a knife like you can back home. Here, the air is dry. And HOT in the summer. Locals balked at the 110 plus degree heat that lasted for a week or so this past summer.

With such hot summers come mild winters. We had about a week of below freezing nighttime temperatures this year, but nothing quite like what I experienced back in Germany.

Spring isn't even here yet, and I'm already puttering about in the yard. I spent a couple of hours last weekend trimming up the shrubs in the back yard. One rose bush got pruned, and two bushes received a major haircut, while that evil Oleander is just about cut all the way down. I clipped until my yard waste bin was full, and then had to stop. Otherwise, I would have kept on going…removing most of another large shrub at the corner of the house, and trimming down the remaining bushes. The intensive pruning will continue this weekend.

Now I'm starting to imagine what plants I want to plant in the front garden. I'm envisioning my possibilities for the area under our Cypress trees. I'm starting to put some serious thought into what vines I want to plant next to the patio. I'm beginning to amass the final materials for the side yard paver project. I actually plan to start laying the foundation for that tomorrow!

And I've decided to tackle the problem that I have with the back patio. Namely, the lack of shade. Our patio faces West, making it the target of intense afternoon heat. Last summer, the cement got so hot that our poor pup couldn't even stand on it!

Eventually, we intend to build a pergola over the patio. This shade structure will offer welcome relief from the heat of summer. However, the cost is a bit much for us to tackle right now.

Today, I found a temporary solution. I purchased a cantilevered patio umbrella. This massive umbrella measures ten feet in diameter…pretty impressive! And it hangs over the patio from a stand that sits off to the side. There is a little dial to spin, causing the umbrella to open and close. The movement reminds me of a flower opening. Seeing the umbrella opened to its full extent reminds me of a satellite dish.

Now I will have shade as I work at my temporary potting station on the patio. A welcome relief, considering I intend to start a container garden once I have the pavers in place alongside the house.

My pup will be able to enjoy the outdoors along with me…he will have welcome shade to retreat to when he cannot handle the intense beating of the sun.

I'll be taking advantage of the cool weather to tackle some of the labor intensive projects around the house. But with my new weapon, I look forward to longer days to spend outside, basking in the warmth of the seasons.

Shade.

Ah, spring. I await you.