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Freakin' Flowers

I have a love/hate relationship with my yard. While I love owning a little piece of the planet, I hate maintaining it. And let’s be honest, Citimortgage owns the majority of my yard. But they don’t offer to help, so it falls to me.

Last night was the first adventure in landscaping for 2010. While I rake leaves year-round (damn oak tree), my neighbors are ahead of me in the pretty-it-up phase. Fortunately the previous owner had no problem getting her hands dirty and planting all sorts of things that need constant attention. Including daffodils.

I love daffodils. When they’re in bloom. Afterwards they look sloppy all bent over and covering the walkway. So in my OCD-ness, I fold them into thirds and tie twine around them. It looks much neater that way. And also strange, judging from the looks the neighbors gave me.

Then I started trimming up all the shrubs, annuals and bushes that are already starting to look jungle-like. FYI – if you’ve never had the pleasure of trimming hedges, it is hard. Last year my landscaping ended up scalped in my overzealousness. Like over-plucking eyebrows, once you get going it’s hard to stop.

Next up are flowers – the only part of yard work I actually enjoy. So I pulled the pots out of the garage and placed them strategically around the front yard and porch. No pots are in the back yard because no one would see them and since I’m all about appearances, that would be a waste of time.

Then I went inside and made a frozen pizza because tying 200 daffodils is tiring and the Lowe’s nursery will be open tonight, too.

And yes, I’m counting this as a workout.

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