these strange days ~ and spring things

These days are now like a blur, one running into the next, not even sure what day of the week it is. I went grocery shopping yesterday and it left me feeling disheartened. It was like being in a strange sci-fi movie. People were like zombies. No one was making eye contact or even smiling. There were no sounds of conversation. All I heard was the music over the speakers. I got home, scrubbed my hands, unloaded my groceries, wiped down what items I could with a Clorox wipe, disinfected my countertop, fridge handle and door knobs, and washed my hands again. Then it was off to the vet with Clementine. She needed routine blood tests and a general exam to monitor her kidney disease. Another bizarre sign of the times where the vet tech comes out to the car and takes the pet into the animal clinic while you wait in the car. 

We had beautiful weather last weekend, so we worked in the yard, raking out the garden beds of all the leaves and sticks and dead matter that accumulates over the winter. I cut down all the perennials, too. You can see the lilac bush to the right, starting to sprout green buds.

This is my small herb garden at the back of the house ~ and all the dead stuff I raked out. It's amazing how much accumulates over the winter. Of course, a lot of it was the dead mint stalks, too. The chives and mint and red leaf sorrel come back every year. I think the thyme might be coming back, too ~ I saw some little leaves.

On to the butterfly garden. I raked all this out and cut down the phlox, purple coneflower and black-eyed Susan. See how there's a border in the front of the garden with holes in the ground? That's where we had buried colored wine bottles, neck down to make a pretty border many years ago. Then we had filled in the border area with small landscaping rocks around the wine bottles. Over the years, the rocks have found their way out of the border and wood chips and moss have moved in.

I pulled out all the wine bottles and we soaked them in a tub of soapy water and scrubbed the dirt off. Brian will dig up the border area and we'll start all over with the wine bottles. We don't want to fill in the area around the bottles  with rocks again though. Not sure what we'll do.

 Another spring project we got done last weekend was cleaning off the patio and setting up the patio furniture that had been covered up all winter. We didn't unbox the cushions for the seating yet though because the weather is still too rainy. And Brian will eventually power wash the patio, too. The patio looks so bare with just the furniture sitting there and no plants and flowers, but hopefully soon!

 I love seeing all the perennials coming back to life...

 the tangled mess of clematis...

lilac buds that remind me of miniature grape hyacinth...

hostas that first look like asparagus...

rhubarb (can't wait to make a rhubarb-strawberry crisp!)...

and how cool is this reviving peony?

I'm still taking my daily walks down to the lake, though I've missed a couple of days here and there due to either rain or laziness. A few evenings ago when Brian and I were walking, the sky was still that perfect blue and the almost-full moon was like a beacon.

So peaceful at the lake.

Indoors, not much has changed for spring except the mantel. 

I love the combination of pussy willows and daffodils in this blue and white pitcher.

That's about it around here. Hope you all are safe and well and hanging in there. These are trying times ~ physically and mentally ~ for many.