Is Spring on the way?

Katie enjoying the sun!

This picture was taken this morning as I sat in my chair having breakfast. The time? Approximately 11:00 am.

Although the mornings have been foggy and a cool minus 7 or so; by mid-morning the fog has gone and the sun has been shining. Katie is a sun lover and to me this is a sign of warmer weather and just maybe spring is around the corner. Katie will follow the sun as it moves across the floor until she can no longer find a sunny spot and then will curl up in Richard's chair.

Yes; although it is only the beginning of March and in Prince Albert, SK, the birds are beginning to return and chatter happily from their hidden spots in the trees; Spring is on it's way.

After being sick with bronchitis for almost 10 days; this fact has cheered me as I returned to work this past week. Happy Spring everyone! Maybe a bit premature but I need this.

Katie Needs it Too!

Spring Clean Up

One of the biggest jobs outside is the spring clean up. So this week I began the task of raking up previous years leaves and grass cuttings. I started on Wednesday and the first picture shows how much I accomplished first time out . I began at the Maple on the side of the house, which the City is supposed to be removing for us and managed to get half way down the length of the house on the East side.

The following day I began at the same Maple but this time worked towards the avenue. These photos do not really give a true idea of how much leaves and grass is actually being raked up.

Friday I gave my body a rest and began again today, Saturday. I finished raking under the spruce, again this tree will be removed, and worked towards the Maple in the corner, which the City will prune for us. I cleaned from the sidewalk around the power pole and Maple creating another pile of leaves etc.


My efforts for today were not complete, I began raking the other direction across the front of the property. I cleaned under the Spruce and the other side of the Maple and worked towards the next Maple tree. By this time I was beginning to ache so decided to try another activity.


Still in the front yard. Having no success finding the ice chipper, Richard probably locked it in the shed and I don't have a key, I use the ice chipper in the Spring and Summer as an edging tool, I made do with the spade. We wanted to know how far our front sidewalk went and so I scraped out the overgrown lawn edges only to find out that it does not go very far from the step near the Maple trees. There is a chance there could be another step here and I need to dig down further to find the path but I don't think that is the case.
As I was already in the front with the spade I figured it would be a good idea to the lawn at the front sidewalk. This is my efforts for today, there is a good six to eight inches of grass grown onto the sidewalk. I worked back to the same level as my pile of raked leaves and called it a day. I'll suffer tomorrow for my efforts but seeing the yard beginning to look clean and a little cared for is well worth the pain of the next few days. It's weird but I have always done the raking from the moment I first lived in a house with a garden. Neither my first husband nor Richard have ever been predisposed to do any raking, without my efforts it would never get done. Come to think of it I believe I did a lot of the raking when I was a child too.

Outside Jobs Planned

These are not new pictures but old ones I've put notes on to make it easier to explain the work to be done, hopefully, in the Spring. That is, if spring ever comes!

This is the front of our home and as you can see there is so much forest you can barely see the house. The first order of the day is to get quotes to remove four trees and the two cedars from the property. Here I've marked the two cedars to be removed.

I've marked three tress here. Numbers 1 and 2 are probably Elms, although they could be Maples, and they are probably on City property. If they are Elms we have to remove or prune before April 1st as per a City by law; Maples can be removed and pruned anytime.

Now if they do belong to the City and we cut them down there will be a fine. The fine being the value of two fully grown mature trees. Number 1 tree has grown against the house and is beginning to cause moss damage to our roof. If we do nothing to the tree our roof will need replacing a lot sooner than the estimated 6 to 8 years from now.

Tree number 3 is a spruce and is on our property therefore will be removed. Number 4 tree (not in any picture) is a Maple in the far bottom corner of our property. This area we intend to level in order to a place to park our motor home. The dirt from here will be used to regrade the land on the west side of the house.

I've called four tree removal companies and received two quotes to date. The first one is for $1,565, not including stump removal. The 2nd quote for exactly the same trees is for $790, also not including the stump removal. We still have two other companies to give us quotes. The City still needs to let us know if trees 1 & 2 are theirs and if they will remove them. If not both at least tree number 1 by the side of the house.

The next project; the need to replace all the eavestroughing on both sides of the house and along the front of the porch. Again four companies were contacted initially over a month ago, having heard from none of them I recontacted them two weeks ago. So far only one has been out to discuss what we would like and take measurements. No quotes have been received but we should here by Monday from the first company.

With the Eavestroughing we to remove the existing flashing that joins the porch to the house and replace it with flexible flashing. Once this is done the leaks into the porch should stop. We have also requested a quote for a zinc strip to be placed on the porch roof to stop the moss from growing there. The house faces north and this part of the roof will always be prone to moss growth even with the trees taken out. The house inspector informed us that the Zinc strip will impede the moss growth. This quote will also come from the companies who quote on the eavestroughing.