I finally got to work in the garden! Instead of a quick look, Pepper and I have a good look at everything, and then get to work. I clean up the garden house, take down a tree, and somehow make the trash piles even bigger.

The dishwasher broke again. Cleaning and repairing it led me down a rabbit whole of more things that needed cleaning. It felt as if everything was dirty. So, I cleaned. That afternoon, I even got to enjoy the sunshine on a forest walk with Pepper and my husband.

Things had been piling up. Now that I was finally able to do things again, it was time to tackle them. So, I canned potatoes, baked some bread, and took care of a million little things. I am so glad, I can finally do things again.

After ten days of the flu, pneumonia, and antibiotic side-effect bingo, I was finally able to move enough to feel human again. As I was craving potato salad, I made mayonnaise from scratch, and mixed a pretty good German potato salad together. My husband and Pepper also checked on the garden for us and found the first signs of spring.

I finally got my hands into soil. It’s been a long winter. But spring is coming. In the meantime, let’s re-pot some plants. Some of my indoor plants have been pretty unhappy. Spring will bring more sunshine. I can’t do anything about that. But I could give them better soil to work with in the meantime.

There are days, when the couch is my reluctant base station. A few minutes of getting things done, then rest. And rest some more. In a state of grumpy productivity, I still got a lot done.

I am excited to clean up this mess. Seriously, I’m looking forward to carrying trash around. The end of winter is coming closer. I can hardly wait.

The last storm took down a jar I’d forgotten even existed. I spotted it when Pepper and I went to check on the garden after another really bad storm. The jar had been there all through fall and winter. Now, a storm took it down.

I miss my dull knives. I sent my knives in for sharpening, so I’ll be without for a few weeks. I had to get creative in the kitchen–and learned to appreciate even very dull knives.

Painting holds a lot of trauma for me. I didn’t know I’d shied away from it. Not until my husband printed me a bird house and it took me months to pick up the paint brush.

I’ve been longing for some light and color in my life. With the outside world stuck in dark, cold, and shades of white and gray, I did the next best things.