Two Little Bunnies In A Flower Bed

Yesterday was the first day I've had off in a week. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of last week were all 11+ hour days and Thursday, Friday, and Saturday were all 8+. I was ready for a day off. Imagine my surprise when I awoke to the most beautiful day we've had in weeks!
I sat around and ate breakfast at leisure on my front steps and pondered "my" huge yard. How can I ever get this thing under control? My landlord had a few yards of mulch delivered in a pile on the front edge of our lawn (right on top of the strain of Morel mushrooms I've been picking and enjoying... grr). I figured that dispersing that might be a good place to start. At that, I set down my plate, refilled my trusty coffee mug, put on my Tevas and a bandanna, and walked purposefully to the garden shed. I selected a wheelbarrow, shovel, pitchfork, and spade to join my gloves, coffee mug, and self in the garden.
Of course, I'm a slightly distracted personality... my "get to work" attitude ebbs and flows with more speed than the mighty Puget Sound down the street. I'd fork a load of wood chips into the wheelbarrow, push it up the sidewalk, notice my coffee cup, sit down to take a sip, start staring into space, notice a GIANT bumblebee (who knew bumblebees came in SuperSize?), watch it pick out the best flowers on the Rhododendron (that is about the same footprint as my house), then I'd notice the one puffy cloud floating across the sky, and how lovely the sun was on that little purple flower (I wonder what that purple flower is... I should go grab my identification book... wait, I don't have a flower one here, but I do have an Audubon about mushrooms... I could look up that funny mushroom I saw by the path over there...) OOPS! That's right, I'm working. I should get back to that.
And thus, my day continued: a sweeping pendulum between sweat, scrapes, and taught muscles... and pondering all things great and small. Yet, with all of that lallygagging, I managed to accomplish a wonderful day of work. Friends meandered past, not knowing where my new house was located and stopped by for a quick french press with me in the garden. I sketched, planned, forked, and dug. I think I even got a bit of sunburn on my ivory epidermis!
My biggest feats of the day include:
~ Moving a granite rock larger than my torso from the bed by my front door (a terrible place for such a rock) to create a corner that will keep all the visiting pedestrians off a favorite rosemary bush - I will admit to having some help with half of that project, that's what friends are for!
~ Mulching almost the entire strip of yard opposite the Rhododendron (you'll see what I mean when you come visit :)
~ Making a brick boarder along the sidewalk to keep the soil in the beds and off the walkway. I was especially proud of this because I was FINDING all of the bricks in various places around the yard, under the back step, under the Rhododendron, behind the shed, and forgotten along walkways. I'm sure they had a plan at one point, but it had obviously been lost. I dug each one in and created a sort of mortar with the most clay-filled soil to hold them in place.
Between the rock fixture, the brick boarder, and the thick, fresh mulch, that half of the yard went from disaster to quite lovely in a single day.
The whole time, I was thinking of a little poem/story I used to recite as a child:
"Two little bunnies in a flower bed
Along came the farmer and 'Scat!' he said.
Off ran the bunnies and hid by the shed
And when the farmer left, then home they sped"
I haven't had a rabbit problem yet, but we'll see what happens once I have carrots planted!
This morning, I am taking my time going in to work because of all the hours I spent last week and all the hours I will be spending this week (sigh). I used my morning to visit the bank, buy some seeds for my garden (it's already time to plant here!) and set up the first of two composting systems that our property will have (one for yard wastes and one for kitchen wastes in an attempt to deter the disappointingly high rodent population of Olympia).
In other news, my art penpal and dear friend, Kent, will be up visiting from Eugene this coming weekend to help participate in the Procession of the Species. I've been working on my costume between things, but have some serious work to accomplish on it before next weekend.
I also have a giant and lovely white tulip in a "vase" (juice jar) on my table, and three half-finished paintings drying in anticipation of more layers and, eventually, completion.
More to come later.
I hope all is well with you.
Love, Love, Love.