it's been very cold

the past few days, so I haven't done much outside. Yesterday went out for just half an hour to cut back some dried stems of last years' turtlehead, sedums and nicotiana, cleaning up a few of the perennial beds. I broke the dry stems into shorter bits, mixed with some rough compost, and put as mulch around the strawberries. That wore me out for the rest of the day (yes, still in recovery stage). Took a picture of the wormwood, I do so like its pale blue-green frosty color.

My husband helped me turn the compost pile, which was difficult because the layers almost frozen together. (It's hard for him to find time to do this kind of thing, so I didn't wait for a warmer day). It was a shorter "compost cake" than usual, only up to my thigh, but I still made delighted comments which caused my husband to joke about what if it was an actual cake. He shoveled the wheelbarrow two-thirds full and moved it up near the garden for me. I sifted out the rougher stuff by hand, and will later mix the more finished compost with leaf mulch, start spreading that under perennials and shrubs, one bucketful at a time- it's about all the workload I can handle, still.

Cheers for spring- sweat and muddy shoes and all.