You Can Crush the Flowers, But You Can't Stop the Spring, No Matter What You Say

The weather the last couple of weekends has been all over the place, but I suppose that's typical for April in Iowa.

A couple of weeks ago, it was windy and in the upper 70's both days, and this past weekend we were lucky if it made it to 50 degrees with rain all day Saturday and ridiculous winds on Sunday. It's pretty tough for an old lady to acclimate.

I'm glad we were smart enough to spend that warm weekend riding bikes and playing both days, and not wasting our time getting any of that pesky housework or practical stuff done.

Me trying to hide my Covid gut for the photo.

Altogether, we rode about 127 miles  over that weekend. On Saturday we rode to Kalona and back with our friend, Nick. We haven't been there since last Fall, and it's one of my favorite routes through Amish Country.

On Sunday, it was just John and myself. We rode about 72 miles to Columbus Junction and back. The winds were crazy, but I am so lucky to have a very strong husband, who doesn't mind pulling and shielding me from the wind. I am one lucky so-and-so.

In order to build our strength, we ate Mexican food and drank margaritas at Las Palmas. In order to build our fun quotient, we went to the Swinging Bridge and played and checked out the view. It was as close to a perfect day for me as I could get.

This past weekend was a different story. I woke up with a bad migraine on Saturday which meant I couldn't do much but whine and lie around in the dormer room. I did get some groceries for the week and made a nice dinner, so it wasn't a total loss.

I felt a little better on Sunday, so I played in the garden for most of the day. I cut up my seed potatoes earlier in the week, but then had stupid migraines for most of the rest of the week, and couldn't get them planted. They were starting to get moldy, and I read some articles to see if I could still plant them. Some said yes, and some said no. I planted them anyway. I guess we'll see who's right when the potatoes come up...Or don't.

 I rented a plot in the community gardens across the street this year. I wanted to have more produce, and I wanted to see if I could grow butternut squash without the squirrels getting to most of them. It was only about $15, so I didn't think that was too bad, especially since it's giving me almost twice the garden space. There is a big waiting list, so if they go by your plot and it doesn't look like you're using it, they will refund your money and rent your plot to someone else. I made sure to work in there on Sunday. I planted kale, lettuce greens, and potatoes. I also put a big tarp in the back part of it, to hopefully keep the weeds down before I can plant squash and a few other warmer weather plants.

I really hope we get twice the produce this year for us, and so that I can give some away too. I already got to give people red raspberry bushes and kale seedlings. There was a sign on the gate of the community gardens from the crisis center asking people to donate their extra produce to them. I would be only too happy to be able to do that.

Here's to warm sunny weekends, and gardening, and playing on bikes and eating really good Mexican food outside, and playing on bridges, and whatever else you all might like to do in the Spring.