first bloom

this evening, mr. happy stuff opened the curtains downstairs to reveal a blooming daffodil! my first one–hurrah! and all thanks to my wonderful sister who flew up here last fall just to plant bulbs for me (and also so we could shop for maternity clothes for her…. and also because she wanted to travel…. but mostly because she likes digging in the dirt more than i do–don’t get me wrong. i have nothing against a little dirt-digging, but usually, i’d much rather be sewing or reading or eating…)

i also found some garlic mustard in my yard. from afar and when it was shorter, i’d thought it was a big patch of violets, but as i walked past it today, i realized that it was the dreaded, invasive weed that it was. the nice thing about garlic mustard is that it is so incredibly invasive that you cannot procrastinate pulling it up or you will be extremely sorry. in fact, i will probably be sorry that i did not more thoroughly eradicate all of the roots, but i was just madly plucking stems, trying to ensure that none of the seedheads came to bloom. but back to what i was saying–because you cannot procrastinate the pulling of garlic mustard, you have to drop everything–your homework, the church newsletter you’re supposed to be editing, the suitcase you’re supposed to be packing, the blogging you should be doing–and just get your hands dirty, yanking those suckers out. it felt kind of good.