Times-Call (Longmont)

Doing some springtime cleaning

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Don’t be fooled by the warm days we’ve been experienci­ng. The bitter winds of winter we experience­d during the winter months have only temporaril­y blown away to the hinterland­s. We set our clocks forward early again this year. When I sprang forward I found myself in the middle of a yard that is literally springing to life.

I see a lot of busy work going on from my deck. The birdhouses have been cleaned. The crocuses are peeking their faces up through the grape hyacinths; the iris have erupted and are growing tall. The daffodils are bursting into bloom and the tulips are greening up from beneath the winter mulch.

The birds have returned and are busy scrounging for materials to make their nests. This past weekend the neighborho­od was buzzing with activity as trees were being replaced and lawns were being power raked. The harsh winter took its toll on many trees and small shrubs throughout the neighborho­od. It was great to see the neighbors out working in their yards. The ice and snow kept us close to the home fires during the winter months, and we didn’t see much of one another.

Today may be the first day of spring in the Rockies, and even though Mother Nature may be trying to kick Old Man Winter out the door, he’s still lurking out there somewhere.

I’ve learned to wait awhile before getting too excited about planting annuals. The rule of thumb for gardening in the Rockies is to wait until after Mother’s Day before planting your annuals. We’ve been known to have snows and cold winds through mid-may. But this warmer weather has me dreaming of a thick, lush lawn and color bursting forth from flowers blooming everywhere.

Of course, the reality is there’s a lot of work to be done before the yard will look like the vision I saw in my head. It will require elbow grease, patience and both of us working at it. Along with the cleaning chores outside we also have to deal with the cleaning chores inside. How does so much winter’s grit get tracked inside a house?

I did some grit cleaning up this past week and decided the ceiling fans needed to be cleaned. Not just dusted, but really cleaned. I took them apart and put the globes in the dishwasher. Since it didn’t take long to disassembl­e them I assumed it wouldn’t take long to reassemble them. Silly me! I had to enlist my neighbor to help with that project. The one over the dining table wasn’t difficult, just time consuming. It took some coordinati­on for one to hand the globes and light bulbs to the one who was on the ladder. The fan over my bed was a much different story.

As we were both standing together at the end of the bed and on the bed trying to get the chain back into the proper holes in the light globe, my neighbor pulled the wrong chain which immediatel­y turned on the fan. Ooops! After jostling for several minutes we finally got it back together and then fell on the bed laughing at ourselves.

The globes and light bulbs to the kitchen fan are still sitting on the island. Hopefully, we’ll get around to reassembli­ng it before summer arrives. One sure thing she and I discovered is that two working together is better than one when it comes to cleaning and reassembli­ng ceiling fans. It takes two to tango. Or is that two to tangle?

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