The snow flurries ended by lunch yesterday, and I spent the afternoon shoveling mulch. I completed the first full pile, the one blocking the garage. The front flower beds are (mostly) tidy now and ready to grow.

I took a break mid-afternoon to come inside and do some yoga to relieve my lower back. I lift with my legs with every shovelful, but pushing the wheelbarrow requires back strength. Every part of my body aches, but in that good way of “I did something hard.”

I’m both dreading and eager for today. Yesterday’s wheelbarrow trips from the mulch pile to the beds were short and mostly flat. Today, I mulch the back hill. The hill is steep. The beds are probably 30 meters from the mulch pile. In total, I’ll move about 1.5 tons of mulch. I don’t know how many wheelbarrow trips that is — 50? Maybe I’ll count since I have another mountain to move.

It’s supposed to be a little warmer today, so at least I can start earlier. I’ll probably need a lot of breaks. I don’t know if I’ll finish it all today, but I’m excited to be closer to completing the mulch. Once that’s done, I can fertilize, cut back the rest of the meadow patch, and sprinkle seeds where I dug up the invasive Miscanthus grass.

Then, as my reward after all of this work: I’ll go to the nursery and buy new plants!