Even my eyes are tired

No bird pictures today. That I'm posting. I did take pictures because he's just so cute!

I'm appalled and so, so sad about the massacre by the US soldier in Afghanistan. There are no words...

We've had such a mild winter in Maryland. A record winter. I think we had 2 dustings of snow and above average temps for months. I've loved it. I feel like we're well into Spring, but it hasn't even started. The bare trees have a hint of color. The cherry trees are in bloom and the pear trees are ready to pop. We have so many pear trees around here; forests of them.

I tackled such a big project today. I have 7 huge yew bushes that I planted 18.5 years ago. I've trimmed them twice a year (Rob did it the last two times!) to keep them a manageable size. My friend Lisa told me years ago I should take them out, but the thought of that big job was too daunting. Rob suggested we remove the the 3 that line my driveway and I agreed. He planned to borrow a chainsaw and have us work on it soon. What did I do today? I used loppers and cut them down to stumps. Then I used a pitch fork and shovel and brute strength to pull the stumps out. I pulled all the remaining roots out that I could. I used a bow rake to level the soil. I took 3 Motrin a few hours ago but it's not working like magic.

Here's 3 of the 4 remaining shrubs. Each one is about 4' in diameter.

Stumps and bagged shrubbery ready for yard waste pick-up.

See all that bare dirt on the left side of my driveway? What am I going to do with all this new planting space? Another big job coming up.

I'm so sore and tired that I reluctantly cancelled my evening plans. I joined a Meetup hiking group and tonight was the first walk around a large beautiful lake near where I work. I was really looking forward to it. I think it might be a once-a-week event. Hopefully I can do it next time.

Time to rest these fingers of mine. They're sore too.