Fresh Starts. And Nasty Shoes.

It's going to be a weekend of purging on the homestead.

No, we do not have the flu.  Lawdy, help us if we get it.  There is nothing, I repeat - NOTHING, hear my now people - NOTHING, that I hate more than throwing up. 

NOTHING.

I just want that to be clear.

By "purging", I mean that I'm finally going to be getting rid of that pair of tennis shoes from my little sister.  She gave them to me when SHE WAS IN SIXTH GRADE.  She is now twenty two, which means I have had them for about ten years.  I always saved them for the off chance I may need them to wear while hiking.  I thought they looked like, ya know, hiker shoes.  However, the last time I went hiking was in 1935.  It's time say goodbye.

Purging also means getting rid of all those clothes that are too small.  Too big.  Too tight.  Too ugly.  Too worn.  It was time to bid farewell to high school sweatshirts and a dress shirt I had dry cleaned in college and still haven't worn.  The shoes were fair game too, and I had to take the opportunity to rid myself of some dirty, smell, stinky, worn, nasty pairs.  Goodbye, stale shoes.  Hello, clean closet. 

Maybe it's the sunshine, or the fresh air, but it just makes me want to get rid of stuff.

And see these little gems?  This is what spring is all about.  New life, new beginnings.  There is a freshness that just floats through the air like a fragrance.  Once I catch a whiff, I'm baking up batches of cookies, just to smell them.  I'm opening up windows and spraying essential oil air freshener throughout the house.  I'm sweeping down the cobwebs that have covered our porch light through the winter and straightening up dresser drawers.  It's just time.  It has to happen.  Purging the house of the old and welcoming in the newness of the season.  Through the piles of frayed clothes and nasty shoes, the spring garden is beginning to poke it's wee-little goodness through.

These are my peewee eggplants.  Last year, I had beautiful eggplant blossoms, but no fruit.  This is the year, my friends.  I can feel it. 

Here are my chocolate peppers, just beginning to make their appearance.  Don't they look new and fresh?  Like the potential of summer is close by?  It makes me want to lay in the hammock on the screen porch and sip on a fresh mint mojito.

That is, once I finally clean my porch off.  You've seen it - you know the demons that lurk out there.  It's scary.  But this is the weekend - all dust bunnies, dark corners, and disorganized porches shall meet their maker. 

And THEN I'll put up the hammock and sip on a mint mojito.

And THEN I'll probably die of exhaustion.

If I don't return on Monday, send help.

What are YOU doing to get ready for spring?