Spring has arrived

Since Thursday afternoon the weather here has been absolutely beautiful, which has been great for doing those outdoor chores that have been put off and put off due to the weather. It has been seeming that the nice weekends (not that we have had many of those) we have had plans not allowing us to do all that outdoor work.
Well this weekend we got massive amounts done.

• We purchased and set up rain barrels from the region
• Turned the compost, and spread the finished stuff on the garden
• Removed a massive number of straggly shrubs
• Received and accepted a quote to build a fence (more on this below)
• Washed outdoor windows (well the ones I can reach without the massive ladder
• Started weeding the garden
• Raked the lawn
• Got a sunburn (neck, arms, tops of the ears) - I didn't think the sun was that strong - I guess it had just been so long
• Completely exhausted Keeper on a walk (he needed to lay down before we went in the house
• ETA: I just fertilized the front lawn since they are calling for rain Mon afternoon.
  

What is left on the todo list:

• Fertilize the lawn (needs to be done in two sections so Keeper doesn't walk on the fertilizer -we don't use Weed and Feed
  
• Remove the old chain link fence
• Remove the bottom branches of one of the trees
  
• Weed the garden (there are lots of maple seedlings coming up)

Ali and I have been planning on fencing our backyard this summer since we moved in. We have been busy looking at fence styles and figuring out what we were going to build to put in. There are two big things we decided to have some one do for us. Pull out the old fence posts (they are cemented with an overkill amount of concrete by the looks of the tops of the holes), and dig and set the new poles. Digging and setting fence posts is not an easy job, the posts in this area must go down four feet to get below the frost line.

• We priced out lumber, measured the perimeter of the yard.
• Calculated amount of lumber and number of posts needed.
• Called fencing contractors.

Found one fencing contractor who will build our fence for the same price as if we purchased the lumber, and paid someone to dig the holes. (No one would give us a phone estimate to remove the old posts - they needed to see them first completely understandable). After meeting this guy in person we have decided to use him to build our fence - he should be able to do it during the second week of May.

I am excited about having a fenced yarn - and was hoping to have it fenced by the end of May so this is working out great. I'll let you know who this magical fencing contractor is after the job is done.