According to Alfred Lord Tennyson, “In the spring, a young man’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love.” A homeowner’s fancy, on the other hand, turns to thoughts of outdoor spring clean-up. That’s what Ted and I have been doing for the past few weeks.

• We had a new pool liner installed.

• We had a new pool pump installed.

• We drained and cleaned the hot tub.

• We had the air conditioner inspected and cleaned.
• We had the irrigation system turned on.
• We bought a redbud tree to replace the maple tree that was removed last summer. The nursery planted it, but Ted and I removed grass from around the tree and replaced it with weed-resistant fabric and decorative rock.

• We planted flowers. I shopped for and selected flowers while Ted ran other errands. I fell for a hibiscus tree (center, ahead of Ted). It won’t survive the Missouri winter, but it should be gorgeous all summer.

• We hauled the lawn furniture out of the storage shed and washed it.
• We took the covers off and chased the bugs out of the outdoor umbrellas.
• I washed all the dirt off the concrete while Ted put things away.

• We’re finished and ready to relax in our backyard resort while we let our fancy lightly turn to thoughts of something else.