The gardening bug.

It's amazing to me that the gardening bug bit me this year.

I've always suspected I had a bit of the bug in me, but I always seemed to do just enough and then let the garden slide.

This year, I went buggy.

I think limiting the hours at first to about 3 hours at a time was hugely helpful. Having the lawns and sprinklers in place. Being willing to spend some money on new plants.

I start out doing the easiest simplest projects -- and then, inevitably, I get more ambitious.

Yesterday, I went out planning to do a tiny bit of weeding. My two sisters and their families are in town this week, and I kinda wanted to show off what I've done.

I ended up spending the whole day outside.

My Mom taught me a couple of tricks to make a garden look good.

1.) Edge the lawn with a straight edged shovel, about an inch average, for a nice clean looking cut.

2.) Turn up the soil in the garden and smooth it out. I do this with a trowel and my hands, and lightly once over with a rake.

So that's what I did -- all day long.

The garden won't really start looking good for another year or two, but the profile is in place.

I still have about 15 feet outside the fence to complete weeding -- and then I will have finished what I set out to do. But I don't think I'm done yet. I still have the urge.

Where did that come from?