Spring has (somewhat) sprung...

Here in Anchorage, it takes quite a while for us to get into spring, but once we do, watch out! Things grow incredibly fast here once they get started.

In our case, we've started working on the garden, in anticipation that soon we'll be able to put plants in the ground. Inside, we have tomatoes and peppers, as you can see :).

Outside, things are going great as well, here are two pictures of the infamous rhubarb and the ever-present "pansies", our first flower of the season:


One of the things we are talking about is what to do with our deck which is currently a 4x4 square about 2.5 feet off the ground, making it difficult to negotiate. My idea I thought was whimsical and pretty darn cool -- make a little beach!

Hear me out...pavers, decks, etc are difficult up here since the earth moves a lot. You might be OK for a year or so, but you know that eventually it has to be redone. Sand can just be replaced/reraked, and, unlike gravel, is soft and reminiscent of hawaii. A coconut umbrella, little fru-fru drinks, and some tiki torches would complete it. Before the first snowfall, we could take a big tarp and put it over the sand to keep the snow from being dirty.

What do you think?