spring, has it really sprung?

Two weeks ago yesterday I was shovelling off my walk and steps. Yesterday I was cleaning up my garden! Today I bought many packets of seeds. I'm so excited! We are very lucky here on the westcoast. Of course, the downside of all this nice weather means I have to continue last year's search and destroy mission on the English ivy in the back yard. I went to a few websites looking for an easy (and earth-friendly) way to get rid of it. Hah, very funny. It seems the best way is to kneel down and pull on a six foot area at a time. Then roll up the tenacious little buggers and put them into bags. I thought the soil underneath might be quite good, but apparently it sucks all the good out of the soil. That means I will be adding more dirt and compost. I probably won't get it done this year anyway.