on saturday i'm in belmont digging for dandelions. the stretch of sunny days has emboldened these prolific weeds and they're starting to show their telltale yellow flowers. all the easier for me to find them! for some reason the western side of the house had the highest concentration of dandelions while there was barely any on the rest of the lawn. maybe the west side hasn't been weeded in a long time. all that bending over and squatting began to take a toll on my lower back. i also ran into a thorn bush and scratched the hell out of my arms. all for a weed free lawn! also on the agenda: the continued eradication of invasive garlic mustards. i never noticed it before, but they have both shallow roots and a long taproot. i learned to tell the difference between garlic mustard (bad) and biennial money plant (good).

the hostas have finally began to emerge in my shady perennial garden on the eastern side of the yard. i've dotted the area with tomato cages to prevent the dog from stomping on the delicate shoots. what i thought were peonies from last weekend are actually the pair of peach blossom astilbes i planted last november (there is however still a stray peony).

returning home after dinner, i heard the sound of my rear bike light clattering to the floor somewhere close to aberdeen street. i spent the next minute scanning the darkness with my head light trying to pick up all the pieces. i only managed to find one of the batteries, but found everything else. once i got back, i managed to get the light working again, but now i need rubberbands to keep it closed. this might be a good time to get a new rear light anyway (i'm thinking the planet bike superflash stealth). this one i picked up from dealextreme seems to fade in intensity every time i use it. it could just be the batteries, or maybe the cold temperature, but i rather have something that i can depend on.