Wednesday afternoon, the Moon moved into Aries and remains there through Friday.

In the Home ~ Spring Cleaning Tips

If you’re ready to tackle cleaning the oven, scrubbing down the stove, barbeque grill, or cleaning out the ashes from your fireplace or firepit, Aries is here to put some muscle in your elbow grease. Whatever “it” is, if it gets hot ~ it’s Aries.

I have one of those moveable fire pits on my deck that I’ve never known what to do with in the summer. They are mosquito havens when the rain collects in them, so I turn it upside down when it’s not in use. I’ve stored it in my garden shed the past two summers and it was always in the way. The plan this year is to make a table top for it so that it can stay on the deck year-round and stay usable. All I’ll have to store is the top.

There are still ashes in my fireplace ~ that last wish for just one more cold night wasn’t granted. Maybe I’ll get around to cleaning it, saving the ashes to sprinkle around the yard. You can add a little to your compost, but have to  be careful not to overdo it. Here are 10 tips on what to do with ashes from This Old House.

In the Garden

The Aries Moon is one of the barren Moons, so it’s not good for planting. Save that for Taurus, the sign following Aries.

Aries plants include all the peppers ~ the hotter the better! ~ as well as radishes, rhubarb, onions, and garlic. We have a New Moon in Taurus on Saturday, so there’s still time to get onions and garlic planted during the waning Moon phase.

Aries days are good days to get the garden tools sharpened and glistening. Ruled by Mars, Aries does like his tools sharp and gleaming. Aries days are also excellent days to maintain firepits, outdoor grills, and torches that you have in the yard, such as the fun and festive Tiki Lights that are on sale everywhere now. I picked a couple up at Big Lots for $4.00 each and added some more permanent-type next to a swing.

I read a great tip somewhere about keeping your tools clean and sharp without having to scrape and sharpen them all the time. Store them in a bucket of sand that has a little veggie oil added to it. Makes sense to me. I’ve got a bucket. I’ve got some sand…and I’ve got some less than gleaming tools. I see a quick and easy project in my future!