This year's spring cleaning by the sparrows was quite extra - ordinairy - after a whole winter of snow and ice, a massive amount of muck had accumulated. With the help of the garden gnomes, they scrubbed and rinsed the garden ornaments in the bird bath till they shone.
Dust and dirt had built up on the flowers in the flower beds - he vacuum cleaned all the petals till they were like new again and watered the hydrangias. The sparrows digged up the weeds from the flower beds and picked up all the litter. They did a quick repair job on the fence and tidied up the edge of the hedge.
At home, the sparrows cleaned the dry crumbs from their nest and put the twigs into twos. They had considered building a nest extension for some time - or upgrading to a bird box. They swept up the dead leaves on the path outside and dusted the flowers with a feather duster. They watered and splashed a spot of weedkiller onto the rose buds - so that they were bright pink once again and the sparrows sharpened the thorns so they stuck right out. By eleven o' clock, the sparrows were exhausted - and stopped off for a peck from the bread crust and a bite of worm before carrying on work. In the heat of the afternoon sun, the sparrows polished up the windows on the greenhouse and trimmed the edges of the lawn.
By now, the garden was looking quite spectacular - the spring clean had left all the daffodils and other blooms spring clean fresh. Even the garden shed (which had been untidy for years) looked tidy with it's oiled hinged and new, quick, lick of paint.
© Jacqueline Richards 2005