HoHoHo

           It is Dec 27th, and it just rained for 15 minutes! I am smiling, because I don't have to shovel raindrops. I do admit, Christmas was strange with no snow, and 45 degrees. Yet, today it's 49! For New England! Hope every one had a Merry Merry. Brother came over and we watched "School Of Rock" with Jack Black and an ensemble of outrageously talented young musicians. The movie was made in 2003, so they are all grown up now. Nevertheless, talent at 10 years old is remarkable. I highly recommend it ..For those about to rock, Rock On!!  I admit, I'm stuck in the 60's And what a sweet time it was.With my purple huge hat, my bellbottoms, and my El Camino, I was a a sight!
             Any how, now I am just a garden fanatic. Times have changed. I still hope to add pictures of my new pup, Benny. The kennel named him Ben, and he never once would even look my way when I called him .I had to pound on the floor to get his attention. He seemed to like Benny much better. We now have a great relationship. They said he was a Bulldog mix, but I think Pit-Bull is more accurate. He is a sweetheart, and quite handsome. Anyhow, that's it, short and sweet! Ta ta for now, diggers,,  Kathy.

Same old blaa blaa blaa

    Just let Benny out and looked at my sad, grey, back gardens ;boy, do things get bleak this time of year in the Northeast! We havn't gotten any snow yet, but that cannot be too far away. Those catalogs won't come a day too soon. There's the reliable substitute, HOUSEWORK, but that will be the last resort. I would rather decorate something or plant seeds. I am surprised at things that are still green! My foxgloves, feverfew, geraniums,(perennial type), lavender, and grass. There are monkshood in back, and hyssop and two kinds of chives and Walking onions still very green. The leaves are gone from my apple tree, but not from my dwarf peach or lilacs. Guess were going to have to get a hard freeze to clean every thing. I got very lazy the end of the season and threw all the remaining leaves out my side gate to blow where they wanted. It is a vacant lot (I took a tiny area next to my house last year to make a garden .I tried to buy it but never got a call back. I am the only one taking care of it anyhow.) A few months ago my brother and I spent a whole day wacking brush and clearing tiny trees (mostly maples) I am fierce with clippers. The next day I looked at it and had a big smile on my face. It looked like a pretty little park!There had been an enormous patch of bittersweet and I spent a long time getting those roots out. Because my house was built LITERALLY on the property line, I have to keep the lot clean to make my yard look acceptable. That was 100 years ago and they didn't have to deal with zoning or permits. A big plus is that no one can build there because the house had to be razed after an oil delivery missed the fuel pipe! 250 gallons went on the ground. Trees across the street died! They came and checked my cellar two times for leakage. I figure is if I don't have to pay taxes for it and can still grow plants, I win!! Sneaky, huh? That side of my house is where my berry patch is now. Black, red, and gold raspberries are doing great. They are nestled by the stockade fence so they get protection from wind. Well, diggers, I guess that's ta-ta  for now.

Back in the Saddle Again.....

             Several months and 2 'putters later, I am trying to go it again! December.... the yard is as "put to bed" as it's gonna be. The stuff I didn't  cut to the ground is going to stay scruffy for the winter.This will test the theory that things go through the winter better left standing tall till Spring. I, personally like the " cleaned to the ground with a layer of mulch" approach myself, but the old knees are not working as well as I would like right now. Just had a course of Steroids a couple of months ago and did not bounce back this time. Maybe the new catalogs will improve  my spirits somewhat. After 26 years, MS won this battle. I am still a stubborn Lithuanian and am not quitting. Just had my 65th birthday -- strange, still feel the same. Guess that is a good thing.               One bad thing to report however, my beloved Butch did get hit by a car in Sept. After an hour ride with him screaming in the back of my truck, the vet wasn't able to save him.  I rode in the back with him, and I couldn't comfort him at all. A couple of months later, I rescued an English Bulldog mix from GA. His name is Benny, and it has helped a lot. WHAT!!!! You didn't think I can go without a big puppy sleeping on my bed for very long, did you??? He's white with a brindle patch on his back and a big black spot on one eye. The cat is not impressed at all. (it'll get worse for her; my girlfriend says her cat is pregnant and I get to pick out a kitten). So I am settling in the winter mode, to shovel and eat ice cream, joy, joy.                                      

Let me tell you......

        This has absolutely nothing to do with my garden. But it does say how gullible lonely people are and they can get into bad situations innocently. I give confession, this internet thing is relatively newish for me. A little over a week ago, someone added me to their circle. I thought it was same old, same old. He (or she I now have no clue) was a quick charming talker. They got on my chat page. We started to chat. Innocent, right?? Well, in no time at all he(?) was telling me there was something in my profile that really struck him(?) We chatted for hours; I have to say it was really fun. And then the BS started to smell. This person said that HE(?) was falling in love with me. A little bs flag popped up. Well, not being that sure what I was getting into, I started to joke around. A few days later, he(?) who was supposed to be in the Army and stationed in Kabul, said he had several thousand dollars saved since he started serving. I guess there are no banks in Kabul, because then this person, claiming they had fallen in love with me, asked if they could send all this cash to me for safe keeping so we could be together when he(?) got out. I did know it claimed to be a man in the many chats that lasted hours. This money "package" that was comming to the US via courier, started the wake-up call.                                                                             When the package started it's trip, I got an urgent Email stating the United Nations Courier Service needed me to URGENTLY send 650 dollars so I could take posession of it when it crossed country borders. AS IF!!!  When I said that there was no way I had that cash for immediate disposal, he (?) got crankey. This led to two anguishing days of arguments. I was the one that wasn't making this new love work, and was messing with our future! Well, I might have been born at night, but not LAST night. A really really big BS flag went up then. The conversation was dominated by this delivery from then on. I asked why I had to pay all that $ to have more $ delivered. Then the emails started to come, from the courier demanding they needed this money as soon as possible, preferably immediately. When I said there was No possible way to get it, this person begged if "we" could borrow from friends or relations. Well, most of my readers are familiar with my brother, The Silver Fox. He, being soooo much more savvy in internet things than older sis, said the whole thing stunk. Well, he came over and looked up internet scams for me. When he punched up my new sweetie's profile, lo and behold, there was about 300 examples of how this person had been used for internet scams!!~Wow.~ I was in awe. Not to mention a tad heartbroken. I thought the lonely spell might have been history. Alas, not this time. Well. A little time later this scuzball Emailed me again! I told him(?) to go scam someone else cuz I thought the real Ray Chandler might be upset to have his good name used in such a way. This gentleman was a highly decorated Officer in the US Army. Very High up there!  I thought the matter was put to bed. A couple of hours later, I got several nasty Emails swearing at me and calling me names. I had to quickly take a crash course in how to block individuals from your site. Once I mastered this, peace came back. Really almost got sucked in on this one. Just because I was vulnerable and let my guard down for a millisecond! Now this thing is behind me, I'm wiser,  and get to warn others that might be as innocent as I was. This is a warning from the heart. Please please beware!

this beats snow

I am getting ready to go out to do more lovely weeding, but had to sit down at the 'puter  anyhow, so thought I'd get a short bit in. There is lots of color today, the phlox and daylilies love the humidity.....me, not so much, but it sure beats shoveling sidewalks. I'm on a corner, so I have two! And they are rather long.               I never noticed how many colors of lilies I have acquired over the 26 years I have been living here until yesterday. I'm going to have to attend a 7 step program if I don't stop. So many lilies, so little time....

work,work,work.

     It is totally dark outside, and I was forced to come in. Weeding the huge amount of weeds that have established their home in the gutter of the sidewalk on one side of my house. I started this tedious project yesterday. Have about half finished as of tonight. Some of the weeds are Really in there! I have a pail of water to pour on the roots: they come out a lot easier when they are wet. Dry soil, I have found can be like cement when you want to get the whole root out. And if you leave any, those buggers grow right back!! There was a moment of gratitude, tho, because one of our Town Counselors was walking by with her husband, and commented on how great the gutter was looking. She thanked me!!!!! And said she wished more people would tend their yards. (I just smiled,) because the first thing that came to my mind, was (and of course I never SAID it,) was how in previous years the town always took care of any weeds in the gutter FOR us. Maybe it is a "Budget" issue this year. Anyway, after I do a stretch, I stand back and smile at it. It is not the most favorite thing I have on my "Get around toit list", but it pays off big in self gratification. Call me childish. But indulge me. I think all of us have one thing we have to do but do not relish the task. I do not think it would be wise to use weed killer on these weeds, because it is in the gutter, after all, and would eventually be in the sewer system. Eco- safe, etc,etc.                                                                                                                             One good thing happened today, and it was free! There was a Coneflower growing across the street in really bad soil. So I scurried over with my little shovel, and dug it up!!! It wasn't in anyone's garden, just stuck on the side of the road begging for a new home. So there I was. When my truck is running, I always have a small shovel, a pail, and jug of water in the back of the cab in case I see a lone specimen on the side of the road wanting to get a new home. And I have gotten some great stuff over the years. And the price isn't too bad, either! hahahaha.     So keep digging, friends.

This One's For You, Jerry!

Saturday Jan 18-19   1997. Came home from work, all pipes frozen. Poured warm water down sink, toilet, and washing machine drain pipe. Thank God nothing seems to have cracked.  Florida seems to be looking pretty good.             Jan 21.  Started to tile kitchen backsplash, kinda fun once ya get the hang of it.  Jan 26  the kitchen faucet broke. Went to John's to get a replacement. I fell. Really got hurt!Black eye....concussion , and gash on head.                                       Jan 27 Finished backsplash. LOVE!                                                                            Jan29 Grouted backsplash. WOW                                                                              Feb 10 Bunnies born today. Hooked up droplight to keep hutch warm.                  March 4  Babies eyes are open. Huge snowflakes-Beautiful!                                  Mar 18 Rehab contractors walked thru from town. Getting a new roof and pull down stairs because the Handicap door will take out the old ones.                      Apl 17  Gonna get two new front room windows too.                                              Apl 29   Back door is in . Change order. Sill is rotten! Renovation is unpleasant business.                                                                                                       May 22 Change order again. Roof is rotten.                                                             6/3   guys done. House is a disaster!                                                                         6/10  Started thinsetting mudroom floor for the tile.                                               6/12  did more on floor.                                                                                             6/14  painted bulkhead door Had to replace two hinges. Kinda looks brand new. Had to paint the trim on the cellar window.                                                            6/17  Grouted half the mudroom.                                                                              6/24   Finished mudroom floor. Now the bathroom floor is rotten. Have to buy cement.                                                                                                                      6/26  cemented bathroom floor. Polyurethaned bathroom door and sill. Painted threshold of mudroom grey. Painted toekick in kitchen.                                     8/1  Built brick planter outside mudroom door. ( I feel like the three little pigs).                                                                                                                                 8/3  Kitchen tiles (plastic) previous owners put up are cracking and falling off. Another huge job. What else is new?                                                                          Painted outside trim of new windows.                                                                       9/5 Put baseboards cin the kitchen and bathroom.                                                   9/22  Sump pump went on. Checked the cellar. Flooded. Heard leaking Called thetown. Broken pipe under the street.                                                                  9/25 Town finished today. I had to fill dozens of holes in kitchen wall with caulk.                                                                                                                                  10/11 Had to install a backflow valve in the sump pump. Don't think these workmen know shit! But they get lots of $ while I have to go after them and do it over for nothing. Resentment plus.                                                                                     12/25  Had to replace bulb in sidewalk light.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                Well, Jerry,   That wraps up the year 1997   Enjoy!                                                                                                                                                           

Keeping the ol' girl busy

Hard to beleive, August is in my garden journal and whipping right along. I never did mention my journals, so here I go. Every year since 1996, whenever I have done anything to my house or in my gardens, I have entered it in a blank notebook (now they have evolved to hardcover journals, about 100 pages each) which I purchase around Jan1 at the same store. Continuity is everything when they all are lined in a bookcase..... I have recorded all things, from caulking windows, cleaning the driveway ditch, gardening, even mistakes I have made. It was said in one of Dan Fogelburg's songs, "remember what your failures taught you or you will make them over again". I record what does well, and what dies, and where I plant what! This has really helped through the years. Once when I was shoveling a lot in a severe winter, the little journal even went to COURT with me. I had been writing how much I did in one storm, but the police still gave me a ticket for "not clearing my sidewalks". I entered in the daily entry, "don't they have crooks to catch??!" The judge asked for proof I had done any shoveling, and a wise friend had told me my journal was legal evidence, which is why I had brought it to court on the day of my summons. Well, when he read the whole entry, ending with the "crook" comment, it not only got me off, but he had quite a chuckle.(I think that happened in 1982). So that, my friends, is why to this day my records are prolific.                                                                                               Today I came in about 9pm. Really got a lot done.Tonite is gonna be an early one, so I can get back out before two days of rain get here. toodles

Too much time on my hands

  Boring Monday.......Tons of stuff to do and no power to do them. Hopefully I'll get to weeding before the heat sets in. Seems like that is my song day after day (hahaha) Just looked in the mirror and I have a rather long black bruise on my right cheek! The mouth hurt a lot yesterday which puzzles me 'cuz the teeth came out a week ago. Thank God that is over! Did not sleep at all last night so I got busy doing housework I've been putting off. Got tons accomplished too. It seems I do my best work about two AM. Still looking for a plum recipe before the birds get them all. Yesterday they were chirping a lot and when I checked to see what the fuss was about, about 50 were in my tree picking them . Now today I have to clean up the mess they made.  All over the ground. Maybe I should stop feeding them and build a scarecrow! Never thought I'd get to this. Weed wacking to do, yard debris to gather, Weeds to pull EVERYWHERE. Poop to pick up, street needs weeding too. My neighbor is mowing his lawn right now. The garden bed I started last year is soooooo overgrown with crabgrass ( my favorite) that I have to get my big garden fork to loosen the grass before I can work on it. Weeds are us! ( Instead of Toys Are Us) And I should get some of those rose hips for jelly.                                                                                                                                         On a different side of me, I was watching the Liquidation Channel yesterday. They have the best prices of any shopping channel out there. If you are a jewelry whore like I am, I strongly recomend them. It was Sunday and everything is under 10 dollars. They offered several items with Rose Amethyst stones. Amethyst is my big two, along with Russian Chrome Diopside. (I hurt myself getting to the phone!) So in about seven days I will have more rings to smile at. My ring box is filling up nicely. The rose amethyst is very light lilac color. Purple is my fave color so I couldn't pass them up. Joy joy joy.  Does any body out there share my love of stones?????Let's chat...

Whattssupp???

       Just got home from the dentist. Brother took me for post op checkup. Had to have all my top teeth out yesterday. Whew! Glad that's behind me. guess my new name will be  "Denture Dottie". At least all teeth will be perfect. Just waiting for the swelling to go down. I know....tmi...Now here I sit, too humid (really. like the Bayou in LA) to do anything out there. Gotta watch the Weather Channel to see what's comming. The weeds are going great, but so are the Daylilies and Phlox. Some stuff needs staking and deadheading but that's on my TOIT list. I wonder if any one has a recipe for plums? There are literally THOUSANDS of them on my tree this year! More than ever before. That could be a great Christmas gift...Pretty cloth on top, tied with a ribbon, etc. etc. I used to be very creative in my youth. I even have a recipe for rose hip jelly from Euell Gibbons.I know this is short , but maybe I'll be back later...

Weeds Weeds Weeds!

       Those darn weeds, evergrowing. I wish the rest of my things did as well. Even tho it feels about 100 degrees today, I know later I have to get busy. There is a pile of debris sitting in my driveway that has to be stripped down, and the front and back yards need to be weed wacked as well. Because the truck isn't running, this whole gigantic mess has to be put in brown bags for trash pickup on Wednesday AM. And I don't feel especially energetic today. Guess this calls for a big pot of coffee!    Whine whine, I know. Usually people offer for easy things,and want to be paid!  Well, I never seem to have any "extra" funds laying around, and weeding is actually WORK, so I do it myself. My friend in California has a lawn service, so it's never a problem for  her. Unless I get a boyfriend ( HA HA HA HA!) who can do it or pay someone else to do it, here I sit. Complaining. The last guy in my life didn't turn out so well. It seems as he was visiting me every day, and even came for dinner, there was a girlfriend he forgot to mention! When I confronted him on this issue, he got angry and to this day won't even look at me when he walks his dog by my house. And he walks by twice a day. I have to wonder what his issue is. There are lots of other streets he could walk on. Get over yourself, Luis!! You aren't that special!                                                 So I guess it is time to get busy, as Arsenio would say, and do the coffee and the other mundane tasks anead of me. So ta ta for now.....

Hot Hot Hot

I am sweating- I mean sitting- in my mudroom in front of a tiny fan. Hopefully, later this p.m. I will venture out into the jungle that was once a manicured lawn and beds. While I seemed to be on Hiatus, the things around me were definately not! Now I have to play catch-up. There will be tons of clippings and pruning and Oh MY God ---The WEEDS! The finances will not be available till the Sept check to fix the altenator in my beloved little truck, so I will load all debris in the back of the bed for now in barrels. The nice thing about this month is a lion's share of lillies and Feverfew and Phlox and Clematis are going crazy in the heat and humidity! I have color everywhere! Just wish I had a camera to share this with all of you. Maybe Santa will get the memo???  Those stinkey "Josee" lilacs are blooming again, so I view them from afar. Some sunflowers the birds planted are huge and I can't wait for the blooms. Each year the birds pick  some of the seeds to snack on  and in flight they drop some. They show up all around the yard. It is fun to see where 'nature" plans things to be. There seems to be a redundancy in my thoughts today. Both entries contain similar things. Sorry.

Summer sweat--or sweet

As I sit in my mudroom, it is soooooo muggy and stickey here my glasses are fogging up! Later on this eve I purpose to get after all the double didget high weeds that have established a home in all of my beds Seems like they don't take breaks like some of us people do. I am going to load up five gallon pails and barrels because my truck is not drivable at the moment.                                         Getting money for my altenator is looking like it will have to come from September 3rd's check. I can just load all barrels and put them in the back bed of my truck for storage. I could never own a landscaping company because in extreme summer weather, while the weeds still grow, the grass still needs cutting, the hedges still need clipping to keep up their pristine appearance, o'l Kathy Lynch is melting away in some corner of her mudroom. Some guys are out there even working construction on the highways!!Hats off to them! As long as I am a "fattie-Boom-balattie",  this shall be my lot in life. But I can really hustle in cooler weather!                 One thing I keep a record of each year is the first time I see a lightning bug. This goes way back to my younger years. I have a very fond memory of these little creatures. When I was back at home, I left for work each morning at 6:45. There was a neighbor I had a crush on and he happened to be comming home from his third shift job around the same time. Every morning we would pass each other at the same time, same spot on the road. Well, what was a girl to do to speed up the natural course of things????? I hatched a plan. Because we passed every morning at the same spot, I started to wave each day. He started waving back. I let this go for a while, then moved to part "B" of my idea. One day, I left a few minutes earlier. I pulled to the side of the road, and parked. I opened my hood and stood there like a damsel in distress. When the object of my affection came up the street, as  I was hoping, he stopped to  assist. By the time we parted ways that day, I had arranged to have him come over that weekend to ride horses with me. This started a summer romance. We spent lots of nights drinking "Boones Farm" wine, going to concerts in Boston seeing groups like Santana, J Giles, Traffic, and the rest of the groups that toured at that time. We also enjoyed the frequent availability of Marijuana. He was 6 and 1/2 feet tall and had long blond hair and for a vehicle he drove a hearse! I was head over heels. Well, one night we were parked on my back road, drinking a little, smoking a little, listening to music, and there were lots of lightning bugs flitting outside the window. I got out and started to catch them in my hands. I let them all go free to fly inside the back of the hearse. It was like a twinkling little light show. After a while, we released them all back outside. No bugs were harmed in the making of this memory....Oh, to be 18 again.....and young and foolish...   Well, now back to boring reality, being grown up, responsible, law abiding, blaah blaah..blaah. Thanks for the memories, Earl,,, where ever you are. At least I still have those little harbingers of summer.

Betcha Didn't Even Know I Was Gone

        Hi there!!!Thanks to a dear friend of my brother, I have been able to borrow one of her computers...She builds them as a hobby!~!!!! I feel really dumb now...  Here is a new entry..                I just came in the house. Picked up the "poop", cut some hedges, gave my Kiwi vines a severe haircut. And a brisk talking to. If there are no fruit for next year's harvest, there will be a "pulling out party" and there will be some grapes in their place!!! This is the third year there were blossoms and the next time I looked, there were none !!!!. Grapes, on the other hand, always do well for me. I have been sweet-talking and coddling two males and one female Kiwi for five years and my patience has run out..I want some fruit Dammit!! I have a Niagara and a Cadence (?) grape and never ever do they give me a hard time. Maybe I should leave the Kiwi's to the Australians???? This variety was guaranteed to  grow in zone 5. My house is zone 6, so I figured, no problem. Oh well.                                    This week I finished all projects in my front yard. Holly hedges all clipped neatly and swept . Trial and error and bloody fingers taught me that to control and trim 30 feet of hedging you use hedge clippers, a metal rake to pull the  clippings on the ground, a snow shovel to pick them up and place them in a barrel, and of COURSE leather garden gloves. They sure look spiffy when they are all done and already two neighbors commented on them. I used a tree saw to trim the unruly sprouts my Dogwood seems to develop each spring, and just might start calling it "Alfalfa" after the comic character with the wild hair. The Josee lilacs have finished their first bloom, and now is haircut time for them too.(Some of you might remember I thought their fragrance was less than desirable) If you deadhead, they bloom continuously through fall. I don't care for the smell, but the flowers rock! The lawn is cut, weeds pulled in the beds, Rhodies have all been deadheaded, and I even put a pot of Roses on my front step.I should take a picture, and a family visiting my neighbor actually did. The father walked up and asked if he could take pictures of my gardens to bring home to Texas.What was really cool was a big butterfly landed on the bush at that moment! Well, that about does it for this time, keep digging!!!

Happy Spring!!!!

          Happy Spring!!   I don't know about anyone else, but this winter seemed exceptionally rough on these ol' bones. Thank God that spring is faithful. Lots of downed branches and winter kill this time. For the last few days I have been working in the front yard. I always work there first 'cuz that's what the folks see from the street. My back is totally surrounded by a stockade fence. Weeds will be gone with about two hours of additional work. Daffodils almost open, Rhodies have fat buds, Josie lilacs budding. (For the record, the catalogs always say these little lilacs are "fragrant". These are the only lilacs I have to say "they STINK"). Love all my other types, sniff them continuously, but Josie --- not at all.    Planted two Primroses the other day, that's the first color. Got six giant lilies from Publisher's Clearing House; believe it or not, they are a great source for plants that you cannot find locally. These look like Easter lilies but the flowers are enormous.                                                                                                           Got some Siberian Iris and a couple of Red Hot Pokers from Wal-Mart. Phlox to come, and several Clematis to plant. There are several seed flats I started a couple of weeks ago which have all been moved to the driveway. I simply cannot help myself. Never met a plant I didn't like. Oh yeah, I also got a dwarf peach tree to replace the one that died a couple of years ago. A note to first time fruit growers; I know from first hand experience, as heart wrenching as it will be, you have to thin out your fruit crop to about one fruit per inch on the tree. As a new mommy, the first time my old peach tree got blossoms, I didn't want to thin one single precious peach off, and hence they had no room. They need air space between them so they can grow large and free. My peaches that first year were too close together hence were touching as they got bigger. This lends itself to rot and scale and all sorts of other problems. Add a few deformed fruit and a recipe for disaster- and insects. So please, please, thin that fruit in the beginning.                                                                                                                         Since that lesson with the peaches, my apple tree,(Granny Smith) and my plum do very well at harvest time. My berry patch from last year and the strawberries in their raised bed should be well established this season. Too bad to enjoy all this labor I seem to be wishing my life away. The Rhubarb I divided will be several plants this year. Gotta get stocking up on my canning jar supply.   Got do a lot of "putting up'. I actually own two water bath canners. They run double duty. You can keep one full of water on the stove in the winter to add humidity to your air and this keeps your heating bills lower. Periodically I boil the contents and let it cool. That's the old farmer in me.                                                          My Daffy-dills are open, the lilacs all have fat buds, and the tulips are finally showing some signs of promise. The plum tree should be in full bloom this week. I have already had to change the bait in my Yellow-jacket trap once. Those buggers wait for nobody; they especially are fond of my garden shed. This week I finished all the winter clean-up and can relax for the fun stuff now. Happy Digging!!!!                                                     

            Here I am, counting the days till I can get moving outside again. Big case of cabin fever. There is quite a lot of ice in the driveway, so there I will spend some time this afternoon. Chopping. My houseplants are all fed, watered, and waiting for warmer days to take their summer places in the driveway. I include in this list several Geraniums that have gotten really large over the winter. Red, white, and pink. My Oxalis are starting to bloom as well. One fine day there will be several months of dog poop to scoop up and hide in the trash barrel as well. Butch doesn't pick up after himself. I guess that's the price one pays for unconditional companionship. I have to wonder if I am the only person that feels like after a long sedentary winter my pants seem a smidge tight..Thankfully, those extra lbs. will go as soon as I start to get outside. I have only seen one Cardinal this season, and no spring birds yet. They should be on their way, it's 45 degrees today and promises to be warmer all week. I have to top off my feeder. Seed is a little low. The stores will have their spring plants very soon, Joy Joy Joy!!!!

Waiting for Spring

It's been soo long since I even sat down at this keyboard... forgot stuff. I have been shoveling my ___ off for several weeks. I have a corner lot, so that means two areas of sidewalk and one fire hydrant to clear and one crosswalk that gets blocked each time the town plows.WAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!                           Now that I have gotten my winter aggressions out, I can continue. This has been a rough winter for an old broad like myself. This last storm, I was blessed by a neighbor using his snowblower on my sidewalks. This was the only time all season I got help.The snow at the end of my driveway was eight feet piled on the sidewalk edge!!  A bright light was when my brother shoveled the snow off the flat roof of the back bedroom. I threw my back out and needed his help.                          I have about forty packets of seeds to plant in the next couple of weeks.Just a few veggies. The lion's share are perennials. Each spring I can't wait to get in that dirt. I have Hollyhocks, Lupines, Delphiniums, Oriental Poppies, and Foxglove seeds just to mention for now. I got lots of annuals at the Dollar Store for four for a dollar. They are Asters, Campanulas, Cosmos, Daisies, Portulacas, and Cleomes. This is a quick filler with color till the good stuff comes in.  I am partial to perennials because you plant once, and you're good for a couple of years at least. I guess I'm a little lazy...annuals are lots of work every season. I did order 2 varieties of Chocolate Vine (when I first planted one I did not know you needed two kinds for cross pollination, and Gurney's are the only ones I found that had two.) Another order was for tall Phlox, a double Siberian Iris (LOVE those) and a Hardy Geranium. If my wallet allows, there is a new variety of Fernleaf Bleeding Heart that is YELLOW!!!! Definitely on my must have list.                                                                                                                                Well, that is all for now cause I have to feed my animules...It's 7:52 AM. and they don't wait well. Catch you later..