Y’all are my witnesses

Lest we get a nasty-gram from the city because our "grass" is approaching the 8" limit, this is why we aren't mowing.

It looks like the field in front of the chapel at Camp Lambec in early summer- like a mirror with grass poking out of it.

The "creek"/drainage ditch out back. Below, Amur honeysuckle have taken over what's left of our drowned pine trees. Apparently it's like candy or soda pop for birds; they love it but there's not much nutritional value to it. And it SPREADS. There's also black raspberry canes in there. Last year a smart robin built a nest in that mess and had protection AND a food source at hand. This year we have one who has built her nest on top of our deck light, so we've been scaring the bejeezus out of each other on a regular basis. She hasn't figured out that if she'd stay PUT instead of flapping away at breakneck speed when we're right beside her that everyone would be happier!

This is part of the drainage ditch we dug ourselves to get standing water from part of the swamp that borders our property to the above drainage canal. It's only a few inches deep, but I can't even tell you the satisfaction I get when I schlep out there and see water running through it and down the side of the ditch! *squelch squelch squelch*

 

Probably gonna jinx it all...

At this point, I should know better than to publicly celebrate springtime-ish weather because it always leads to another snowfall or two and I get grumpy. It's bad enough we're back on stupid Daylight Savings Time which I can't believe became a thing and can't for the life of me figure out why it is STILL a thing! Anyway, here goes nothing and I will take all the blame for any upcoming horrendous weather which is sure to show up because this is Ohio.

IT IS SO NICE OUT!!!! I'm picking up sticks in a Tshirt! WOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Anybody need any pine cones or pine needles? We have a few.

And a few more.

And there's water in the creek/ditch.

I found a solitary Virginia Springbeauty!

The lilies are coming up on the left and the slightly taller ones on the right are our purple irises.

A brave new mullein by the pond:

And oh, to talk about jobs I am NOT looking forward to. *huge sigh* Now that I have a wheelbarrow that works, I have zero excuses to not clean this out. It used to have frogs and even a few fish and was lovely but it is completely choked with dead leaves and it going to smell righteously bad once I start baling all of that out of there. We didn't even have any frogs last year. I think they figured out how disgusting it was. That is not a job for today, but someday soon I'll have to put on my big girl pants and boots and get busy. You'll know when I'm doing it because of the stench and the black cloud of piratey talk!

On the flip side is the cool, downed owl tree. It's so full of holes and busted bark- it really is fascinating!

I'm wondering if anyone has been playing in this hole... or if anyone will move in! 

 

Mayday on May Day

A certain 7 year old was exploring past the boundaries of our property. I caught his attention and ordered him back to our side of things, posthaste. My first mistake was turning away while he was still descending the far creek bank and heading back into the house, assuming he'd follow.

Once again, to my wondering eyes should appear a normal looking boy, but no, I am met with a mud covered, wet, mostly triumphant human being who apparently had to hit every single water molecule on his way back across. 

After being ordered to strip to skivvies outside and then come in as I was starting his bath water, the kid magics himself into thin air. There's the pile of his clothes and boots, but no kid. And no skivvies, thank heaven, so we can assume for the moment that he's still in them.

I track him down again to be informed, "Liam dared me 50 dollars to go back in in just my skivvies." 

Are you even kidding me? First of all, your brother does not have anywhere near 50 dollars. He has about 53 cents. And secondly, seriously!? In your skivvies? And yet, why am I surprised? 

The Shenanigans continue as he loudly informs me, "I have a snail on my finger and I can't get it off!" Turns out that, yes, there are leeches in the ditch/creek and he found one or was found by one... either way, he got it off himself as I'm on the cell phone on the front porch to Dada, doubled over and crying with laughter because we had just talked about how surprised we were that none of the kids had found leeches yet. Leave it to the Damonater...

The unfairness of it all

I got a text from my mother stating, "70F whole area here and your area @40F seems unfair 😜💙😜💙"

I've been thinking about Triskal and how she hated the rain, which was hilarious as she was a webbed-footed, double-coated, water-rescue-bred Newfoundland. Even the kids laughed at her every time we sent her out in the rain because she made this mournful face like, "I can't pee in these conditions. I might get wet." We miss her. Man, she'd have hated today, though:

I love leaf-filled puddles. And I love that you don't have to shovel rain. And if it's warm enough to rain, then that means I might not be freezing to death, though let's face it, I am happiest at 80F and sunny. 

And our Leak is back.

And I'd been outside four times between about 7 AM and 10:30 AM. Twice with the kids to the bus stop and twice to pick up and reposition the dratted trash and recycling tanks. God in his mercy had allowed the recycling to be picked up early, so that one was empty- hallelujah and amen, because let me tell you how much fun it is NOT to be out there in the Leak playing 52 pick up with recyclables.

I have hopefully wedged the trash tank well enough this time that it will stay put until it's emptied. Then it'll probably fall into the Leak itself. 

The ditch creek out back isn't overflowing yet. The ones along the roads looked pretty darn full on Monday when we did our karate run, so I can't even imagine how they're faring today. Perhaps we should invest in a canoe...

Damon and I did hear our first killdeer of 2018 this morning while waiting under our umbrella for his bus. That along with the Facebook posts of tulips and crocuses from friends in Oregon tell me that spring is on its way. 

God save us, we still have to get through March...

A new toy for Dada

Dada and Carrie headed to a Saturday auction and came home with a fancy pirate kite, some wooden boards, and a Rototiller. They had help getting it home. (Thanks again, Jeff and Cindy!)

So he had to test it out. Hey, it just so happens we needed to get the gardens going. How 'bout that!?

Worked like a charm and we're all delighted. The tiny garden behind the house is planted; the big garden by the creek is tilled and ready to go. Carrie and I spent a lot of yesterday pulling weeds and inadvertently severing worms, sending spiders scurrying and dandelion seeds floating. It was truly sunny for the first time, and I enjoyed every single second of pinkening my skin. That's the word I'm coining. I was afraid my feet were burning in my sandals, so I did what generations of bacon have done. I headed into the creek to apply mud and, whaddaya know, it actually worked! I should have done my back... 

Looks like Elsa showed UP

It's the second weekend after Easter, and someone's Facebook wall reports the nearby airport received 7.8 inches of snow last evening/ this morning. I'm not sure what we got as ours drifts so much and our ground was already saturated with rain, but there's more than there needs to be out there, that's for sure. 

So what do I do first thing on a snowy Saturday morning when we don't need to be anywhere? Grab the camera and size up the nemesis:

Plenty of ice on the driveway.

Plenty of snow everywhere else!

It was also, surprise, colder than I anticipated it being. The first trip out was predawn light. After I warmed up by the fire, I looked outside again and said, "dang it, look at that sunshine! I should be out there NOW!"

Dada said, "so go!"

Bah.

Since we like to try to get veggies going from seeds, they need 8-12 weeks of a head start before they get put into the garden. That would put us right at Memorial Day weekend, which is the official frost-free date where we live. That means this weekend we have to get cracking and buy the seeds, make space for the grow lights, and get our buns in gear:

So I thought I'd check out the garden site that will be receiving seeds in 8 short weeks:

Aaaaaaaaaaaaack!

It's deep, and wet, out there! Check out that moat around the garden. =/  That is not part of the plan!

And then here's the same creek Carrie and Muggin played in. Looks slightly different now with Seussian bushes...

The upside down boots on sticks above are Carrie's from her spelunking excursion with Muggin. They're supposed to be drying out, but the dimwit left them outside so now they're probably frozen to the sticks. And the house.

Anywho, here's the rest of the sunny snow. And may it be the last of it until 2017 or something!