The first thing I saw out the back window yesterday morning was the neighborhood woodchuck, sitting on my green bean plants, munching down on my cabbage plants. I flew open the back door and he went scooting back up the hill….but I knew he would be back. He ate three whole cabbage plants, and had taken a few bites of the one that was left.
Last night we went out and bought fencing, and the project is almost finished. Our woodchuck friend is going to have to feast elsewhere.
We stayed around home this past weekend, and spent part of each day getting the yard and gardens in order. The flowers are planted and the mulch is spread. We have a few more projects planned for upcoming weekends, but things are looking good so far!
I planted the last seeds this morning and now all twenty-five squares of my garden are in…..green beans, tomatoes, green peppers, eggplant, cabbage, grape tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini and yellow squash. 
Now the deer, rabbits, and neighboring woodchuck just need to keep their distance!
This was the week I have needed for quite a long time. I finally feel refreshed and focused again, after months of just getting to work and back home again. I wish these week’s of vacation came more often!
This week I reconnected with the birds, who probably thought I had left town.
I hung the clothes on the line to dry and inhaled deeply when I took them off the line and folded them.
I did some reading. Morgan sent a book back to me by way of Garrett over the holidays and I’m just now getting started with it.
I’m ready to start gardening! George made me a 5′ x 5′ square out back, and we mixed in all the right stuff to make a good soil. Seedlings are started indoors, and snap peas are in the ground already.
Tomorrow it’s back to work, but I hope I’ve somewhat ordered my life this past week so that things run smoothly and I can avoid that overwhelmed feeling for awhile.
The past couple of weekends we have tried to get away for a bit. The winter was long and dark, and it’s been nice to have sunshine and open roads again.
Last weekend we headed down to Mt. Pisgah State Park in Pennsylvania with a side trip to Ricketts Glen State Park. The landscape is still pretty grey and dull for now, but we did some birding at Mt. Pisgah at least.
Our lunch stop was at Dushore. Always trying to find a unique experience, we found The Jolly Trolley in town. 
We had a nice lunch and I found several postcards for my Postcrossings.
This past weekend we headed out again, this time north, to Smyrna and the Rogers Environmental Education Center. A good number of people were out enjoying the eighty-degree day and walking the trails.
I saw my first song sparrow of the season!
Again we found a special spot for lunch, this time in DeRuyter at the Red and White Cafe.
Fresh air, sunshine, the top down on the Miata …… a very nice day!
I look forward to the next adventure.
Morgan called me about a week ago and pointed out that I hadn’t been blogging much lately. She said she especially missed those Remember When postings, so this one is for her.
She’s visiting St. Louis this weekend, and sent me a photo this afternoon of the view from the St. Louis Arch. I’m reciprocating by posting some photos of her in Missouri some twenty-six years ago at age 3.
August 1983, with Rebecca, at Meramec Caverns…..famous for being a hideout for Jesse James. The caves were definitely George’s idea, as I am not a fan, but they were cool on that 100+ degree day as I remember.
Morgan chose a skunk puppet from the gift shop there and named it “Meramec”.
Here she is with her Missouri skunk!
No more help from Pillsbury…..
I have found a bread-maker sweet roll recipe that came together easily…..
Too bad Christmas is nine months away!
It seemed a long winter, so I am quite happy it’s spring. I expect there will be a snowfall or two (or more) yet, but the signs of spring are here……
Buds!
Birds!
and Barbecue!
Our first meal cooked outdoors this year……steak and fennel slices.
School was canceled before 5 a.m. which meant that George had the day off. I actually had to work overtime, so I was up and out the door early despite the weather.
The snow didn’t amount to much during the day, we maybe had four inches by the time I returned home. More is on the way tonight, but thankfully we aren’t having the fierce winds that were expected!
We have almost no snow on the ground at this point. Temperatures above freezing have melted most of it in the last few days, but now a blizzard is approaching, or so we think. The prediction is for 10 – 12 inches of snow and heavy winds between midnight tonight and daybreak on Friday.
We seem to live along an imaginary line which often separates us from other regions in the state, so that Binghamton can be buried in snow, and we hardly have any. It will be interesting to see how this storm plays out.
