This and That

I've been away for a while, so it's time for a check-in with a bit of this and that.

Spring is really here (and the calendar agrees). We have entered into the stage where something new is budding or blooming every day. Granted we could still have snow, and the last frost is not usually until the middle of May, but the ratio of cold to warm days is getting smaller.

Today was a warm but windy day, a day I spent outside digging in the dirt preparing beds for seeds and then planting them - but not before I had to chase more than one envelope of seeds around the yard.  I planted carrots, beets, peas, radishes, lettuce, and bunching onions using seeds that Miss Lander's shared with me. Among them, she gave me pelleted carrot seeds which are the greatest thing since sliced bread. I shouldn't have to do the extensive thinning that I usually have to do with carrots since these were big enough to control the spacing. I still have broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, and carrots growing in the milk jugs. I think they are ready for transplanting and I will do that tomorrow. We'll see how they survive and that will be the true test to see if this method of cold starting seeds is as easy as it seems.

And speaking of things that are supposed to be easy, I have been painting the grout between the tiles in one of my bathrooms. The grout is still in good shape, but its white color has turned to brown over the years. I read several places about grout paint, and this is supposed to be the easiest job ever. It's not working out that way for me, however. The theory is that you paint the grout using a toothbrush and the paint sticks to the grout, but easily removes from the tile.  The bottle says to wipe as you go, and others say to wait a little. Well, I have tried various painting and wiping methods and I am getting uneven coverage at best. I've been doing a row of tile a day, so as to not kill my back and knees, and I am trying a different technique everytime to see if I can find the magic formula. So far it works best when I let it dry completely and scrape the extra paint off the tile. It is true that it sticks to the grout, but not to the tile--sort of. It is a very labor intensive job, but overall the floor does look better. 

In other news, Ward and I, both, got our first COVID vaccines on Monday. That experience brought a flood of emotions--a few tears of relief that there is an end in sight to the hypervigilance of the past year. (Vigilance will still be around, but hypervigilance-I hope not.) Then I had a few wild thoughts that I just drank the Kool-Aid. Do we really know what's in those vaccines? Granted that was my crazed mind that was taking center stage for a moment. All of that was followed by plans of what we may be able to comfortably do in a few months. Apparently, I'm not off the roller coaster of emotions of the last year yet.

Well, that's just a few things that have been keeping me busy. In another post, I will tell more. But for now, here are a few scenes from the yard.

There are still a few snowdrops blooming.

I have planted little pockets of crocus around the yard.
They are my favorite flower of early spring.

I have also planted daffodils in various places that are starting to bloom. I don't know if all of them will bloom this spring, however. They may need another year to mature.
(You may notice my milk jug planters behind the daffodil.)

The forsythia started to bloom a couple of days ago.

The birds are singing their hearts out and building nests.

Some of the lilacs have leaves budding.

Well, that's about it until next time...