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...

Spring is in the air

 I wish I knew the songs of birds better because they are singing all the time now. I can identify a few common birds, but I rarely see the bird while it is singing to know whose song is whose. And it doesn't matter how many times Aunt Martha identifies songs for me, I don't seem to remember them. But I enjoy them all the same.

We have been seeing more bluebirds this year than years past.
This one was visiting on our porch.

Right above the bluebird on the railing was this female with whom the male was flying around. I don't know if they are officially a couple or not, but I've cleaned the bluebird box in case they want to raise a family there.

We have had a few days of warm, spring-like weather and it is definitely a mood lifter for all concerned. I have been working in the yard cleaning flower beds that didn't get cleaned in the fall and pulling some of the winter weeds that have taken up residence in our vegetable beds. I find weeding is a time when I get a chance to think.  This week my thoughts went to hopes for a different summer than last year as more and more people get vaccinated.  While working in the dirt, I imagined picnics, trips, and family gatherings. Summer may be a little soon for my imagined freedom as Ward and I are in the last group to be eligible for vaccination, but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. My father-in-law is fully vaccinated now and our last visit was more relaxed than it has been in a long time even though we were still taking precautions. It was pleasure.

While cleaning the mum bed, I found our first blooming crocus. I think this one was planted by a squirrel. The ones I planted haven't bloomed yet, but any day now I expect to see their bright colors.

However, the snowdrops are blooming. They sometimes bloom as early as February,
but I was happy to see them even if I had to wait until March.

Seeds have sprouted in 3 of the 4 milk jugs I planted. I'm still waiting on the carrots.

The brussel sprout plant that I didn't pull last fall is growing some new sprouts.
Another fun thing to find.

I hope that you have been able to find some signs of spring where you are.

Until next time...

A City Walk

Last Friday, Ward said he wanted to get out of the house because he hadn't been outside for a week except to take the trashcan to the curb one morning. I was surprised because I had been out several times to go to work and hadn't noticed that he hadn't gone anywhere.  So he could get out of the house, we took the afternoon off and went exploring in a new-to-us park. We were looking for something with paved paths since anything else would have probably been either icy, muddy, or both. I layered up and survived was warm against the cold wind, but true to form, Ward found it invigorating.

Here are a few pictures from our walk.

We visited Baker Park which is in the middle
 of the small city of Frederick. In case you can't read the sign, 
"Baker Park, Opened June 3, 1927. 
To provide wholesome recreation for the people,
safe, sane amusement for the children,
this park is dedicated to the welfare of the community."
I wonder what "sane amusement" is.

There is a 70' bell tower honoring Joseph Baker who is the park's namesake. 
It has 49 carillon bells and they give concerts on Sunday.

The park also houses a large amphitheater. 

It is mostly known for housing band concerts, but obviously gives a nod to theater.

Adjacent to Baker Park is the linear park that we have visited before.

We saw colorful sculptures...

...as well as the colorful boat display we visited a couple of months ago at night
when they were all lit up. We saw a whole different set of details during the daytime.

And what park visit would be complete without seeing ducks?

Seeds

 I called Uncle Billy, my local resource for all gardening questions, and asked what seeds I should be starting now. He grows seedlings for his vegetable garden every year, so he knows when it's time to start what. As it turns out, the only thing he has growing under the lights right now is onions - not something we're going to grow since not everyone here likes them.  However, he told me about a cold sowing method he was trying. Basically, you sow cold weather seeds into milk jugs which act like a mini greenhouses. The seeds sprout when they're ready and you don't have to do any hardening off. That sounded like something I could handle, so I'm trying it, too.

First was a trip to Southern States for seeds and potting mix.
I was able to use a 10% off coupon and I have enough seeds left to share.

I cut the milk jugs about 4" up from the bottom near the base of the handle.
The handle acts as a hinge and remains intact. After that, Ward and I drilled holes into the bottom for drainage. I tried using a screw driver to make the holes, but the plastic was too thick.

The base of the jug was filled with soil and moisten before sowing the seeds.

Before setting the "greenhouses" outside in a sunny spot, I sealed the cut middles with packing tape. Now I wait.

This and That

House finch outside our kitchen window. He's sitting on an azalea bush
with snow in the yard as a background.

Everything here is good, in case my absence had you wondering. Probably not, since it's not like I post on a regular basis, anyway. It's the time of year when precipitation of various kinds has been occupying a lot of thought and time. It seems as if we've had some kind of wintery mix here for several weeks now. If I looked up the actual weather statistics, that's probably not true, but what is it that they say, "My perception is my reality." :) What I do know is that even though it was in the 50's yesterday, there was still a thick layer of ice on our walks. We managed to get the driveway cleaned earlier, but not our sidewalks. Stories abound about people and dogs sliding on the ice while they (the dogs) are trying to do their business outside. Miss Landers and Aunt Martha have tales of this including a head bounce on the ice with a slip while waking the dog in the yard.

We are lucky that we have continued to have electricity and heat and have been able to get to work. Although the walk from my car to the building one day was especially treacherous when the entire parking lot was a sheet of ice. But signs of spring are in the air with birds singing and reports of crocus blooming. I'm not sure if we even have any leaves poking above the ground of the early bloomers since most of them are covered with snow. This afternoon, I'm going on a treasure hunt around the yard to see what I can find.

Also, we got an estimate on some landscaping around our back porch and I want to walk out the plan. We're not sure what we're going to do at this point, but the estimate was about 5x more expensive than we had planned. I'm not sure that it's out of line, but it's still a lot of money. We tried to get some estimates last fall but didn't because apparently the landscaping business is really booming since people are spending more time at home because of COVID. I think this will be some kind of a phased in plan.

In other news, my class is winding down and I'm happy about that. Even though it has been a good class, after a year, it's starting to wear thin. I graduate in a month. Yay!

Time to move onto other chores this morning. First up is a call to the insurance company about coverage. Yuck. But it's a necessary thing. I am so happy that I don't have to process insurance claims and deal with people who are not happy with their coverage. Thanks to all of the people out there who do that for me.

Until next time...