Tuesday, April 20

Good morning folks,
It's raining and thundering and it sounds great!! I just love listening to a thunderstorm. (As long as the rain is wet and doesn't turn hard!!) We had a storm go through on Sunday, but didn't rain at all. A friend at college had the same storm go through later where she lives and her windshield was broken in three places from golf ball size hail. She said there will be lots of windshields replaced there.

Did lots of raking and yard work over the weekend. I still have the back yard to do. I also bought three ponderosa pines but have to clear some scrub trees before I plant them. DH said he would get the chain saw out since I broke my little bow saw. I have to watch my back as a Canadian gander is protecting the goose on the nest right near there. Good thing the bow saw is orange and he's scared of it. If I wave it at him, he usually backs off. I'm anxious for the eggs to hatch already so I can relax and not be on pins and needles, listening for the patter of feet as the ganders are taking a run for me. The one that flies dive-bombed me yesterday. As long as he keeps his goose-bombs to himself, I'm happy. ;)

I got my potatoes and onions planted this weekend, so maybe a little watering will make them grow. Seems like we got half an inch of rain today, so that will help. I planted a bunch of herbs too, so now I will have to learn how to cook with them.

The irises are blooming and so are the tulips. It's nice to have a little color in the flower beds already. The plum trees are blooming too. I planted two peach trees, so I hope to be making peach preserves in a few years. My only apple tree isn't blooming yet, but I put the concoction in the jug and hung it in the tree. It's vinegar and molasses. It's supposed to lure and kill the apple maggots. My dad swears by it. Hope it works. I haven't been getting many apples yet, but it's only a couple of years since I planted it. The birds usually beat me to it.

I also hung some bird houses in the trees. My dad makes them and they usually attract wrens. Sparrows get some of them, but they have to have a home too. The guys are cleaning up the yard and seeding grass. We need to burn an old camper that is rotting away. We didn't realize that the roof had totally caved in until we looked at it last weekend. We knew it had a leak, but it really went to pot fast. Going to have a weenie roast this weekend. Now that it has rained, we won't be so leary to burn anything.

Gotta run. I'm behind again today. No surprise. I'll probably be behind for the rest of the year!! LOL

Ruth