More Rain

Last night the weather forecast indicated warm temperatures, partial cloud cover, and wind. The cloud cover looks quite heavy and it has been raining on and off the whole time I have been up, three hours now. I had hoped to wash and hang my sheets out to dry but maybe I can do that tomorrow.

Yesterday afternoon, my bird feeders arrived. We have washed them. This morning, I will make a sugar water solution for the hummingbirds. Reports indicate that males are beginning to return to claim territory for the summer. I am going to wait a little longer with the oriole feeder but perhaps I should put it out now too. The indications are that cedar waxwings like the same things orioles do and that they come to oriole feeders. Since cedar waxwings stay for the winter, they might like a new food source.

Rain Again

On the way home from our Wednesday morning study group, we stopped so that I could pick up a gift for my mother. In little more than a week, I will see her birthday and Mother's Day. I got a robin's egg blue three-quarter length sleeve cardigan, a white shell with a lovely embroidered neckline, and a set of robin's egg blue and white stockings. I will send everything plus a check to my sister who will give our mother the clothes for one gift and buy some flowers for the other gift. Maybe I ought to include a little more for some candy too.

As nice as it was yesterday, today is a bit opposite. Except for a brief interlude this morning, it has been cloudy, gray, and rainy. We do so need the rain. On the news last night, they said that it would take four to five years of average rainfall and snowfall to restore the water level of White Bear Lake.

Spring, Lovely Spring :-)

Today looks and feels like something typical for the end of April. The sun is out and the sky is sapphire blue.

The pictures show my fritillaria in the Gopher Garden and apricot blossoms. You do have to use your imagination a little bit to see the maroon in the fritillaria. I am fascinated by their checkerboard coloration. As you can see, the apricot blooms before the leaves come out.

I have received word that my bird feeders were shipped Friday. Since they are coming from the East Coast via ground transportation, they will probably not be delivered until the end of the week at the earliest.

More Rain Today

Yes, we have more rain. At least, the sky looks cloudy and very rain-like. We need rain very much. Lake water levels in the area are down. White Bear Lake, a community to the north of us closed one of the beaches on White Bear Lake. It has been a very popular beach. The water level is down and a dangerous drop off is much too close to the swimming area. The community park board decided it would be a wise idea to close the beach. Friends who saw Minnehaha Falls in Minneapolis on Saturday say that it is very low.

Above is a picture of Minnehaha Falls on a better day in 2004. As far as waterfalls go, it is rather small. If you have seen Niagara Falls, Bridal Veil Falls on the US side is much, much larger than Minnehaha Falls. All the same, we love the falls. When I was a child, we lived close enough to the falls to come to the park for picnics. When my husband was growing up, he lived so close to the falls that the park was where he, his siblings, and his friends played. The creek that feeds the falls winds through southern Minneapolis from Gray's Bay on Lake Minnetonka. At the end of summer, one year, my husband and I canoed the creek through Minneapolis from where it enters to city almost all the way to the falls.

Rainy Day Coming

Today looks like a good one to stay inside. The temperature is not supposed to even reach 60F and rain is predicted. In fact, there may even be thunderstorms throughout the day and well into the night. That makes me feel cold. Maybe I will change from my shell set to a turtleneck and my boiled wool jacket for church.

I need to check on the pansies I bought this past week. I am a little afraid that they might be dangerously dry since I have neglected them somewhat. While I am doing that, I ought to check on those little tomato plants. I think that I probably never let you know why the little tomato plants are such an involved project. Where we live, generally the last frost is considered to be mid-May. The general rule of thumb is to not plant tender plants until the end of May when the soil has had enough time to warm a little. To plant the tomatoes which need warm soil before the end of April is really pushing it.

We put the cut down milk cartons out where the plants will go for a few days to help warm the soil. When we pop the cartons over the little plants, the cartons become little cold frames. When we put the tomatoes in early like this, the roots become very well established. We are able to have tomatoes a few weeks early. After living on store-bought tomatoes for the winter, in April we begin to become very desirous of garden grown tomatoes. Even with the little covers for the tomatoes, we run the risk of loosing them because of cold.

The apricot trees look like they are getting ready to bloom. Please do not make the mistake of thinking these are the lovely, juicy apricots from California. These trees are hardy in weather as cold as what we have in the middle section of Minnesota. The apricots are quite small; in fact, I have seen some humongous olives that are almost as big as our apricots. We eat them off the tree and if we have a large enough crop, I will make preserves. The danger here is that the trees bloom with the first warm temperatures which we have had this past week. If we have frost which is quite possible, we will loose the crop; we have no way to cover the apricot trees the way we cover the tomato plants.

Saturday Thoughts

The past couple days the temperature has been unseasonably warm. Today it is closer to normal and it feels cold. As I walked this morning, it began to rain lightly. It has since, stopped and the clouds appear to be thinning. Although I can see a little blue sky, it really is not supposed to be a very hopeful sign. More rain is predicted for the weekend.

Yesterday, I dug out part of my bleeding hearts to give some to a friend who lost hers. We divided the clump into three which I planted for her. In exchange, she gave me an interesting flower. I have no idea what its name is.

Today, two friends are running a 5k or 10k. A third friend is with them to cheer them along and give them support but not to run. She is planning to run Grandma's Marathon in Duluth, MN in a few weeks. She is hoping her foot will have healed by that time.

Pictures Today

You can see one of the small tomato plants. I took its little hothouse cap off. In the background and slightly out of focus is the other plant still under its little cap and behind it is another milk carton that we are currently using to bring water to the plants.

Over night, the temperature did not get low enough to do damage to the tomato plants but for the past twenty-four hours, it has been extremely windy. I am certain that the caps protected the plants.

We are beginning to see volunteer lettuce in the garden. We obviously have little control over where it sprouts. This single little one is in the raspberries.

Last, but far from least, are the daffodils. They have been open for a couple days now and are in our Gopher Garden. My husband and I graduated from the University of Minnesota. The school colors are maroon and gold and the school mascot is Goldie the Golden Gopher. We have maroon and gold flowers in the Gopher Garden. Lately, I have been thinking about giving up the idea of the Gopher Garden because it seems a little silly. That might be a little hard to do because we have a collection of maroon and gold flowers that I would have to spread around to the other gardens. That sounds like a lot of work.

Bird Feeders

Yesterday, I finally made myself order a new hummingbird feeder and a jelly feeder for the orioles. It has been so incredibly easy to put off this easy task.

Even if the old hummingbird feeder had not deteriorated so much because it was old, I would have gotten a new one. The old one did not have perches for the hummingbirds to stand on while they ate. It takes a lot of energy for them to hover while they eat. With the new feeder, we stand a chance of seeing the babies at the feeder. Last year was the first year that hummingbirds came to our feeder. We thoroughly enjoyed seeing them.

In the past, the hummingbirds may have been telling us that they really prefer feeders with perches. They would come into the garden. This year, I will be planting more things that they like in the garden. Butterflies also like the same things so I hope that we will see more of them too.

A friend suggested that we get a jelly feeder to attract orioles. I ordered one that has two little cups for jelly and two places to attach an orange half. I hope that the orioles approve of it.

Both feeders should arrive in ample time to get them out for the birds to have as they return to Minnesota.

What Is in the Garden?

Currently I am in the process of cross stitching a medium-sized picture. It is complex and a little hard to follow because the chart is hand-drawn. After working on it for a couple hours, I desperately need a break. Hopefully I will return to the stitching refreshed and better able to read the chart.

Yesterday afternoon, I pulled weeds out of the flower bed along the front walk. There were all of twenty. The tulips there are putting in an appearance but I am not certain how nice the flowers will be because the individual leaves look a little thin and small. There is one chrysanthemum that looks like it wants to take over the garden. The hostas there have yet to put in an appearance.

We have been planting in the vegetable garden. We put in two tomato plants today, a cherry tomato and a slicing tomato. They are each underneath a cut down milk container to help them keep warm, especially over night. We will have to remember to take the containers off tomorrow if the temperature gets up to the predicted 80F. Then we have to remember to cover them for the night. :-) We have planted beans, peas, broccoli, and lettuce. The beans really may be early but the others do grow in cool temperatures.

Unfortunately, it looks like the rabbits did serious damage to the raspberries during the winter. We may not have a good crop this year. I am going to try to pick up some dried blood meal to sprinkle around the garden. The rabbits are not supposed to like the smell of it. We do have to reapply it after we water the garden or after it rains. That seems like a small effort to make to try to deter the rabbits.

Contrasts

Yesterday I washed a light weight coat and decided to also wash my winter parka. Normally I put it off until the end of the summer. This time it feels very good to know it is clean and hanging in the closet ready to wear sometime in October or November. I also think that it would have to be an extremely cold day for me to take it out now.

Tuesday morning is hospital volunteer day for me. I volunteer at our local hospital. It is an easy walk but because of the road construction, it is not a good idea to walk so I drive over. I volunteer in the Maternity Care Center. Generally, it is a very happy place in the hospital. Today was just a little unusual. A woman was admitted through the emergency room. We were informed that her water had broken but not that the baby could easily have been delivered in the elevator. The baby, a lovely little girl, was born as soon as we were able to help the mom onto the bed.

Talk about contrasts - - -
After I left the hospital, I went out to select fabric to make a scarf for the mother of one of my friends. Her mother is undergoing treatment for breast cancer and will be loosing her hair. I was fortunate to find fabric in colors that she likes to wear.

In church this coming Sunday, we will baptize three children. We give the families banners to make this abstract concept a little more concrete. I prepare little kits for volunteers to cross stitch. They stitch everything but the name and date and then return the banners to me. When a baptism is scheduled, I add the name and date and finish the banner. This week, I am finishing three banners. This afternoon I backed two of the banners.

It has been a day of contrasts.

Spring Rain

Yesterday it rained all day. Actually it was more of a mist as the rain was light. It did not collect and runoff; all of it seemed to sink into the dry topsoil. As I walked this morning, there seemed to be some light clouds with blue sky. It was very hard to be certain about it in the dark. When we left the health club, the rain let us know that we would be in for another gray, sunless day.

My friends at the health club said that as far as they were concerned, it could rain all day because it was Monday. They did not appreciate the rainy day yesterday. I bit my tongue because I felt we needed the rain so much it really did not matter when it came just that it came.

It was amazing how quickly the grass began to green up yesterday with the rain. Even if we had watered, I doubt it would have greened up as quickly. The trees are also showing signs of new growth. The willows are already very light green and so are a lot of the shrubs and bushes. The oaks still show no signs of leaves but then they are always the last ones to leaf out.

Hard Lessons of Life

Over night we had a little rain. It looks like it was very little but we will take it and hope for more. It has been extremely dry since the snow melted and the runoff evaporated. The risk of brush fire is extremely high. There have been several during the past couple weeks but they were contained reasonably well. There has been property loss, not much but you would not think that if it were your property.

On the first day of spring break for one of our local school districts, a couple high school boys apparently wanted to see what happens when you burn a dry cattail. You can easily imagine what happened next. It was a very small grass fire with no property damage. The fire was easily extinguished which was fortunate.

They are good kids; one is an Eagle Scout candidate. They made a poor choice. They come from homes with responsible parents. So what do you do? The Fire Chief offered an option which would keep the boys out of the juvenile justice system. If they spent the next two Saturdays working eight hours each day on assigned duties to help the public safety department they would not be charged. But wait a minute, one of the boys was ready to go to a scouting weekend on the second Saturday. The chief's argument was that we all make choices and there are consequences to each and every choice. Some times the choice is poor and the consequence is hard. The chief really did not have to go much further; the parents and boys knew their only other option was the juvenile justice system.

One of our sons is a member of the fire department and was asked to chaperone the boys both Saturdays. The boys washed the grass rigs, at least one of the engines, a police department vehicle, and the bays of at least one of the stations. I think that they also learned how expensive it is to take the grass rigs and pumper out to a grass fire, even a very small one. They learned how hard it is on the personnel to fight a grass fire.

I think this was a hard lesson for the boys. I have faith this is one lesson they will take with them for the rest of their lives.

Sounds of Spring

The sounds are all around. In the early morning, the spring peepers are joined now by bird song. The robins and cardinals are busy declaring their territory even before the sun is up. During the winter as I walk in the morning, I am accompanied only by traffic sounds. Now the birds and other creatures are a welcome addition. This morning I heard a pheasant squawking.

There are indications that wild turkeys may soon be occupying the park behind our home. Last weekend, one appeared to be checking out the park. We all ran out to see it but it went into a little grove of trees. A black lab that was out for a walk flushed the turkey out of the trees. The turkey ran out of the trees and took off in flight over the houses. This was the first time I have ever seen a wild turkey in flight. It was breathtaking, a very impressive sight to think that a bird that large can get up as high in the air as fast as it did.

In Minnesota, we say there are two seasons, winter and road construction. Yes, I can hear the sounds of road construction too. It is a tenth of a mile from us but I can hear it clearly. Not only that but because we are extremely dry right now, it is raising a lot of dirty dust into the air. It is only going to become worse as the construction progresses. I can only hope the end results are worth the inconvenience. I am certain that some will not feel they are better served; for us, it will not make much difference.

Spring Has Sprung

Spring has come. This morning I discovered white crocus in bloom. To tell the truth, I had forgotten that we have white ones. The rhubarb and raspberries are also showing growth. This is the season of renewal. Because our winter can be so harsh and seems to last so long, the first signs of spring are very sweet. The spring peepers have been singing for the past week. We could still have cold and we could still see snow but for now we are planning where to plant the tomatoes. We are wondering how early we can set out the first tomato plants using plastic milk cartons as little hot houses for each plant.