Spring What?

Okay, this is not brain surgery, you do know this is a squirrel and he does NOT belong in this bird feeder, right? Ya try telling him that!

Now here's your intelligence test -- what kind of squirrel is this? Give ya a hint, starts with a "C" has an "A" in the middle and ends with a "T?" And, another hint, not really interested in the bird food but most likely in the birds -- now, you should be able to guess this without too much effort.

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Okay, you survived the first day of spring, even the change in temps (nice during the day but chilly at night) and most likely you’ve had every clown in the world advising you what you should be doing, even some nitwits suggest you start planting that garden now, right?

Isn’t it amazing that as soon as the snow leaves people become brilliant and know everything! All winter long they hibernated and said damn little, except how cold they were but no pearls of wisdom from them, not a single drop. Yet, once the snow left, temps warmed up, they are suddenly a wealth of knowledge that must be heard and in some cases heeded too.

You know I enjoy folks who share tid bits with me or suggest things I might try that will help with some project. Hell I even seek out advice and ideas from folks, I'm willing to learn and try things too (not everything but some things, be careful what you're thinking!) For example, I am trying to see how many tulips I can actually get to bloom each year. The bulbs were donated and I planted nearly 70 of the suckers. When they first popped up last year I was in Florida but that didn’t stop the deer or whatever critter from having a lovely snack. So, folks began offering me ideas.

· Put a fence around them
· Spread red hot pepper flakes around them
· Spread soap shavings around them
· Use bounce strips around them
· Sit up all night, with a gun, and guard them

Hey, all of these were good suggestions, the gun business was a no-no however, me stay awake all night? Plus who says the deer only eat at night, hell, they could eat any time of day, I ain’t watching the flower bed every second!

So last year as the winter was soon approaching, I decided to put a flower garden in the front yard. I got some logs (flat on one side) and made this “bed” looking thing. I bought quite a bit of potty soil or top soil and this time, some bulbs were donated and some I bought and I loaded this area with seeds, bulbs and even a few mum plants. I didn’t realize just how big I had made this sucker, so I needed lots of stuff to hopefully pop up. The rule everyone advised was not to plant in rows or attempt this ideal spacing between plants – hell, clump’em together it will make things prettier. I have a tendency to plant uniformly and in perfectly aligned rows, so this was a challenge! Ya,just went against the grain but I kind of scattered or lump seeds all in one spot! It will truly be a surprise to see what pops up!

Now I got a few “things” pushing up in this flower garden but don’t ask me what, I never kept track of what I planted, so the surprise will be just as delightful to me as any viewer! Unlike the front, the back flower garden has already had critters taking the little shoots that popped up a few weeks ago and will never bloom. So, I have put bounce dryer sheets out there to see if this will detract these greedy critters. It’s like a battle zone out there – me against the critters!

Ya, whatever happens, will happen --- it’s a challenge and many have given up on tulips because the deer win. I'm not ready to concede to a deer at this point....bring in on Bambi, I can handle it!

Now this weekend many sugar houses are encouraging folks to stop by and see the process. You might not get to truck through snow but you can get a tour and definitely watch sap being boiled to make syrup and of course, you can buy this year’s crop too. I just hope the maple syrup folks are not greedy and haven’t upped the price to much?

Anyway, the sun is shining, it’s a tad chilly this morning but hey, get out there and enjoy the outside – you’ve been cooped up all winter, time to “air” you out too!!!