A Balmy Day in February

February 15... who would have thought???

64 degrees!

As Keith would have reminded me, winter is not over yet. 

It's 25 with a "feels like" of twelve right now on Friday morning. 

Here I am on the raccoon cam yesterday morning, 

headed out to do chores in CAPRIS in February, and 

my oversized Mona Pants tee shirt. 

Crazy!

I am back in Cuddl Duds and a sweatshirt and jeans this morning. 

So, I got started... slowly.  

I had lots of help every step. 

I had to watch everywhere I stepped, because spring is springing. 

Every five minutes, I had to stop... dig out a sapling... 

and cut it underground.  Some I was actually able to pull 

out by the roots.  Others were just too thick. 

There is yarrow in this bed at the back, and a 

patch of nice iris.  I left them alone. 

I unearthed some lily corms and could have slapped myself, I 

buried them again, but I think I had better invest in some new lillies. 

I moved over to the vegetable beds to do some 

cleanup.  Remember, I am still experiencing muscle weakness, so 

I go very slowly for the time being. 

Four of the eight beds are in pretty good shape, but I will add

manure and dirt to them. 

The other four need to be dug out. 

I also have a big problem in one of the vertical beds. 

It's a rugosa rose, well established.  

I did not plant this, it came while we lived in the big house. 

I am going to carefully start cutting the canes, which have 

wicked, large thorns.  Then I'll start working on the base. 

The vertical panels tie together at the top bar, and I want to 

use these beds again for climbing flowers.  

I pulled all the canes out of the middle area yesterday.  The far bed 

needs to be dug out, too. 

I'll have the yard service keep all this area cut down this year, when Keith and I 

planned this garden, we did not do enough thinking about keeping the paths clean. 

Beyond that bed lie the "bones" of my 

hoop house.  Some way, some how, I am going to get it 

resurrected.  It may take another year, I have to have 

someone to build the ends again.  Beyond the 

hoop house there are two beds that have iris in them, but 

also formerly, hollyhocks and sedum.  I am going to dig those beds

out and hollyhocks are coming back to Calamity Acres. 

I am never alone.  See that blue thing on the 

ground?  I am still picking up random pieces of plastic that 

appear everywhere.  In fact, this morning, doing chores, I 

picked up another 4 pieces.  Where do they COME from???

Four years ago, when we moved to the big house, 

my friend Georgie sent me some marigold seeds from Oregon. 

I planted them, and every year, saved the seed.  

I pulled this clump from the tomato bed yesterday, 

and I hung it in the henhouse for the time being. 

There will be a full bed of bright red and maroon 

marigolds again this year, descendants of 

the Oregon marigolds.  

This group, and the ones on the deck, will not be filled 

and planted until proper planting time, because of the hens, 

who love to jump in them and DIG.  I'm also 

going to have to put netting on them until the plants get going. 

The alternative is to fence the hens into their own run... but I hate doing that. 

They are happy running all over the yard, and I am dealing with the Poop Factor. 

That's starling poop on the deck, though, they hang out in the big maple off and on. 

As soon as it warms enough, the starlings will be gone to the fields for the summer. 

My daily reward for letting them roam. 

I took this as I gathered eggs last night. 

We see you. 

This is what raccoons do to the water in the henhouse. 

Feral Spooky waited while I cleaned the water and opened a can of 

food for him this morning, he is a smart boy.  I always leave a container of 

dry food, but I put wet food out in the morning and the evening. 

Isn't he lovely?