Apr 12, 2013 More Flowers



Dwarf Waterleaf blooming on the south slope.
Blooms are about 1" across.


Wednesday, 4/10.  We ended up with rain showers throughout the morning until the wind raced in about 11:00 am.  It raced back out again around 5:00 pm leaving us with clear skies and a high of 44.  Ten-degree-below-normal temperatures are forecast for the weekend.  Don't know yet if my seedlings are going to survive.

I really enjoy working the sudoku puzzles, but some days I can only figure out the easy ones while other days I sail right through the medium ones.  Very frustrating.

I finally found the comb for the dogs.  Jesse loves being combed, but Dinga will have none of it right now.  She broke loose and started racing around in circles when I tried to groom her.  Guess I will have to use the knobby glove on her.

After lunch I worked on a new craft idea I have and JB went out to work on MAX.  I went out a little later and we were able to put on all six of the larger tires.  JB backed MAX into his parking place, but that was it for JB for the day as his hamstring was bothering him again.  I stayed out a bit longer just puttering around.

The robins have arrived Up Here, so it really must be Spring.

I started a new Jack Reacher novel, A Wanted Man, by Lee Child.  JB's choice for reading material right now is America's Constitution: A Biography by Akhil Reed Amar who is a Yale Law School professor.  Rather dry for me, but it makes for good discussions.  It is unbelievable how New York State has completely ignored the fourth amendment with their law to confiscate hand guns from citizens who have been prescribed certain medications.  Just how did they get that information?!

After a dinner of pork chops cooked in sherry and peaches, we started watching season four of "Castle" again.

Thursday, 4/11.  Started out overcast and 28, but soon gave way to lots of blue sky.  The wind had kicked up again during the night but all is quiet now at 6:45 am.  I woke up early and am letting JB sleep in.  There was a fire in the stove, so he must have been up earlier with the dogs, but I sure didn't hear him.  Jesse is sitting here wagging his tale and giving me the "Jesse Mind Meld".  Since I am up, he wants breakfast, but it would be more than an hour early.  I finally gave in at 7:45. . .

I am sure now that a combination of a very low gluten diet and daily pro-biotics is the key to my intestinal health, so pro-biotics are on the shopping list for the next time one of us goes grocery shopping.  It may be a while as JB is going to go help his brother at the winery the weekend of 4/20 and we really do not need anything before that.

I spent more than an hour this morning shredding papers that have been stacking up for about a year.  Got about half of it done.

After lunch we put MAX's tracks back in the shop and cleaned up a bit, then JB went in to rest his leg and I started clipping the large branches we had brought down from the south ridge.  Got a little more than 1/3 of them done, putting the larger pieces in the wood cradle to be cut and took two large armfulls of smaller pieces that I had been able to cut with my clippers to the wood shed.

After that the dogs and I walked up to the south ridge.  Something caught their attention and they both went way down almost into the canyon, further than I have ever seen them go before.  They have been going much further down since we have cut gaps in the fence, as if that gave them the permission to do so.  I made my way down a bit and noticed that the dwarf waterleaf is suddenly blooming all over the south slope.  And each day there is more yellow from the blooming balsam root.

There was an icy breeze coming in from the north today, compared to the comfortable and sometimes warm wind yesterday, though most of that was in the tree tops.  Our high for today was only 39.

Friday, 4/12.  The dogs woke me up at 5:30 am.  I let them out and put a fire in the stove, planning to go right back to bed when they came in but now I am wide awake.  It is 28 outside with a light overcast and I am watching daybreak arrive, and listening to the birds awaken.  The perfect start to my day.

Thought for the day:  We act as though comfort and luxury were the chief requirements of life when all we need to make us really happy is something to be enthusiastic about.  Charles Kingsley