March 2024

 With Spring and better weather, we've been fully into our spring cleaning and landscaping mode. Ron started with the excavator and was able to remove the top layer of blackberry brush, but there was still a lot of hand work to make the slope ready for more acceptable plants.

Since the ground under the blackberry vines consists of huge boulders and pit run, there was a lot of handpicking of rocks involved. Every hole we dug to place a plant involved bringing in some good dirt from elsewhere to give the plants a decent chance of survival.

Spring cleaning around here involves removing one last bank full of 100 year old blackberry bushes. Unfortunately, when we removed the blackberries, it left our propane tank standing out like an ugly sore thumb. This is what it looked like after Ron had taken the power washer to it. We've leased the same tank from Enviro Propane for about 35 years, so I decided I would risk their wrath and paint it.

While I was looking for paint in Home Depot, another customer walked by and saw the cans of spray paint in my basket and snarkly asked, "Planning on doing some tagging?" So I guess that's what you'd call painting an old propane tank that doesn't belong to you. If I was really into artwork, I'd have called my sister, Molly, who's an accomplished artist to help me. 

Meanwhile, my obsessive nature has me planting, potting, replanting, and repotting in the greenhouse. It's so wonderful to hang out there in the warmth watching things grow. I probably am overwatering but can't seem to stop myself.  

The other day, someone asked me what I thought we could expect in our screwed up world in 2024. I said "I think there'll be flowers!" They looked at me in dismay and said, "How can you say that when everything is so messed up?" My answer: "Because I'm planting flowers."