What Happened to Spring ?

OK, I’m seriously confused here.  April opened with a half an inch of snow.  That’s right, a half an inch of snow at 7am on April 2nd.  Chilly, blustery, just what I’d expect for April.  Then POOF – its summer.  Temps in the high 70’s.  WHAT HAPPENED TO SPRING?  Where’s those 50 & 60 degree days that tease, the soft breezes that hint of summer-yet-to-come?  Nope.  Just an hour or two in the wee hours of the morning and then Bazinga - full blown summer.  The ticks are out, the stink bugs are out, the little wasps are looking for home sites.  The trees, bushes and plants are acting likes its May and they’ve overslept. 

The Forsythia

The snow in March confused the forsythia and it bloomed later this year than it ever has before.  Then it went from buds to full bloom in 2 days.  The crocus stayed confused but the daffodils came on like gang busters.

More Forsythia

Only the oldest 4 bushes put out a really thick display of blooms.  The other bushes just couldn’t figure out what to do.  Now the forsythia was way late, but the grass is way early.

The Back Yard Half Mowed

On Wednesday, the back yard had a lot of green onions and not much else.  By Thursday it was greening up nicely.  Friday it rained.  Saturday I struggled through mowing the back yard.  I have my mower set on the highest grass length setting, but you can see how much there was to cut on Saturday.  This is the 1st time in 21 years that I’ve mowed before income taxes were due.

Nicely Mown Back Yard

At least the initial mowing is done.  The front & side yard haven’t taken off yet, which is good because I’ve got about 2 hours more of white pine to trim up from the 2 snowstorms in March.  Right now I’m one sore Mighty Mouse with a date tonight involving a very hot bath followed by judicious application of liniment.

Bird Nest in a Forsythia Bush

I’m not sure who used this nest last year but there were 5 of these nests in the forsythia bushes.  Two years ago there were only 2 nests.  I suspect the Cardinals who are spending a fair amount of time in the forsythia in pairs.  I’m also seeing the Carolina wrens hopping about in pairs.  I really like the wrens, they have such sweet songs.  I’ve also got 6-8 Little Brown Bats using the kitchen side attic louvers as a hunting roost.  They rest there on and off during the night between bug catching.

The New Sawbuck

Last weekend when I visited Da Urchin I cut out the pieces to make 2 sawbucks, one for her and one for me.  I got her sawbuck put together while I was at her place and put mine together today.  The wood came from the not-to-code framing in her basement which we had already torn out.  I had just enough straight wood for the sawbucks, the rest of the wood from the framing is badly warped.  I also made her cheese Pascha while I was there.

Cool Toy, I Mean Tool Set

When I went to Lowes for screws for the sawbuck project they had this really really cool tool set on sale.  Yes it followed me home.  There’s a .5 inch drill, a 6.25 inch circular saw, 2 batteries, a battery charge and the bag to carry them in.  The guide rail is from my hobby 3.5 inch circular saw but it fits this one too.  I’ve been doing all my woodwork cutting for years with a Stanley cross cut saw.  This makes the job so much easier.  The drill also serves as a screwdriver and the saw adjusted for both depth of cut and beveled cuts.  The batteries give just over an hours of steady use at full charge.  I see a bunch more projects getting done real soon.