Birds and Berries

It was a very nice day here today. It was an actual Spring day with a breeze and blue skies and birds and all that. We've had a few nice days now, but what made this one especially nice was that it fell on a Saturday, and that I didn't have to leave my property all day long.

A few weeks ago, we had a nice Saturday afternoon and Bill and I went to the nursery and bought $35.00 worth of strawberry plants, hanging planters and potting soil. I fixed them all up and hung them on the porch and I, who am the world's worst grower of plants, felt so accomplished. And then we had to bring them inside for about a week because it was freezing overnight and still freezing when we got home. They seemed to do well anyway, and then we could leave them out during the day, and then all the time, and Thursday evening I found this.

This is what a $35.00 strawberry looks like. I was so excited. I've been talking about planting strawberries ever since we moved here 12 years ago, and now I have finally accomplished a berry.  So, yesterday morning Bill and I ceremonially split said berry and consumed thereof. There are several more in the offing, and if I can get just nine more, they will only have cost $3.50 a piece and there's a LOT of potting soil left, so that will make it a pretty good deal.

Today, Bill got out the rototiller and got to work, and hopefully tomorrow we can buy some flowers for the front of the house, and maybe a new tree to replace the one that fell down in the ice storm year before last. (No, not that one, the other one.) All this planting will be a first for me.

Another exciting thing is that we have decided that there really is a bird living in the birdhouse. I'm not sure what it is, but it isn't a martin. It might be a bluebird, but we just can't get a good enough look at it to be able to tell. I have had many, many birds in my yard and offered them a goodly number of birdhouses, but this is my first tenant. I hope it doesn't eat my strawberries.

I'm thinking that this year's bumper crop might be huge bumble bees. They are everywhere, and one of them is hanging around at eye level just outside my kitchen door. This is very irritating because this is the first year I have been able to use that door due to the fact that the previous owners removed the steps. Now I have nice new steps, and a friend repaired the door which was in rather bad shape, and now the stinking bee wants to challenge me every time I open the door.

And today, I almost performed a most prodigious feat, which is that I finally did my taxes. I have been putting it off because it always seems so overwhelming and it always turns out to be pretty easy, and it wasn't even as costly as I thought it would be. In a year of pretty big financial surprises, this turned out to be good one.

As you may have figured out by now, I am not going to get around to finishing St. Martin before the end of Lent. This is because I can see that if I am to do it right, I will have to read the book again and take notes as I go along. I still plan to do it, but this has not been the best time.

I do have something planned for Holy Week, which is simple, but which I hope will be nice.

And now, the moon is 95% full and I will wish you a good evening.

AMDG