Happy day, whatever you choose. First day of spring according to the Old Calendar, the days are getting noticeably longer as the sun swings in his arc farther to the north with each sunrise. The birds will start singing in the morning again (I was wakened up by a bird this morning for the first time in months) and they will begin courtship now. Very important to start supply bird feeders with lots of nutrious food, especially suet, sunflowers, and nuts and berries/raisins. Birds need the extra energy for courtship and later for mating.
Even as I sit here, I'm noticing a lot more bird activity in the garden. There's a small flock of starlings dancing around in the Bradford pear, probably eating whatever little fruits are still hanging. The resident blue jay flock is out and about...they're starting to sing that lovely burbly song again instead of their usual screech.
Today I think I'll make a couple of birdseed wreaths. I dont really have a good place to hang them (they use gelatin to hold them together so tend to melt if they're exposed to rain), but I have friends who do and they will get them.
yesterday, I brought in one old cone-shaped wire tomato cage, some straight 1 inch diameter grape vine sections, and a mess of honeysuckle vine and put together a really nice little "tee pee" or "obelisk" for the garden. Wired the grape vines upright to the wire cone, then disguised the cross wires with honeysuckle. I was sort of amazed that it came out so nice. I'm not a 'crafty' person, I usually start every project by thinking "Well, this probably won't work, but here goes. " *HA* I think I'll try to get out and find some more grapevine or other sticks and do up another one. It's a yucky day today, rain, snow, and fog.
CAT update: It just never ends. Riley seems to be doing much better with the potassium supplements. I'll need to discuss this with the vet.
Tuck, our old guy with the long-term health issues has taken a bad turn. Very worried. I'm nursing him along with baby food, etc. by syringe but he fights me so badly I wonder if the stress is worse for him. Our cat Sam (A very big, very healthy guy) is also sick. He spent all day yesterday on my bed, refusing to get up to eat or drink. Late last night I think R must have let him outside because I can't find him in the house. Will need to check the shed. I think there's something going around...some kind of "kitty flu" or something. Sam is the third cat to show these symptoms. Three weeks ago Pixie was down for about 3 days with vomiting, listless, no appetite. I nursed her along with feedings and she bounced back. Same thing with Spooky. About 3 days of not feeling at all well, then ok again.
It's been a rough couple of months. I'm hoping that once the weather starts to clear up a bit and the cats can start being outdoors more it will at least be a little less stressful. The constant cleaning in the house is starting to wear me down. No sooner do I get a room nice and clean than it's full of hair or somebody sneaks in and sprinkles on something.
Really looking forward to sowing some seeds. I'm tempted to start some very early Chinese cabbage this week. Probably should set up a "glass row" in the veg first though, to see if I can get at least a small area warmed up enough to plant. What I did last year was put up a length of heavy fence bent over into a tunnel, then propped old storm windows against it on both sides. It left the center open to the rain, but raised the temperature enough to allow for some early planting. I did not take full advantage of it last year (groundhog troubles), but I think I will try it again this year and see what happens.
Discussions:
| Thread Title | Last Reply | Replies |
|---|---|---|
| Birds by Seedfork | Feb 3, 2015 5:02 PM | 3 |
Post a new thread about this blog entry:
