Hi All,
Gosh. I had a horrible time signing in. New hard drive. Ridiculous.
So, so busy. Has rained for a week, and even snow on my decks this morning...just a dusting. Have 35 new plants to dig holes for...so I won't be online too much in the next few weeks. Cuz its just me digging. No helpers. And we all remember the bedrock on my mountain that I have to dig up. Yikes, what have I done??? Floyd Cove sent me a 'gorgeous' box of plants...I only ordered two new plants from them, and Karen sent me two more as a bonus. Magnificent fans. Truly breathtaking. The sink is full of plants. The good news is that the next 3 days are going to be bright and sunny in the 60's and 70's. Sun up to sundown, I will be working outside.
My little Pomeranian, 'Kismet', had to have surgery on both her hind legs. Genetic - luxating patella. She had an orthopedic surgeon who was located in Burlington, 60 minutes away. The operation was a complete success! Very expensive surgery. I was able to get most of the money back from the company, I brought her from which paid for the surgery. She is like a new dog---running, jumping, and giving high-fives. But it was two weeks out of my April helping her recuperate. She is just great now, and I love her so.
Another thing that happened last week. I heard this huge thump on my deck. Kismet started barking like crazy. I was working on the computer. I went and switched on the outside deck lights, and OMG, I almost had a heart attack. There on my deck 25' up in the air was a huge black bear looking at me through my sliding glass doors.
And as I looked further down my deck, I saw 2 small cubs attacking my bird feeder. I was dumbfounded. Dogs going nuts. In the 50 yrs I have lived here, I had never seen a bear!! And the momma bear was gigantic...around 500 lbs. Having never experienced anything like this before, I thought quickly, and got two pans and started banging them together as hard as I could. The two cubs climbed down the posts that holds the deck up. But momma bear was so big, she couldn't figure out how to get back down, and she was going crazy. MY deck is 25' up in the air. It took her 15 minutes running around the deck, looking over it, trying to figure out her escape. At one point she came right up to the window, a ft away from me, with mouth open, and pawed the window. I was very scary. She did manage eventually to climb down, and for a half hour all I heard in the dead of night were these groaning whining sounds down below. She was calling for her cubs. I called 911, and they hooked me up with the Forest Ranger. He wanted me to go out with a flashlight to see if she was okay. I declined that task. Two days later Forest Ranger showed up but the bear and her cubs were long gone. I will never forget that night, and the shock of seeing 3 black bears on my deck. Moral of the story is that the bird feeders have to be taken down April 1 when bears come out of hibernation.
Oh yes, in between time I have joined Hillary Clinton's legion of supporters working for her online. I have learned a ton about politics. Good thing I had Civics courses growing up in elementary school, which they don't teach anymore. Too bad, because so many people don't understand how our political system works.
I hope everyone is well. I know you are all busy in your gardens. Take care, and I will check back in from time to time, after I get ll theses new plants in the ground. Have missed you.
Alex
