There is still some snow scattered around from the last storm we had several days ago, but mostly things are greening up nicely now. Today I was outside in the afternoon with tennis shoes and no jacket. I’ll know it’s spring when I can dispense with the tennis shoes.
Alice’s last day of spring semester classes was last Friday. We’re into finals week now. She works so hard this time of the year that she comes home shaky tired. Soon, though, she’ll be able to have some more flexibility with her time and maybe even spend some time in the gardens.
My winter friends, the Chickadees, are starting to become scarce. During this time of year their song changes, and they spend less time at the feeders. I heard my summer friends yesterday, and saw them for the first time today. There were 6 tree swallows flying for joy over my head and singing their song that sounds like a bubbling brook. I broke out in a grin in spite of myself when I had my first visual of them. I then remembered I’d opened up their nest boxes last fall, but hadn’t disinfected them yet. So I grabbed the squirt bottle with a mild Clorox solution, and gave each nest box a bath. This hopefully kills the parasite eggs that can hatch and infect and sicken the young birds in the nest.
I also got out to the blueberry patch and moved 3 more plants. I’ve been trying for years to get them all moved to the rows we made for them some years ago. If I could get one more good day, I think I could get them all moved, and then I can mow that area of the lawn again. When I first planted these, I made a square of them, which was a huge mistake, because I couldn’t keep them weeded. Now they are in rows and are much easier to care for. Alice and I didn’t get enough last year to last us the whole winter, so we brought some frozen ones at the grocery store. Gag! They were round and blue, but didn’t taste much like blueberries to us.
This picture was taken when I was near the end of the boiling phase of the maple syrup project. I thought it was neat because the rising sun was shining through the steam coming off the evaporator pan. On the left of the foreground is the plastic barrel I use for bulk storage of the sap I collect. The bucket on top of the barrel us sitting upside down right now. It has a floor flange attached with a 1″ pipe nipple threaded onto it. When I’m gathering, I put this contraption upright on the top of the barrel with the nipple protruding through the open bung. That way I can quickly empty my gathering buckets when I come in with sap.
Franco comes out to the operation with me each day equipped with a stick. We have worn several sticks out this year. I keep a bow saw inside the building, and we frequently walk out to a brush pile and fashion a new stick after the current one gets lost up in a tree, or just wears out. Franco seems to harbor no mushy attachments to his sticks. He’ll watch me creating a new one with his current stick in his mouth, and as soon as I have it ready and make as though to throw it, he simply lets his jaw drop and the stick falls out. He’ll eagerly chase the new one and the old one just lays where he dropped it. 
Sometimes I’ll be busy with something and kind of forget Franco is out there with me. I’ll look outside and feel he is out there, but don’t see him. He blends in very well with the dead leaves. When I finally spot him I see he is watching me and wondering in his doggy brain how any such creature gets by is life whose senses are so terrible. I’ll often be unable to find him out there even after looking for a while, so I’ll call him, and he often pops up a short distance away from me.