Hi Leeanne Thanks for the inspirational posting. I am in Calgary and it
is -20 C. with no hopes of spring til May/ June.

Derryl





....
Allow me to vent and/or dream . . .

Man oh man is it stinking cold up/down/over here in New England (depending
on where *you* are reading this from). I'm bummed that there is too much
snow on the local pond -- this would have been THE BEST winter for skating
in, well, I don't know how many years!! Don't get me wrong -- I love
snow,
but now it's not even shovelable (is that a word?? lol) to clear off a
spot
to skate. It's sooooo cold out. The coldest since the late 1800's they
are
saying, so much for global warming and El Nino!!!

Hooray for the Farmer's Almanac, they nailed it right on (as they do 99.9%
of the time I believe) and I guess we are to be on the lookout for a
summer
full of thunderstorms -- I love thunderstorms!

Being from New England and loving New England you'll not hear any serious
complaints out of me. I am, however, longing for the peek of the crocus
thru the snow and the birds to be coming back for the summer in my yard -
orioles, mockers and catbirds, hummers, various flycatchers, and the
mystery
ones that I only hear in the woods or barely catch a glimpse of. Every
year
I seem to see something new as I add new plants or more water or different
foods.

I want to put my trellis back up and let the moon flowers, trumpet vine
and
morning glories crawl their beautiful way up and over it. I want to
unfreeze my bird splashing pool and see if the frozen frog will come back
to
life (seriously doubt it, but it will be interesting), I want to go buy
pansies and salvia and other small annuals for the front row that add the
INSTANT gratification of color. I want the giant lilac bushes to bloom so
I
can smell their heavenly scent - even if it is short lived it's very worth
it.

I want to pick fresh raspberries and, hopefully, grow some veggies this
year - cukes & zucchini for sure, we'll see about others. I want to
battle
the Asian Lily Beetles, drowning them in soapy water before they can
destroy
what I call my tiger lilies. More milky spore on the lawn for grub
control - however I welcome the skunks and flicker's to come and make
their
bellies full as well -- who cares if there are holes in the lawn, they
need
to eat too!

I want the 'house shopping' Tree Swallows to come check the bluebird boxes
out in my backyard again, one box was already taken by chickadees who
didn't
take too kindly to the, um, visitors poking their heads into the hole,
lol.
The other box was a bit of a different style and the swallows were not
interested in it - so I bought another like the one they did like and I'm
keeping my fingers crossed for this year. I got to stand in my backyard
and
watch those two beautiful, sort of iridescent, birds fly low and slow in
great circles around the yard, sometimes coming within just a few feet of
me -- I was crouched by a wall. It was like a great bird ballet. And, of
course, I'd be overjoyed if bluebirds actually took up residence in the
boxes named for them. Maybe I'll put up a couple more and see what
happens.
I'll take baby chickadees though, they are adorable.

I'm hoping I still have coyotes in the 'hood as I had NO issues with
woodchucks last year for the first time in many many moons. Love those
coyotes! But I'm sure my neighbors won't be too happy if their cat gets
nabbed - that's why my Max stays indoors.

I love the seasonal changes winter, spring, summer and fall bring me
here -
but it's time for a change NOW gosh darn it :-) The days are getting
longer
. . . hoo-freakin'-ray!

Thanks for listening,
Happy Friday everybody!
LeeAnne

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If you're an insomniac, agnostic, dyslexic do you lay
awake at night wondering if there is a dog?
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