Spring Has Sprung

If he can't be in water, Ozzie would like to be running through the tall grass. There is still a little water from last week's rain in the small creeks. In a few weeks , the grass in this field will dry out and produce foxtails that burrow into ears and feet and cause terrible damage, and the wildflowers that are flourishing right now will have gone to seed. A few weeks after that, the grass will have withered away to nothing, revealing the dirt underneath. Then we will have to go further afield (so to speak) to the beach, the river or the woods for our morning walks.

A small snake slithered out from under Ozzie's bed when I came in from lunch on the porch. By the time I got something to pick it up with, it had vanished. I rather like snakes, but not knowing where it has gone in my house makes me a bit uneasy. The thought of a giant, full grown version suddenly appearing from under the pantry door or the dryer makes me a bit nervous. I'll leave the door to the porch open for as long as I can today and hope it finds its way back outside.


It is warm and windy today, wreaking havoc with various outdoor projects. It knocked the ladder over, taking out a couple of hop plants. (These plants appear to have at least nine lives, so I imagine they will recover). Pottery Barn has covered our inherited outdoor furniture with non-removable off-white fabric, which is now dirty and covered with leaves., It would cost $1,500 to replace it with a more weather resistant color and fabric, so I think that for the moment , we'll settle for a whisk broom .Clever marketing along the lines of doing away with the old fashioned bedspread so that you have to buy a duvet, duvet cover, bedskirt and a dozen pillows with coordinating colored shams that you can't actually sleep on. For the moment, we'll settle for a whisk broom out on the porch....

Several different kinds of butterflies are assembling on our blooming hill. Looks like I'll have to get a butterfly book, although if I can't see the bars on a bunting's wing, I don't imagine I'll have much luck spotting the spots on a butterfly's. The books look nice on the coffee table, though. I can leaf through them and pretend that's what I'm seeing....