Our yard/yard work – March 2024

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There is a lot going on in our yard this month. The bulbs I planted last year have thrived. The crocus bloomed first followed by the hyacinths and daffodils. The hyacinths don’t seem to bloom as well here as they did years ago in Maryland.

The forsythia bush in the corner of our yard is blooming profusely. I cut some to bring inside…and took some macro pictures of the flowers there. After the bush finishes blooming, I will trim it back significantly. I planted pawpaw seeds under it and I am hoping they come up…start my grove of pawpaw trees with the forsythia’s protection from the hottest parts of the summer days.

The fragrant sumac is blooming. I bought the young plant last spring after the bloom time so this is my first season to observe the small flowers.

The lambs’ ear is returning. The clumps that get more sun did not die back like the largest clump on the north side of the house. There are two in a sunny place that might merge over the summer.

The small hens and chicks are pretty with additional color forming on the tips of their leaves over the winter. There are still two chicks. I’ll be moving more rocks away from them so it will be easier for them to spread.

The vinca under one of our cedars is blooming. It seems to be well contained. I don’t want more of it!

I’ve planted more pollinator/butterfly garden seeds in two places: enlarging the existing wildflower garden and a sunny area under a pine tree where I cleared away most of the pine needles (it is sunnier there because I cut some low branches).

I’m not sure if the bulbs I planted from my parents’ garden are going to survive. They had to be planted in the winter…not the optimal time. Hopefully they will become established over this summer although I doubt they will bloom.

The mound where a pine tree used to be (it fell and had to be removed) is going to fill out nicely with irises and I planted a tiny oak there (I cut it from my flower bed last fall and put it in a vase to enjoy the fall color….it grew a root and put out green leaves! It will take years before it gets big enough to impact the bed but could eventually dominate the back yard!). The beautyberry that is there has not leafed out yet.

The hostas are beginning to emerge…in dense clumps. I decided to divide two clumps…since I have a shady place that I’d like to convert from grass.

I planted divided clumps (roots plus a furled leave or two) at the pine needle and flower bed boundaries with grass. I covered the grass with extra pine needles (from under the tree where I planted pollinator/butterfly garden seeds) and clippings from some bushes). I was thrilled when the hosta leaves unfurled within a day or two after they were planted!

There is still a lot to do in the yard. I get a little done every day I am at home and it’s dry…over 60 degrees.

Macro Photography – March 2024

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Sometimes I get in the mood for macro photography. It has happened several times this month.

The first was at my mother’s funeral. I was thinking about the bouquet of daffodils/narcissus that her neighbor cut from their old yard (with the new owner’s permission) and decided to take some macro views of the flowers while we were waiting for the service to begin. I thought about all the joy my mother experienced with her garden…with the flowers growing there and the ones she cut to bring inside. And that she transmitted that joy to her daughters.

The second round of macro photography was when I trimmed some low branches from one of my pine trees and decided to take a closer look at one of the branches.

Pine cones are so sturdy….they are hard on my lawn mower…but there is a fragile aspect to them too. At close range they are wrinkled and folded and etched.

The bark on a small stem shows where needles once grew and the expansion of the stem making brown islands in gray green.nce.

The bud at the end of stem looks reddish surrounded by green needles. Once again – I realize how much color there is that is unnoticed until we take a closer look.

The last macro photograph is one my daughter sent via text when she visited the Memphis Botanic Garden recently. She knows how much I enjoy finding fiddleheads….and evidently had caught the macro photography bug too. These were interesting because of the felt-like covering that must have protected them until they started to unfurl.

Ramping up Elder Care – March 2024 (1)

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A lot has happened in the last few weeks, so I am going to write 2 ‘ramping up elder care’ posts in March. In my mid-February post, I wrote “Are we through the bend…or is more to come before we settle into the new normal?” We were already getting accustomed to my parents’ house being sold…but we were also anxious with my dad testing positive for COVID. My mother tested positive a few days after he did….and died suddenly  few days later after being in the hospital for about 2 hours. So - the bend in my family’s collective life path is continuing into March.

My mother’s funeral was on the 1st. Dad was pleased with his appearance for the funeral; one of the assisted living staff helped him get into his suit (which he had not worn for a few years --- the last time was to a granddaughter’s wedding)…found another shirt so the neck would button and he could wear a tie! My sisters and I alternated being with him during the visitation and service. He seemed to enjoy my slide-by-slide narration of the pictures of Mother’s life from a young child to a few days before she died at 92. He also liked the limo. He did not like seeing Mother in the casket…thought it didn’t look like her even though he acknowledged that it was. He looked a few times then seemed to prefer watching the slideshow.

 My dad is grieving but very engaged with the reconfiguration of his living area at the assisted living group home. We started setting expectations a few days before the funeral so he would not be surprised when the furniture moves started to happen and it helped him internalize that mother was not coming back. The bed my mother has been using was one provided by the assisted living home and it was removed while we were at the funeral. We were all relieved that he didn’t seem traumatized that it was gone.   He is talking more than usual (he previously has always deferred to mother) ….and is more opinionated about how he would like things arranged. My sisters and I are spending more time with him, and the staff is very helpful. The staff has figured out that a small serving of ice cream is a great treat for him…and smooths out rough emotional times. So far – he seems to be surprising us with how well he is navigating his ‘new normal’ without his partner for over 71 years.

My dad’s reactions have been so positive that my sisters and I have already cleared away most of my mother’s belongings. It was a good time for us to talk to each other and him….noting some of the clothes she had worn for years…and others that were almost new…and trying out ideas for where furniture would be moved.

I don’t know for sure that we are at a new normal yet. We are with him more than usual…just to be sure he is OK. So far…he seems to be.

A few last pictures from my parents back yard the day before we closed on the 28th:

One of the neighbors asked the new owner if he could cut the narcissus and daffodil flowers from the yard to bring to the funeral….and the new owner said yes!

One of the neighbors asked the new owner if he could cut the narcissus and daffodil flowers from the yard to bring to the funeral….and the new owner said yes!

Previous posts: November 2023, November 2023 update, December 2023, January 2024, February 2024

Spring Bulbs

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Before I went off to Carrollton, TX the last week of March, the bulbs I planted last fall were beginning to bloom in our Nixa, MO yard. We had some very cold nights and the flowers seemed to take a very long time to open. There were only two crocus; one looked battered and the other looked like it had been eaten! Some leaves of another bulb were eaten as well (maybe it was a hyacinth). The hyacinths were a bit deformed too.

A little over a week later when I returned home – everything was blooming profusely outside the window of my office. The daffodils are probably the bulbs that are doing the best and will come back year after year. The squirrels have left them alone too. My plan it to hold off mowing the area for a few weeks – giving the bulbs time replenish and grow….be good to bloom next year.

The days are getting longer. The sunrise is at its best around 6:30 AM when I am in my office to enjoy it so I am OK with daylight savings time again!

Plant of the month - Daffodils

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At the beginning of March – the daffodils were already blooming in Carrollton, Texas.

I was full of anticipation for daffodils at my home in Nixa, Missouri since I had planted bulbs last fall…it took another 3 week for my daffodils to open! There was a lot of cold weather all during those weeks. I did photographs over almost a week of a bud outside my office window (there is a screen on the window which make the photos ‘soft’ focus…but I find it appealing). I was worried that the flower was going to open overnight…but it was so cold that at one point (temperature in the teens) the stem bent and the bud was in the grass. Fortunately, the stem recovered and the bud opened.

I walk around on the house on a day that it was a little warmer (temperature in the 40s) and was pleasantly surprised by some daffodils in a bed that isn’t visible from any of our windows. The bulbs were planted by the previous owner. They were on the west side of the house and must have been warmed by the sun shining on the brick wall during the cold days. They were all past prime….fading frills.

And now I am hoping the other spring blooming bulbs are going to bloom too…following the daffodils.

Our Nixa, MO Yard – March 2023

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The bulbs are up in our Missouri yard but making slow progress toward blooming because we keep having cold days! There are irises from a previous owner; I added more last fall along with daffodils, crocus, and allium. There is something growing low and around the irises that is very green (I suspect it is a weed/invasive but I am leaving it alone because I like its greenness).

The hyacinths are up and one tried to bloom. Most are still waiting to raise their buds above their leaves.

I am waiting to cut the decorative grass until late May…give insects overwintering there a chance to hatch and provide food for nesting birds.

The robins are back, of course. They don’t come to our feeder (they are not seed-eaters), but they are in our yard finding food – a good indicator that the yard might not be overwhelmed with chemicals. I am keen to let it grow as naturally as possible since I want birds and pollinators to be healthy here.

I have a clearer view of the sky in this house than I did in Maryland; the trees are not as dense or large. There is a river birch and oak in our neighbor’s yard that might provide an opportunity for a picture of the moon resting on branches…but I didn’t catch it this month. My camera’s night scene setting did a relatively good job of getting the moon in focus (Canon PowerShot SX70-HS on a monopod…me standing in my yard a few feet from my home office).

Overall – I like our new location…and plan to spend a lot more time in the yard when the temperatures are a little warmer.

Carrollton Yard – February 2023

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The temperatures were getting warm enough in Carrollton TX for some of the hardy spring flowers to make an appearance.

The naked lady lilies are just leaves now…building up for their bloom during the summer. The daffodils and hyacinths are blooming.

I noticed the fallen rooster and rusting toy surrounded by brown debris from last season and the greening new growth of spring. The rooster’s fall, twisted feather and the rust on the base/foot is new this season. I didn’t attempt to right it.

The small landscapes appealed to me as well – the small rock that looks like a big cliff next to the green vegetation, the single pink flower at the base of a big mulberry tree, a red leaf surrounded by crinkled brown leaves and delicate new green growth, and a dandelion already in bloom (also at the base of a mulberry tree).

My favorite image from the February walk around the yard was a backlit dandelion seed puff.  Yes – the background is messy…but I always attempt to capture the situation as it was in nature, not something contrived.

Bulb Planting

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I planted 141 bulbs in the back yard of my Missouri house in the 1st weeks of November: 16 iris, 20 allium, 30 hyacinth, 35 crocus, and 40 daffodils.

It was a harder job than I anticipated:

There is thick black cloth under the rocks in the defined beds near the house. I only planted a few bulbs there – in the area where a small cedar had died (I took it out, cut the black cloth, and planted the bulbs!

The areas under the pines were a good place for a few bulbs but I only planted on the sides that would get at least some sun during the day. It turned out to be not a very large area and I discovered there were more rocks in the grassy parts of the yard than I expected. My bulb planter broke partially under the strain.

There was one area that I particularly wanted to plant….near one of the windows I look through while I am at my computer. The soil was rocky there too. I opted to use the shovel to dig trenches then plant a mixture of bulbs. That worked well but it took me two days since my back bothered me – the contortion of digging and planting made it hard to keep my back aligned; I shortened my work times and the weather cooperated…got the job done.

I had thought when I started the project that I would plant some of the bulbs around the trees in the front yard…or the beds close to the house. But the defined beds have rocks over black cloth the same as the ones in back and the area around the trees is very hard. My alternative plan is to put a significant layer of mulch around the trees in early spring and then plant day lilies to make a ruff around the base of the trees like I had in Maryland. I don’t want to bump the tree trunks with the lawn mower or have to use the weed eater around them either.

I got a little sidetracked when I was looking for places to plant bulbs in the front yard: a very tall dandelion puff near the mailbox

And some Virginia Creeper than was protected by the bushes in one of the front beds….the red leaves looked very festive.

It feels great to have at least the fall bulb planting part of my plan for the yard completed!

Missouri to Maryland

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We made the road trip back from Missouri – having walked through the house we are buying and brief by the house inspector (the final results were still pending, but we did get to talk with the inspector about the house while he was in the house). The route was a reverse of the one we had taken from Maryland (see my post here). The weather was dry both days….much appreciated. The temperatures stayed cool even though the sun was shining most of the time. On the first day, our route started in Springfield, Missouri, crossed southern Illinois and Indiana, and ended in Lexington, Kentucky.

The part in Missouri parallels old Route 66…one of the rest stops highlights that history. Evidence of spring is easy to find at every stop.

I wondered how long the leaning tree near one of the picnic areas - caught by neighboring trees before it could reach the ground - would stay in that precarious position.

I zoomed in on the back of one of the horse sculptures at the Kentucky welcome center: Peacock feathers!

The next morning we left before sunrise and I took a picture the sunrise blush silhouetting trees on a ridge. The route the second day was from Lexington, Kentucky, through West Virginia, and ended at home in central Maryland.

More spring: dandelions already going to seed before the other plants in the bed even have buds, red buds planted along the roadway and rest stop parking lots, azaleas just beginning their bloom, daffodils still blooming in the mountains (done for the season at lower elevations). There was enough breeze to extend the flags in West Virginia…but not at the same time!

And then we reached Maryland. The scenic overlook/welcome center had good views of the lake and daffodils were still blooming there. The Sidling Hill stop had yellow tulips. And then we didn’t need to the stop at South Mountain. We were keen to be home!

Even though the weather was good for driving, my husband and I realized during our first day driving that our two days in Springfield had not been long enough to recover from the trek to Missouri. He was having lots of neck and shoulder aches and I was feeling exhausted. We agreed that short turn around trips with that much driving should be avoided from now on!

Maryland to Missouri – a road trip as passenger

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I’ve been making road trips between my home in Maryland to Missouri on my own until recently when my husband went with me to see the house we are buying. It was so different to be a passenger rather than driving myself!

The route was familiar and there were no cold weather hazards this time. More daylight made it possible for us to start the drive before 7 in daylight – leaving behind the fading blooms on the cherry and plum tree in the front of our Maryland home.

The first day of the trek was the easiest; it was cloudy with mists and sprinkles…occasional sunshine.

The daffodils were still in full bloom at the South Mountain rest stop; the elevation makes a difference; the flowers have already faded at hour home closer to Washington DC/Baltimore.

I took a few extra minutes at Sidling Hill to photograph the road cut. It is awesome.

There were plenty of rest stops along the way – a quick walk to the facilities through the damp.

Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

And the bridges at Louisville KY.

We stopped for the night at a hotel in Corydon, IN that has a historical marker in its parking lot!

The next day was harder after we were about halfway through the drive – very heavy rain. The early rest stops still held some beauty – trees on ridges, violets and spring beauties and dandelions.

It was safe to take pictures of the arch at St. Louis because I wasn’t driving!

The pictures taken at the rest stops in Missouri were through the window because of the rain. For some reason the fire hydrant near a picnic table tickled me.

And then we were at our hotel…glad that the heavy rain did not include lots of thunder/lightning and high winds that had been part of the forecast.

Shades of Spring Green

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The dominate color of spring is green….in a lot of different shades. There are the greens that have suffered through the winter – usually darker like the holly and other evergreen bushes below. And then there is the new growth:

Pale greens like the new leaves of day lilies (nibbled by deer), tree leaves just unfurling (cherry and tulip poplar)

Blue tinged greens of the spring bulbs (daffodils and iris)

Yellowish greens of new nine bark leaves, and

Bright green of new moss growth and grass and violets and weeds.

I couldn’t resist the including the bright yellow of the dandelion blooms with all the green!

Bulbs to Move

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Now that we are through the peak of the early spring bulbs, I am thinking about which ones I will dig up to move with us to Springfield, MO.

At the top of my list are the miniature daffodils. They were purchased by my mother-in-law when she moved in with us the year before she died. I’ll move them again since they remind me of her every spring when they bloom….part of her legacy. We moved them from our previous house. The multiply very easily. I am also confident that they would do well in Springfield.

Will I dig up the day lily bulbs that she bought as well? Maybe. Right now, they rarely get a chance to bloom since the deer eat both the leaves and the buds. If our new house in Springfield has a fenced yard…not on a deer trail into the neighborhood…I will probably take a few. They too proliferate well.

I have some iris that come up every spring – not in the numbers we had originally…from my parents. They dug them from their garden in Texas to bring to Maryland shortly after we moved to our current house. In recent years, moles have disturbed their growth. If there is a space in the Springfield house to start an iris bed…I’ll dig up a few rhizomes…or maybe I would be better off getting some from the various family yards in Texas after we move.

I’m already looking forward to establishing a new yard with a little history from our current one!

Signs of Spring in our Yard

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The daffodils are coming up in our front flower beds. There are more of them every year…poking through the dried oak and day lily leaves from last season.

The miniature daffodils are always the first to bloom. Maybe their shortness is a benefit – keeping them closer to the warmth of the decaying mulch. I’ll dig a few of the bulbs up to take with us when we move just as I did from our previous house; my mother-in-law bought the original bulbs more than 30 years ago, not long before she died, and they have been very prolific…a nice reminder of her every spring.

The irises seem to be more numerous in the chaos garden than last year. Hopefully they’ll do well this year too. I might move them to where they are more easily seen from the house.

Several years ago, I planted some daffodil bulbs in front of our brush pile at the edge of the forest. Now they are behind the brush pile because I keep moving the pile further into the yard (reducing the turf area a little each year)! The bulbs were planted about a foot apart from each other; every year the clumps of daffodils get bigger.

So - there are the usual signs of spring appearing…always welcome. As I walked around I noticed lots of deer tracks; there is a muddy deer highway through our yard!

30 years ago – March 1992

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What was happening in my life 30 years ago (March 1992)?

As I look back through my notes from the time – I saw several items that are still part of our lives:

  • A Nordic Track. It was new then and I was using it daily. It is still down in our basement, but it’s been a long time since we used it last; it will be jettisoned before we move.

  • Curbside recycling was new, and I was already thinking about how to reduce trash…doing a small amount of composting. Now all the recycling goes into one bin and more things are accepted; it is not as clear that all the items avoid the landfill though.

  • My husband and I had created separate offices because both of us had started doing some work at home (we had progressed from a 1 PC family to 2 PCs!). In 1992, floppy disks were the primary mode of data transfer for us – no internet connection or World Wide Web yet.  We were both using email from our employers (dial up connection). The work that we did at home was totally on the PCs (presentation development, document development). Toward the end of the month, we were talking about getting a laser printer. We still have two offices - each have multiple (and more functional) devices and a lot of what we do is network enabled.

  • In a manager training, I became aware that there was a growing problem with employees using swear words/foul language…and that the younger employees were more OK with it than the older ones. The company was concerned that it was a growing issue…and thus the training. My personal thought was to stick to civil language…and was uncomfortable when foul language was used.  I’m still that way; the coarse language (that seems to have entered the mainstream in the past 5 years) is stressful and I find myself looking at ways to stay informed…but not hear the language being used.

  • And the miniature daffodils planted in our yard by my mother-in-law before she died were coming up. I dug up some of the bulbs before we moved to our present house to take with us…planted them in a front flower bed…and they are coming up again this spring.

There was a lot going on with our family. Our 2-year-old daughter’s favorite phrase was “I don’t want to.” She had finally made the transition from her crib to a twin sized bed, and she enjoyed a kite festival at the Washington Monument. My husband finally got a diagnosis of why his back had been so painful for over a decade (and some exercises that began to help). My 80-year-old grandmother was cooking huge meals for the birthdays in March (that I missed since I was in Maryland rather than Texas…which probably was a good thing with my need to lose weight)! Both of my parents were still working. One of my sisters was pregnant with her second child, another was enjoying her ceramic hobby, and the youngest was surviving a breakup with her boyfriend.  

Overall – March 1992 was a month at home…busy but not as overwhelming as the months before or after!

Mini Road Trip: Mt Pleasant – April 2021 (2)

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Hiking back from the skunk cabbage patch at Howard County Conservancy’s Mt Pleasant, I noticed the tree canopy over the trail. It was a great spring day….cool, sunny with occasional puffy clouds.

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I looked at the shelf fungus again – from the top and bottom.

The larger woodpecker holes on a high branch seemed larger than last hike but I still didn’t see or hear the bird.

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I was surprised to see a patch of daffodils in the woods. They probably started out as a few bulbs….but had proliferated over the years.

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Ranger the Barred Owl was very relaxed. He opened his eyes when I first walked up to his area but then dozed – deciding I was not a threat.

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There were bees active at one of the hives.

The redbuds are blooming. I like that they bloom all over - even on the larger branches.

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As I was eating a protein bar for my lunch, I noticed a black feather….maybe crow-sized…

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And some dandelions.

The pear tree in the orchard is blooming. I hope it makes pears this year; the past few years the flowers or small fruit have been ruined by late frosts.

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Overall – an enjoyable April hike on a familiar trail.

A Second Road Trip Practice

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My first mini road trip for the initial hour of the route from my house in Maryland to Texas was back in March; I opted to change my route after the amount of highway construction I encountered on that day. The practice for second-choice route (up US 29 and then west on I-70) was a few days ago and easier/more enjoyable/the route I will take for the ‘the big road trip.’

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I set out just after sunrise as I had the first time. I took a picture of the fading blooms of the plum and cherry trees in our front yard…and the sunrise as seen from our driveway (oak tree on the right edge of the image) before I left.

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My destination was a rest stop about an hour from my house that I have stopped at many times before – the South Mountain Westbound Welcome Center. There were a few more clouds in the sky…the temperature was still a little cool. I took pictures of the playground I hadn’t noticed before (is it new?) and the fading daffodils.

After the rest stop and getting a soft drink from the vending machine - I got back in the car and went to the next exit to turn around and head back toward the east. I was back home again just a little over 2 hours since I left.

The lack of construction on route made for a much more pleasant drive that my first practice. I refined my set up in the passenger seat of the car based on that previous experience: a canvas gardening tote with short sides…lots of pockets for hand sanitizer, lip gloss, masks that I will need for when I am out of the car or going through a drive through for food, sunglasses. I’ll add snacks like peppermints and protein bars for the longer trip. The ice chest will be in the front floor of the passenger seat.

When I got home my husband had done a curbside grocery pickup that included cake; he enjoyed the carrot cake and I had the red velvet! It was a great splurge for a late morning snack.

Road Trip Practice

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I drove 2 hours out-and-back along the route I would take to drive from my home in Maryland to Texas; the pandemic year dramatically reduced my driving as highway speeds…and I need practice before I set out on a longer drive!

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I started out around 6:50 AM…with the sunrise still a few minutes away and the clumps of daffodils set to welcome the morning light in front of our house.

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My idea was to drive to the first rest stop along the route – which is on I-66 going west from the Washington DC beltway. I was able to stay on cruise control for almost the whole hour even though the route has significant Saturday traffic. Construction stretches all along that route of I-66; it would be awful during a rush hour. I missed the exit for the westbound rest stop but needed to turn around anyway. I stopped at the east bound version after the exit and entering again going east – because I was watching very carefully for the exit.

There were cars and trucks at the stop, but I didn’t see anyone out and about. I put on my mask. There was a sign on the door to the restroom saying that a mask was required and a sign on the water fountain saying it had been turned off because of the pandemic. Part of the picnic area was roped off but the sign was unreadable; perhaps the new-looking stumps of two large trees and the muddy sidewalk might have been the reason for the closure rather than the pandemic.  I wondered if anyone stayed around long enough to sit on the Virginia benches.   

As I headed back toward home – I thought about what I’d learned from the road trip practice:

  • The I-70 to I-81 route might be better than I-95 to the Washington Beltway to I-66 to I-81 because of the miles of construction on I-66.

  • Plan to carry all the water needed for the hours on the road in the car rather than relying on opportunities to refill reusable bottles.

  • Rest stops are likely to be as well maintained as they were pre-pandemic, but I’ll still be using a lot of hand sanitizer rather than spending time washing hands and using the blower hand dryer.

  • There is more traffic than I anticipated at 7 AM on Saturday mornings on interstates – at least around Washington DC.

Daffodils in the Brush Pile

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Looking out my office window - I noticed a clump of daffodils was blooming in the brush pile at the back of our yard and went downstairs (inside and then from the deck) to get some pictures. Our neighbors have always had daffodils around the base of one of their trees and I had planted some bulbs slightly in front of the tree line in our yard several years ago to establish a similar stand in our yard. The plants come up and bloom well before the leaves are on the trees. My subsequent project to gradually extend the ‘forest’ into our yard by putting small brush piles over the areas where the grass does not well (too much shade) covered the place where I planted the bulbs…but they are hardy enough to come up and bloom anyway! And they provide a marker for how much I have extended the forest leaf mulch area into our yard….probably at least 6 feet. It’s much better than having thin grass/soil showing in that area.

I also noticed that one of the larger branches in the brush pile had some shelf fungus growing --- decomposition and nature recycling itself in action!

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As I walked back up the incline toward the deck stairs, I notice a leaf from last year with some neatly drilled holes. I wondered if the holes were already made before the leaf fell.

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Overall – a very satisfying short photo shoot in our yard!

Filling a Day of Social Distance – 3/30/2020

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Continuing the blog post series prompted by COVID-19….

Here are the unique activities for yesterday:

Hearing traffic noise in the early morning. I woke up about an hour before my time to get up and heard traffic noise. We’re close enough to I95 that sometimes in the winter when the trees don’t baffle the sound and the weather conditions are right…we hear the trucks. I hadn’t heard it as much recently and thought it was the effect of the pandemic. Today it seemed more like a pre-coronavirus Monday. I dosed until my Fitbit vibrated at the usual time.

Discovered HiJinx podcasts from my local library. I listened to the most recent one - ‘A most notorious woman’ about a Grace O’Malley – Ireland’s Pirate Queen. (Anne Chambers’ book on O’Malley available at Internet Archive here.)

Seeing deer just after 8 in the morning….going back to the forest. I wonder where they spent the night. The forest behind our house is part of the green space along the river. Did the deer spend their night elsewhere or did they leave the forest for a morning browse on tender plants in the neighborhood (like my daylilies) for ‘breakfast’ and were returning to the forest because a car or two had come down our street.  

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Later in the day – when it was warmer – I walked around the yard and noted that the daylilies were recovering from the deer browsing several weeks ago. They were not eating them this morning. Also, the daffodils are on their last legs. I took some macro shots of them.

More violets were blooming.

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Dandelions are becoming more numerous too. I’m being lazy and leaving them alone. After the heavy rains a few years ago caused some of our lawn to turn to dirt with patches of grass I have come to appreciate the deeper roots of dandelions that hold the soil.

The leaves on the tulip poplar are a little bigger but the flower buds are not open yet.

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The cherry tree was attracting bees!

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It was a wonderful sunny day and warm enough to have the windows open again. Hearing birdsong in the forest never gets old.

Remembering something I forgot to include in the post for last Friday – my husband had a telemedicine session. It was a first for us. It was a follow up after some tests and lab work from back in February….not coronavirus related. It was a lot less stressful than going into a doctor’s office during this time.

Receiving a communication from our Community Supported Agriculture farmer about what they have been doing to social distance while they work and the modified share pickup process planned when the season starts for us in June. I am reassured that they are thinking ahead…that I can still enjoy the bounty of fresh veggies this summer.

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Photographing the sunset. The sunset is not in my line of sight from my desk, but I can see it if I stand in front of the window and look to the left. I timed it right last night. The clouds reflected the orange light in an arc over the tall trees.

Previous “filling a day of social distance” posts: 3/15, 3/16, 3/17, 3/18, 3/19, 3/20, 3/21, 3/22, 3/23, 3/24, 3/25, 3/26, 3/27, 3/28, 3/29





Ten Little Celebrations – March 2020

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Every month I write about 10 little celebrations. There is a big celebration as I write this –

Everyone in my family (in Maryland, Missouri and Texas) is well…and taking all the recommended precautions to stay that way.

Now for 9 other celebrations….

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Brookside Conservatories. Early in March, before the state and counties started closing facilities, I went over to Brookside Gardens…already taking the social distancing and handwashing/no face touching precautions. The conservatories were warm and lush as usual – always a cause for celebration. I’m glad I got to see them before they were closed.

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Sunrise on grocery day. For the first 3 weeks of March I was still going to the grocery store but even earlier than usual so there would not be many people in the store. The sunrise on a couple of those trips was glorious and started the day off wonderfully!

Virtual birthdays. There are family birthday’s in March…celebrated with alternatives to gathering in one place!

Dutch chocolate protein powder. It’s always worth celebrating finding something that tastes good (in smoothies) and adds a nutritional punch!

Grocery delivery. As the month progressed there were more people in the store even at the early time…even during senior shopping hours. I was skeptical that I would like grocery delivery, but my first experience late in the month was positive. It’s something to celebrate since we’ll be doing it for at least the next month or more. I am feeling more confident that we are doing everything we can to stay well.

Spice cake muffins with applesauce. The muffins made a chicken dinner into a celebration.

Crocus in the yard near the oak tree and daffodils 4 feet out of the flower bed. Replanted by squirrels? It’s always a celebration to find flowers growing in an unexpected place.

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Thundercloud plum in bloom. The week that the plum blooms is always a celebration. It’s usually the first tree blooming in our neighborhood.

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Achieving a 1st weight loss goal. Finally – getting the weight I gained over Thanksgiving and Christmas off! I celebrated with dark chocolate and will push forward to get lower…down into the ‘normal’ range for my height.