Today is cloudy, mild, still breezy, and damp. It stormed last night. Our hygrometer/thermometer blew down and is not currently working.
I fed the birds. I haven't seen much activity today though.
I put out water for the birds.
More flowers are blooming including several daffodils under the maple. In the goddess garden, the first of the orange crocuses are blooming and the
winter aconites have come very late to the party -- they used to be first to bloom.
EDIT 3/15/25 -- I'm planting rocks today! :D The soil is soft from the rain, so I've been digging sockets for the new river cobbles around the purple-and-white garden.
I also emptied the potting soil from the trough pot that doesn't have drain holes and rarely grows much. I figure I can use it as a mini-water garden for the tree frogs who like to hang out amongst the pots on the old picnic table.
I've seen a pair of house finches at the hopper feeder and a male downy woodpecker at the fly-through feeder.
EDIT 3/15/25 -- I finished planting the new cobblestones. I also adjusted some of the other rocks nearby. There's still a lot left to do on the purple-and-white garden, but this is good progress.
Then I went looking for the stepping stone beside the barrel garden. It had
crawled halfway under the concrete blocks that hold the barrel. WTF even, stepping stone? Maybe it's shy. Maybe it doesn't want to be a stepping stone. I dug it out for now. I may look for something else to put there, and move this one to the purple-and-white garden. Huh, and some people say rocks aren't alive. I have some very opinionated ones around here.
EDIT 3/15/25 -- I planted the fossil rock in the forest garden by burying the bottom portion so it stands up. It's about a quarter to a third sunk into the soil, which is usually enough. If it doesn't stay put, I can always dig it in deeper. If you want to make stone monuments, even small ones, I highly recommend the book
Stone Circles by Rob Roy. It includes the history, theory, and practice of making things with big rocks, such as megalithic math and both ancient and modern methods of moving rocks. Mine was small enough to carry, but I did use the digging technique of making a straight wall and a slope so as to slide the rock in and tip it upright. \o/ While digging, I found a lot of worms and several large grubs. I left the worms alone but extracted the grubs and dropped them in the metal tray feeder in case somebird would like a snack.
My bluebells are sprouting in the forest garden. :D Lots of bulbs too, but that's the first of the wildflowers I've seen there.
The first couple of
Shithouse Marigolds are sprouting under the plastic tub on the new picnic table! \o/ The proves the concept for both starting things in small pots outside and for using translucent plastic tubs as greenhouses. I'll have to watch for more tubs at thrift stores or yardsales. So I watered the pots under the tubs, since they missed the rain.
I also tinkered with the trough a bit. I found a sycamore branch to go from one end to the other, then anchored it with a couple of brick pieces and a lava pebble. The top brick already has a bit of moss on it, which is nice. :D This provides both starting decor and a way for wildlife to crawl out if anything falls in.
In the cistern garden, garlic chives have been up for a while. Now the chives and perennial leeks are also sprouting.
Egyptian walking onions are greening up in their pot. I don't think the potted perennial leeks survived though. I kinda had to throw things in the ground really fast at the end of the fall when I grabbed them from the
Charleston Food Forest, so I wasn't sure what would survive where. I tried to spread them out in hopes that some would make it, and all of the root crops I took should reproduce easily.
I've seen a mixed flock of sparrows and house finches.
EDIT 3/15/25 -- I took some pictures around the yard to show what I've done today and the new things sprouting.
My sacrificial offering of grubs was quickly gobbled up by the birds. :D
It's starting to spit rain so I don't know if I'll make it back outside.
EDIT 3/15/25 -- It has stopped spitting rain, so I was able to do a bit of work around the patio.
We also got the hygrometer/thermometer working again, and I hung that back up outside.
I've seen several blackbirds and a robin.
EDIT 3/15/25 -- I sowed
Bee Lawn Mix on bare patches in the south lot. There is still a lot of that to do.
Both rain gauges read about 3/4 inch from last night's rain, so the tilt on the septic garden gauge isn't making much of a difference.
EDIT 3/15/25 -- It started raining, so I am done for the night.
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