Spring Gallery Night in Oconomowoc...
...with Ellie as one of the featured artists.
A summery night, and the town thronged.
Steaming Fields
Quite a good soak last night. And this morning, driving west, after a brief break in the clouds, Pax and I tunneled through billowing clouds of steam rising from dark, recently plowed fields. (The traffic situation not conducive to photography.) Something I've never seen before, resembling sea smoke.
Hellebores blooming.
The serviceberries are quickly moving from silver to white, and the redbuds are finally budding (red).
More rain now.
Transition Time
Out with the rosemary, for example.
Normally it spends May and part of June under the old apple tree, where, in partial shade, it can harden up to outdoor conditions after its cushy 6 months of indoor living. The problem this year is that, as of yet, there's not much shade under the tree. Not sure what to do.
Also, weed-and-feed, oil changes, old medicine removal, clothes sorting, tool gathering, and the start of an intimidating pile of stuff in garage and breezeway that somehow will have to be packed for the trip north.
Poor imitation of a thunderstorm last night—two claps of thunders and a few spatters of rain—but enough to spook Pax sending him (and to keep him company, good sport Mimi) to bed in the lower level. Hot and dry again, though the first signs of real rain right about now.
Warmer Than Rockport...
...on a strong south wind. High of 82. Four varieties of winter squash planted: Robin's Koginut (from Row7), Honeybaby Hybrid, Butterscotch Hybrid, and good old open-pollenated Waltham Butternut. It will be interesting to review the results come October.
Tulips in very sheltered places, along with hyacinths and damndelions.
Prairie greening up after the burn. Now for some rain.
Straight to Summer?
Sunny, warm and windy—almost hot. Buds breaking. And it even looks like there might be water on the webcam.
On our walk today Pax jumped into Whitewater Creek, mistaking it for Mudge Bay.
What a Day; What a Party
Happy birthday Ellie and Renee!
Blogging Help
After a stellar recital in Fox Point, Katy and Will ( and Buddy and Pip) rode with us back to Whitewater. The kids were kind enough to help a struggling blogger come up with a couple of decent cover images.
Lots of fun and good food—Mimi's famous meatballs.
The Untended Garden
Almost too bright and warm for garden work, but a new bit of fencing got built (to keep squash vines from wandering and taking over the lawn), and five fifteen-foot rows of beets got planted—using the should-have-been-patented, no-kneel seeder developed last year. Squash would have been planted too, except the hour got late and the rain moved in. But...no complain about rain...it has already, in just a few hours, greened things up substntially.
How different here from Kagawong. Yesterday, Therese drove over to Serendipity and sent the following photos. They, along with other information, have helped us decide to postpone departure for a week or so—a first in living memory.
In The Barn
Iceboat in the barn at Roger’s. Jetski out.
Summery day. Worked up a sweat working in the garden. Planting beets and squash tomorrow. (Might as well—Roger is planting corn and beens in the same timeframe.)
But here's an email from Murray and Elaine:
"We planned to head to Manitoulin about May 1, after our club boat launch day this weekend.
However, I contacted Patrick for a report on how car-worthy the road is north of David Lloyds place. Since you often come up in early May, I thought you may like this information. (below)
Also Joan Lloyd said that the lake ice is tight to the shore, so it may be a challenge to get the waterline out far enough. We plan to delay a week, hoping the road will be safe enough to bring the car into our place.
If we have to delay too long we will bail on coming up, because we would have to leave Kagawong before May 18 for concerts.
Hope we all can make it up to Serendipity..............Elaine & Murray............."
Face Full of Midges
Probably a good thing for the food chain but not so much fun for walkers—seeing as how midges have a remarkable ability to anticipate which way a person is walking—turn left and the cloud is already there; turn right, already there; turn back, already there. The only successful strategy is to walk backwards, but Pax doesn't cotton to that too much.
Spring peepers loud in every wet place. A robin (possibly the one who has done this previously) trying to make a nest on top of the kitchen garden window. And, as I believe I mentioned previously, the midges are out.
Back under a stationary high pressure, with cloudless skies and a cool NE wind. We could use a thunderstorm.
Pax To The Vet
For his annual, pre-Canada checkup. He is good to go.
And...a new water softener, to replace the twenty-something-year-old one which had begun to leak. The old machine was controlled by a complex gearbox stuffed with ratchets, cams, and levers. The new one has no moving parts. Furthermore, being high in efficiency, it may not need a salt refill for two years.
Continued sunny and warm, yet no blossoms on the apple or buds on the redbud. Actually starting to feel a bit dry.
Hello Summer
Sunny, warm, and still.
Garage vacuumed and flushed (Augean stable look-alike prior to the operation.) Then Sue got motivated, and the storms were replaced by screens. It is nice to air out and to hear unimpeded birdsong.
Excursion
Perfect Sunday weather—for an excursion to Mount Horeb; for a hike, a bit of luncheon, and just a little shopping. (Pretending we were characters in one of the effete British mysteries we have been reading lately.)
Groceries on the way home, and then less effete things, such as washing the the car, the truck, and the dog.
Katy Eight
A fun, bird-themed birthday. Followed by a family lunch at the Safe House.
Thanks to Sue for photos.
From White to Green
Quite amazing what sun and sixty can do—snow only in shadows or where shoveled.
Pax and I got back to biking. A verdant fuzz on the blackened prairie.
Let The Melt Begin
With the snow stopped, the sun shining, and the temperature above freezing we seem to be turning the corner into actual spring.
And, this evening, a fine concert by Maddie and classmates. And, after, dinner and ice cream with Maddie, Becca, and Ellie.
How Could It?
Another 2-3 inches so far, creating a winter wonderland of flocked tress and mounds of white. Pax loves bounding through it, occasionally scooping up a mouthful. But on our walk today we saw a dead bird and no daffodils. Isn't this the latter half or April?
Super White
Something about this snow, or perhaps the spring sunlight, that makes it incredibly white (the photo below doesn't do it justice). It reminds me of the actress on the TV ad who looks like she got a flashlight stuck in her throat or had her teeth replaced with LCDs. Luminous.
All the way up to 41 by afternoon, thanks to a bright sun. Some melting, causing icicles.
Here is a leaf debossing itself—alreay over an inch deep. Solar power in action.
And here is the original April fool.
Ain’t Gonna Sno No Mo...
...we might hope.
The Nik/Der/Ru contingent were able to get away, amidst snow showers and after more shoveling, and make it back to Mpls/St.P.
On the back roads to and from Fort, hundreds of birds along the shoulders, drawn, I think, by a bit of bare ground. On little Cravath Lake in downtown Whitewater many waterfowl, including gulls, mergansers, a loon, and others I didn't recognize. I suspect that a great many birds, especially those on the move, got stalled by the storm. We might hope that the storm did not result in high levels of avian mortality (or in plain English, that it didn't kill too many birds). Worried about those sandhills that went north weeks ago.
Here's the reply from Therese to my question, "How are things on Manitoulin":
Bad. But we are lucky to have power. Ice storm yesterday and snowstorm today. No going out on the roads. May have to get driveway plouged again! Cra-zee! Solar panels coated in ice covered in snow. Good thing we have lots of wood and propane!
Two weeks to our Manitoulin departure.
Snowbound
Nik, Der, and Ru unable to travel travel.
A day of heavy shoveling mixed with card playing (and reading, naps, and conversation).
The active front of this storm reaches, at the moment, from Havana, Cuba, to Winnipeg, Manitoba, and both Lake Huron and Lake Superior are completely obscured on radar by thick bands of mixed precipitation.
