Spring Greening

The weather is getting warmer. We still have cool days, but both the daytime high and the nighttime low temperatures are higher.

We’ve had rain for several days and the forecast predicts rain for several more. When I took Hannah for her daily walk, I noticed this morning’s heavy rain had caused erosion in the driveway. I slid dirt in the small gullies with my foot to fill them in. When we first moved to our house in 2015, erosion had made huge knee-deep ditches alongside the driveway–and across it in a couple of places. We were able to stop the erosion at the sides of the driveway by filling the ditches in with gravel/dirt and by building small rock dams and planting vegetation to slow the rush of rainwater down the hill. However, we can’t build dams or plant things on the actual driveway itself, so we always have to fill in the little gullies after a heavy rain.

With warmer temperatures and rain, the world is becoming greener. The green haze of new leaves is growing more pronounced every day. EJ started planting early crops in his vegetable garden a few weeks ago. Soon I will have to start working in my herb garden. I think we need to get the screens in the windows soon, but we haven’t done it yet. Next week–if it stops raining–I plan to mow the lawn for the first time this year.

Our two little Buff Orpington chicks are growing very quickly. I talk to them whenever I go into the bathroom and chuckle when they look at me through the door of their cat carrier. I’m hoping I’ll be able to get the chicks out to the coop before they outgrow the cat carrier. Our coop is a 12 x 10 shed. Inside it, we have two dog houses and a fancy coop; the adult chickens like to roost on their roofs. When the weather is warm enough and the chicks are big enough, I will shut them inside the dog houses so they and the adults can get used to each other before they mature enough to join the general population.

In early April our son went back to his job on the Great Lakes bulk carrier. They were on their first trip of this year’s shipping season when they hit a large buoy (it looks like a small lighthouse). It caused major damage and most of the crew was sent home while the ship was repaired. I thought it would take a long time to repair, but surprisingly the crew was called back to the ship last week. The ship still has a big dent in the side. I really hope it’s sea-worthy. Or should I say “Great Lakes-worthy?”

While onboard his ship, JJ ordered his Dad and me some books that he thought we’d enjoy. He ordered me a beautiful Lord of the Rings book containing sketches that JJR Tolkien himself had drawn. He knows LOTR is my favorite book. He bought EJ two books about Great Lakes ships. The LOTR book and one of the ship books arrived today; the other is on the way. JJ was hoping his ship would be mentioned in the book, but it wasn’t. Maybe it will be in the second ship book? Regardless, it will be interesting reading about the ships we see passing on the live-stream channels on Youtube.

I can’t wait to delve into my beautiful book, but I’m going to make myself wait until I finish the current series I’ve been reading by C.J. Sansom about the medieval lawyer at the time of Henry VIII. I just started reading the fifth in the seven-book series.