First sign of spring – pussy willows for sale Reading The Maid – a charming murder mystery with a maid turned sleuth – instead of spring cleaning! Leftovers from the Mediterranean Diet A March hare munching on the Mediterranean diet. Lawn damage from the Merry Band of Moles who wintered under the front deck. Anxiously awaiting those 80 bulbs I planted last fall. Note the piece of dryer lint the moles have scavenged for lining their nests so they can go forth and multiply….Saw this magnificent spring garden painting by a local artist at a gallery opening. A friend’s spring-like quilt – if it hadn’t already been spoken for I would have bought it….like I need another quilt…. This week’s excuse for not writing a blog post – that second dose was wicked. This week’s excuse for not walking. It’s hard to find a spring jacket in a nice color. Plus there’s freezing rain forecast to send March out like a lion, which is kind of what that mustard color reminds me of…. Better to stay in and do a cozy puzzle….this one has it all…..fire, cat, dog, book, drink, snacks – what more could you want. And for true March madness – imagine being shot in a lineup while buying bread. I remember reading the book The Cellist of Sarajevo. It’s sad and disturbing to see history repeating itself – prayers for Ukraine.
Thanks Allison! I noticed the mole damage after the snow melted – the moles must have a village under there. I’ll leave it to the gardener to decide what to do about it! I believe the March Hare was a character in Alice in Wonderland, but I can’t remember what he did?
Wasn’t he the Mad Hatter? Always running, muttering, “I’m late! I’m very late! I’m very late for a very important date!” or something like that. Made me a bit out of breath as I read it aloud to my young children.
https://disney.fandom.com/wiki/March_Hare
Jo, according to Disneywiki – they are best friends? There’s also the White Rabbit. I must confess it was never a favorite book of mine, so I’m not sure who’s who or who said what!
I just finished listening to The Maid. Though the reader was superb and presented that memorable persona well, there were technical glitches. One caused me to miss a seminal episode (of course I could pick up the narrative a bit later).
Shingles shot: Ugh! We’ve been putting that one off. Hope the pain didn’t linger!
Was this the audio book? A few people thought I was talking about the mini-series the Maid on Netflix, but this is a murder mystery. I’m going to blog on it next week I liked it so much. It wasn’t the sore arm that was the problem, I always get that to some degree no matter the vaccine, it was the achyness and low grade fever and just feeling miserable for about 12 hours during the night and the day after….I dosed myself with Tylenol and was much better the next day. After the first shot, I was just tired the next day. Worth it though, as I have had shingles before and don’t want it again. Just don’t book anything for a few days after.
Delightful picture show, Joni. Recently I read something about a second booster shot coming up in the States, one of the Pfizer series. I’m all for it (I think) as I’ve been experiencing vague “long covid” symptoms for over a year — or a return of the old Epstein Barr syndrome I experienced back in the late ’80s. Now, I really could use a yellow wind jacket to cheer me up!
Thanks Jo! I never had any reactions to the Pfizer vaccine, other than a sore arm, but had heard the Shingrix vaccine was prone to more side effects. Better today though a rough 24hrs, achy, headache, low grade fever, very tired (good excuse for a nap!). I read the other day that 30% of people who have had COVID have some degree of long haul symptoms – that’s a scary statistic. That mustard color jacket would look good on someone with dark or red hair. I do like a yellow spring rain jacket (so classic) but not that shade! I think I’ll shop online…..I so seldom go into stores anymore but was at the mall for something else and took a quick peek. I used to love to shop but not anymore…I just find the clothes so ugly or boring.
I used to find great bargains in the sale corner of Macy’s, but I’ve not been since COVID, during which time I shopped online at Talbot’s. That first year, they held many sales, one after another; now that “things” have calmed down, their prices have gone up to previous levels. On the other hand, I’ve made some mistakes by shopping on Amazon — wrong colors, wrong sizes or mislabeled sizing, money wrongly spent. Oh, well. I can put those wrong items in the “poor box” at church, eh?
Jo, I wish we had Macy’s in Canada, and the nearest Talbot store is an hour and a half away in the upscale mall, good quality though. I like Columbia jackets for quality, and the price is okay if you hit a sale, but have to order online which is harder as their sizes vary, and then as you said it often has to go back. I don’t shop Amazon, as Amazon Canada is different, but I hear it is very hit and miss with quality. I just wish we had a decent department store again as I like to try on.
I think you made that rabbit very happy. I do like that sage green blue color on the rain jackets, but yellow would be optimal for those wandering around the forest I suppose just in case getting lost happens and rescue crews are needed. I too found the Shingles vaccines to be horrid.
I’ve been saving the wilted bits and ends of the lettuce and carrots instead of throwing them out because I noticed the rabbit dining on the food set out for the birds. I haven’t shopped much, but as my current spring jacket was purchased when Sears closed (at least 5 years?) I thought something newer and a bit warmer would be nice, but the two stores I went into had very dull or unusual colors, which reminded me why I don’t shop much anymore. The green would look good on some people – but it would make me look green! As for the mustard, someone with dark or red hair could wear that. I don’t usually react to vaccines other than sore arm, but wasn’t surprised as I had heard that about the shingles vaccine. I was very tired the next day after the first dose and had a very long afternoon nap, but this time I was achy and headache and low grade fever for about 24hrs…..better today though.
Thanks Anne! It was a good one – enough color variety to be interesting but not so much as to be too difficult The pieces were the larger size ones so it took up quite a bit of space, 20 X 27 in.
Hi! How are you! They live at different houses so I’m not sure! The hare lives under the pine tree at my mothers house, and as I’m cooking for her now, I feed it. The moles live at my house, so I discovered when the snow melted. I had a problem with them a few years ago under the back deck but I though it had gone away. Looks like they’ve tunneled a whole village near the front deck. It’s interesting re the dryer lint as the dryer outlet is in the back yard, but then I’ve had birds feather their spring nests with Christmas tinsel – very festive like.
These photos are a wonderful way to summarize your month. I like the rabbits eating a Mediterranean diet and the pretty jackets for sale. Both made me smile. Happy April!
Now that the lion has come and hopefully gone can we get on with spring? The quilt is beautiful. That looks like a huge rabbit. We have rabbits at the farm but nowadays when we see them they are outrunning our beagle who is hot o their trail.
It has been a cool March with not much sun, so I’m ready for better weather! Maybe I’m feeding the rabbit too much? But hardly any calories in lettuce and carrots….
Some Springy things from you Joni, even if it doesn’t feel like Spring in the air (or anywhere else). Certainly not as the furnace chugs away, the wind howls and white covers the ground and/or flakes fly. Enough already! The gallery exhibit looked Springy and I love the stained glass windows. I like the quilt too. I love the March Hare photos. He has an incentive to return. I’m not feeding the rabbit in my backyard anything and I knew he spent the Winter in the backyard when I went to scrape snow away from the downspouts and saw the rabbit droppings, but never saw the rabbit. I saw him the other day – well he/she, not sure, is huge and was hiding in a bush at the side of the house. That looks like a puzzle my mom would have liked and I would like too. Just the right size. Are those Daffodil leaves? They are huge, like Irises!
Thanks Linda. It was fun to put together. My rabbit is a fair size too, but yesterday he/she turned down carrots!? Maybe I am feeding too much? The gallery is in an old house with beautiful stained glass windows. That picture is not for sale though as the artist gardens and wants to keep it for herself. The puzzles was big size pieces – easier for mom to see. It was fun to do. We had flurries this morning too, I did not walk again, I’ve been tired all week. It’s certainly been a gloomy March, we had one warm day of 70 and that was it. Next week is more of the same – rain/flurries/cool. Those are daffodils. I noticed the neighbours snowdrops look like they will be out soon – I could see clumps of white. I’m caught up on Reader, and drafted out 4 blog posts for the next month – very rough drafts though. I want to get a bit ahead, as all I’ve been doing lately is WW. Hope you have a good weekend for picture taking!
Joni – I meant to mention the pussy willows as I have not seen them in years. I remember going to the florist and buying a bunch of them and we had some silk light-pink flowers on tall stems and had a country-looking pitcher with a handle and would mix them together for a Springy look. It looked cheery in the house, despite not having much counter-top space, it was an annual ritual. The garden picture at the gallery perfectly matches the stained glass and looked beautiful in that corner – I don’t blame the artist for not selling it either.
When I had Buddy, my canary, I bought the baby carrots and shaved a little off each side to put into his holder – he loved them. One time they were still good, but getting soft, so I took them to the Park for the rabbits. Put them around the Park where the rabbits go – they never touched them. Tried another time – same thing. Guess only Bugs Bunny liked carrots. 🙂
I have not seen crocuses, just snowdrops but daffodils are now coming up – no tulips yet. Four blog posts is a lot of posts – good for you! I usually do my two for the next week on Saturday, but I did something different today.
I have been following a local painter on Facebook for the last year. He does some beautiful work and he also hosts the local plein air painting group. I have been following his group on Facebook too. They were going to a lot of the same parks where I go on weekends. So I saw he was going to have his group at Heritage Park (where I saw two women who you said were plein air painters about three or four years ago). So I went up there today – I had to arrive later because my celphone broke last Sunday (only 10 months old but just died) and I ordered a new one from Amazon and there was a hangup – not Amazon’s fault, but the third-party seller in Florida and it was not delivered yesterday by U.S. Mail like the tracking info said they would, but instead this morning around 9:00 a.m. So I went to the Park, then headed there … some of the group had already finished and packed up, but he was still painting, so met him, chatted, took some pictures of him and one other painter.
I said I’d like to join, but when retired and have to practice sketching and have never used paint of any type. He said “come now – don’t wait and it is easy!” I said “I’m rusty.”
But I am going to look at the sketch books and charcoals maybe next Winter and think of joining them. He sent me their schedule for this year up to the end of September and they are mid-weeks and Saturdays (almost each week). So will join them a few times to visit as they were all nice. Took some pictures today of him, his friend and uploaded them as I took more photos inside Heritage Park. So I had told him I’d send him the ones I took of him and he has used some in his Facebook group. I really stressed that blogging takes a ton of time (I am not caught up, like you, but have three days … I seem to not be able to get closer than two, usually three days behind.) I guess I will try to catch up tomorrow after I write my two – especially if we have the crummy weather (again). I mentioned your mom to John and maybe her ears were burning.
When I went out today the carrots and the lettuce was all gone, so something ate it, not sure what? Good for you to join the painting group! It’s nice that he/they were so welcoming. The four blog drafts are really basic – but I find if I have something started to edit then I will do it, no matter how rough, but if I have to start from scratch I delay. I’ll work on next week’s tonight – it’s just a short book review. I could have walked today, it was warmer, but went to two grocery stores instead, which is sort of walking. I would say about 50% are not wearing masks, mostly younger people, even though our top doctor Dr. Tam said that people should continue masking up as some areas are experiencing surges again. I think people just don’t care anymore. I asked mom to do an Easter bunny for me, and she did but it was very plain, then she went back to her jigsaws. I don’t think her heart is in painting lately. Those puzzles are addicting!
I saw the possum in the backyard last year – scared me, even though I see stories on social media that they are harmless and eat mosquitoes and not to shoo them away or hurt them. I did neither – just stared at it and it stared back I didn’t have the camera and next day I went out early and it was gone – I’ve not seen it since. I wonder if a possum would eat carrots if the rabbit doesn’t? Hopefully not the moles. It’s always something. Speaking of always something – I went to charge the new phone today and it had no battery. Should have gone to the AT&T store but I was trying to eliminate going to any more stores than necessary – I see no one wearing masks here – not at the Park, not at Heritage Park yesterday, no one in that group wore a mask. I also think nobody cares … I care and still worry and you care too as you don’t want to bring it home to your mom. I did hear they still expect a surge around Eastertime and they think people are not going to mindful, nor care. I have to get this shot in tomorrow, then decide re: COVID booster. Have a dentist appointment on the 14th – mulling over that too and don’t want COVID booster around that time, in case I get side effects … maybe afterward. Too much to think about. My mom would put aside a good book if she had a puzzle she liked. The head of the group is nice – so were the people I met, including one guy who is a teacher at the local community college and I had seen his work (when the head of the group mentioned his class was going to be joining his group. So I was looking at this guy’s FB page where he shared pictures of his students’ work (all very nice). I stressed that I couldn’t join until I had a basic knowledge of sketching and I had bought some how-to books, sketchpad, charcoals, etc. in the Winter of 2019 and blogging takes up a lot of time so I had not looked at it. He said to try sketching if I wanted … I do, but not now. They go to a lot of places, but I’d even try doing things on my own first. I have a long way to go, but thinking ahead of things that interest me and I always promised myself I’d return to when I was retired. Now to be retired – whenever that will be. I can’t even get a movie or TV show watched on Friday night or a chapter read in a book. Right now I am three days behind in Reader and I may spend the next 3 to 3 1/2 hours in Reader and still not catch up.
It is hard to get everything done, and I don’t even have the excuse of work. I hate possums – they’re such ugly things, remind me of rats. The moles are at my place, but I’m feeding the rabbit at mom’s. I think the rabbit eventually ate the carrots, he just took his time…..or maybe some other rabbits ate it. How can they sell you a phone without a battery? I though it was an internal part? You’ll have more time for sketching when you retire – it’s just an added stress to fit it in now. The only people who understand blogging are other bloggers! Going to bed early tonight. Sanditon was a bit better tonight, episode 3. Watchable anyway.
I wrote a message to the Seller yesterday and didn’t have an answer today, so wrote another message and he said he would send it today and asked my address (which he would have had I would think from shipping?) I wrote back and gave it to him and asked for tracking info as it was likely coming by mail and we have porch pirates. No response … I will write back tomorrow if I don’t hear back from him.
Well, I think I won’t order from a third-party vendor anymore, but, if you have an issue with a vendor and write them (you just click on what you ordered and there is a place to contact the vendor that way), if they don’t contact you within 48 hours, you contact Amazon and they will deal with the vendor (probably get somewhere then). So they said they’d mail it yesterday – not heard back with tracking info. We have a week of crummy weather and I don’t want it sitting out on the porch in the rain/sleet/snow or whatever. We had heavy fog this morning. They HAD said today was the only nice day until Sunday.
I found it overwhelming when I tried to order that calender clock for mom as there were so many vendors and some of them sounded sketchy…..so I made my brother order it.
I heard back from them this morning and they have shipped the new battery priority mail so it will be here on Friday. I was relieved as I didn’t want to have to tangle with them as they are in Florida. If you order from a third-party vendor, they are usually good as they don’t want to end their relationship with Amazon as it’s lucrative to be associated with Amazon.
That much – wow! We used to buy Daffodils at the grocery store years ago – 10 for $1.00 around mid-March. I’d get a couple of bunches for the house and also for work. You would not get them that cheap now.
I think the pussy willows are expensive as they are so scare. I do see bunches of tulips for around $6 in the grocery stores, but the cancer society hasn’t sold daffodils for quite a few years – they used to be $5 a bunch. Now they sell plastic yellow pins for a donation, but I haven’t even seen that this year.
I remember them from when I was young too. We lived in a new subdivision and the end of the street was a meadow and small creek and a wooded area. The kids in the neighborhood used to play here and I think I saw pussy willows there growing wild. I think I remember the Daffodils t Easter time – we used to go over to Canada to visit my grandmother at Easter time and I went into work with her a few times. She worked at the CNIB in downtown Toronto and I guess I saw them there. I don’t see them selling poppies here for Memorial Day any more.
We still sell poppies in November for Nov. 11, but I haven’t seen any daffodils for the cancer society, plastic or not. Mom got her Shingrix today and seems okay so far….fingers crossed…..arm a bit sore, but then my side effects didn’t start til the next am.
I have not seen any pins for poppies here in a long time and I’ve never seen the daffodil pins. Hope your mom didn’t get any side effects since it is almost 24 hours since you wrote this comment. I’ve not heard much about getting this latest booster shot. I think the consensus is that people were vaxxed and boosted and still got COVID during the original Omicron surge, so why get a booster again? I still plan to get it – this b.2 surge is coming.
No, she’s fine…..just a sore arm. People over 80 tend not to get reactions as they don’t mount as good an immune response, so I read. No sign of any more boosters here, and if they do recommend will probably be 6 months from the third, so June for us.
That’s good no reaction for your mom Joni. Today I heard on the radio that all seniors should have flu shots, hepatitis shots and shingles shots … it is a must for continued good health. I just read a story today that the new COVID boosters are really only good for about 6-8 weeks. Social media articles are all so negative, but I still will get one nevertheless.
I need Hep A, but had Hep B back in the 90’s when I had a needle stick injury at work, but plan on getting Twinrix if I ever travel again. I find the whole COVID booster thing puzzling as there should be some longer lasting T-Cell immunity, even if antibody levels drop off……will have to research more.
Yes, I want the Hep A too – we had too many people died from Hep A here in Michigan. I think it was 32 if memory serves me right. I don’t mind getting the latest COVID (and it is free from age 50 and above; the rest of the population has to pay for it this time, so maybe that is part of the reluctance). I would pay for it to get it in me with this new b.2 strain. I will send you the article I read today in a separate comment, but I also heard a similar story on the radio.
I remember you posting about them as I had a problem with one mole a few years ago, which I knew was still there but behaving itself, but this seems to be a whole village. I’ll have to reread your blog to see what you did to get rid of them? I was hoping they would have just died off with the cold winter.
Darned moles. They’ve left similar evidence in my own dormant lawn, albeit just a few long tracks from one side to the other. I know the winter ground is rock-hard, so those little critters must have some tough teeth!
It must be a bad year for moles. I remember JP blogging about it. I knew mine were there but they kept to their den and I’ve never seen any lawn damage before. Fortunately the area they have invaded is bound by a sidewalk, so I’m hoping it will be a limited space, as I doubt they can chew through cement, although they could always tunnel under! ?
Love the pussy willows…takes me right back to childhood when we had some growing in our backyard… hopefully spring will come soon. We had flurries yesterday!
That’s cool! I’ve never actually seen pussy willows growing anywhere, although we had willow trees near the pond on the farm. It’s nice and sunny here today, but it’s been a cool spring. My sympathies on the flurries….
thehomeplaceweb 
Really great photos Joni. Love the Hare and the mole channels.
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Thanks Allison! I noticed the mole damage after the snow melted – the moles must have a village under there. I’ll leave it to the gardener to decide what to do about it! I believe the March Hare was a character in Alice in Wonderland, but I can’t remember what he did?
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Wasn’t he the Mad Hatter? Always running, muttering, “I’m late! I’m very late! I’m very late for a very important date!” or something like that. Made me a bit out of breath as I read it aloud to my young children.
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https://disney.fandom.com/wiki/March_Hare
Jo, according to Disneywiki – they are best friends? There’s also the White Rabbit. I must confess it was never a favorite book of mine, so I’m not sure who’s who or who said what!
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Nice, Joni!
I just finished listening to The Maid. Though the reader was superb and presented that memorable persona well, there were technical glitches. One caused me to miss a seminal episode (of course I could pick up the narrative a bit later).
Shingles shot: Ugh! We’ve been putting that one off. Hope the pain didn’t linger!
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Was this the audio book? A few people thought I was talking about the mini-series the Maid on Netflix, but this is a murder mystery. I’m going to blog on it next week I liked it so much. It wasn’t the sore arm that was the problem, I always get that to some degree no matter the vaccine, it was the achyness and low grade fever and just feeling miserable for about 12 hours during the night and the day after….I dosed myself with Tylenol and was much better the next day. After the first shot, I was just tired the next day. Worth it though, as I have had shingles before and don’t want it again. Just don’t book anything for a few days after.
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Delightful picture show, Joni. Recently I read something about a second booster shot coming up in the States, one of the Pfizer series. I’m all for it (I think) as I’ve been experiencing vague “long covid” symptoms for over a year — or a return of the old Epstein Barr syndrome I experienced back in the late ’80s. Now, I really could use a yellow wind jacket to cheer me up!
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Thanks Jo! I never had any reactions to the Pfizer vaccine, other than a sore arm, but had heard the Shingrix vaccine was prone to more side effects. Better today though a rough 24hrs, achy, headache, low grade fever, very tired (good excuse for a nap!). I read the other day that 30% of people who have had COVID have some degree of long haul symptoms – that’s a scary statistic. That mustard color jacket would look good on someone with dark or red hair. I do like a yellow spring rain jacket (so classic) but not that shade! I think I’ll shop online…..I so seldom go into stores anymore but was at the mall for something else and took a quick peek. I used to love to shop but not anymore…I just find the clothes so ugly or boring.
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I used to find great bargains in the sale corner of Macy’s, but I’ve not been since COVID, during which time I shopped online at Talbot’s. That first year, they held many sales, one after another; now that “things” have calmed down, their prices have gone up to previous levels. On the other hand, I’ve made some mistakes by shopping on Amazon — wrong colors, wrong sizes or mislabeled sizing, money wrongly spent. Oh, well. I can put those wrong items in the “poor box” at church, eh?
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Jo, I wish we had Macy’s in Canada, and the nearest Talbot store is an hour and a half away in the upscale mall, good quality though. I like Columbia jackets for quality, and the price is okay if you hit a sale, but have to order online which is harder as their sizes vary, and then as you said it often has to go back. I don’t shop Amazon, as Amazon Canada is different, but I hear it is very hit and miss with quality. I just wish we had a decent department store again as I like to try on.
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I think you made that rabbit very happy. I do like that sage green blue color on the rain jackets, but yellow would be optimal for those wandering around the forest I suppose just in case getting lost happens and rescue crews are needed. I too found the Shingles vaccines to be horrid.
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I’ve been saving the wilted bits and ends of the lettuce and carrots instead of throwing them out because I noticed the rabbit dining on the food set out for the birds. I haven’t shopped much, but as my current spring jacket was purchased when Sears closed (at least 5 years?) I thought something newer and a bit warmer would be nice, but the two stores I went into had very dull or unusual colors, which reminded me why I don’t shop much anymore. The green would look good on some people – but it would make me look green! As for the mustard, someone with dark or red hair could wear that. I don’t usually react to vaccines other than sore arm, but wasn’t surprised as I had heard that about the shingles vaccine. I was very tired the next day after the first dose and had a very long afternoon nap, but this time I was achy and headache and low grade fever for about 24hrs…..better today though.
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💗💗
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You remind me I haven’t done a jigsaw puzzle in a long time. I even have one that needs to be done 🙂
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I think we’ve done at least ten this winter, about one a week. We’re seriously addicted!
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Not a bad addiction 😉
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What an interesting pot today, Joni. That jigsaw puzzle looks enticing.
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Thanks Anne! It was a good one – enough color variety to be interesting but not so much as to be too difficult The pieces were the larger size ones so it took up quite a bit of space, 20 X 27 in.
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I’m glad you’re feeling better, Joni. I guess injection reactions are to be expected. Good excuse to take the day off and curl up in a warm blanket.
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and a long afternoon nap!
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How goes it? I enjoyed the March recap. I wonder if the hare and the moles get along!!??
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Hi! How are you! They live at different houses so I’m not sure! The hare lives under the pine tree at my mothers house, and as I’m cooking for her now, I feed it. The moles live at my house, so I discovered when the snow melted. I had a problem with them a few years ago under the back deck but I though it had gone away. Looks like they’ve tunneled a whole village near the front deck. It’s interesting re the dryer lint as the dryer outlet is in the back yard, but then I’ve had birds feather their spring nests with Christmas tinsel – very festive like.
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PS I left you a comment about Anxious People – but had problems posting it.
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You’ve had a great week!!
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I did! I was very relaxing.
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These photos are a wonderful way to summarize your month. I like the rabbits eating a Mediterranean diet and the pretty jackets for sale. Both made me smile. Happy April!
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Thanks Ally! I’m still going to post about the Mediterranean diet….someday.
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Now that the lion has come and hopefully gone can we get on with spring? The quilt is beautiful. That looks like a huge rabbit. We have rabbits at the farm but nowadays when we see them they are outrunning our beagle who is hot o their trail.
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It has been a cool March with not much sun, so I’m ready for better weather! Maybe I’m feeding the rabbit too much? But hardly any calories in lettuce and carrots….
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Some Springy things from you Joni, even if it doesn’t feel like Spring in the air (or anywhere else). Certainly not as the furnace chugs away, the wind howls and white covers the ground and/or flakes fly. Enough already! The gallery exhibit looked Springy and I love the stained glass windows. I like the quilt too. I love the March Hare photos. He has an incentive to return. I’m not feeding the rabbit in my backyard anything and I knew he spent the Winter in the backyard when I went to scrape snow away from the downspouts and saw the rabbit droppings, but never saw the rabbit. I saw him the other day – well he/she, not sure, is huge and was hiding in a bush at the side of the house. That looks like a puzzle my mom would have liked and I would like too. Just the right size. Are those Daffodil leaves? They are huge, like Irises!
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Thanks Linda. It was fun to put together. My rabbit is a fair size too, but yesterday he/she turned down carrots!? Maybe I am feeding too much? The gallery is in an old house with beautiful stained glass windows. That picture is not for sale though as the artist gardens and wants to keep it for herself. The puzzles was big size pieces – easier for mom to see. It was fun to do. We had flurries this morning too, I did not walk again, I’ve been tired all week. It’s certainly been a gloomy March, we had one warm day of 70 and that was it. Next week is more of the same – rain/flurries/cool. Those are daffodils. I noticed the neighbours snowdrops look like they will be out soon – I could see clumps of white. I’m caught up on Reader, and drafted out 4 blog posts for the next month – very rough drafts though. I want to get a bit ahead, as all I’ve been doing lately is WW. Hope you have a good weekend for picture taking!
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Joni – I meant to mention the pussy willows as I have not seen them in years. I remember going to the florist and buying a bunch of them and we had some silk light-pink flowers on tall stems and had a country-looking pitcher with a handle and would mix them together for a Springy look. It looked cheery in the house, despite not having much counter-top space, it was an annual ritual. The garden picture at the gallery perfectly matches the stained glass and looked beautiful in that corner – I don’t blame the artist for not selling it either.
When I had Buddy, my canary, I bought the baby carrots and shaved a little off each side to put into his holder – he loved them. One time they were still good, but getting soft, so I took them to the Park for the rabbits. Put them around the Park where the rabbits go – they never touched them. Tried another time – same thing. Guess only Bugs Bunny liked carrots. 🙂
I have not seen crocuses, just snowdrops but daffodils are now coming up – no tulips yet. Four blog posts is a lot of posts – good for you! I usually do my two for the next week on Saturday, but I did something different today.
I have been following a local painter on Facebook for the last year. He does some beautiful work and he also hosts the local plein air painting group. I have been following his group on Facebook too. They were going to a lot of the same parks where I go on weekends. So I saw he was going to have his group at Heritage Park (where I saw two women who you said were plein air painters about three or four years ago). So I went up there today – I had to arrive later because my celphone broke last Sunday (only 10 months old but just died) and I ordered a new one from Amazon and there was a hangup – not Amazon’s fault, but the third-party seller in Florida and it was not delivered yesterday by U.S. Mail like the tracking info said they would, but instead this morning around 9:00 a.m. So I went to the Park, then headed there … some of the group had already finished and packed up, but he was still painting, so met him, chatted, took some pictures of him and one other painter.
I said I’d like to join, but when retired and have to practice sketching and have never used paint of any type. He said “come now – don’t wait and it is easy!” I said “I’m rusty.”
But I am going to look at the sketch books and charcoals maybe next Winter and think of joining them. He sent me their schedule for this year up to the end of September and they are mid-weeks and Saturdays (almost each week). So will join them a few times to visit as they were all nice. Took some pictures today of him, his friend and uploaded them as I took more photos inside Heritage Park. So I had told him I’d send him the ones I took of him and he has used some in his Facebook group. I really stressed that blogging takes a ton of time (I am not caught up, like you, but have three days … I seem to not be able to get closer than two, usually three days behind.) I guess I will try to catch up tomorrow after I write my two – especially if we have the crummy weather (again). I mentioned your mom to John and maybe her ears were burning.
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When I went out today the carrots and the lettuce was all gone, so something ate it, not sure what? Good for you to join the painting group! It’s nice that he/they were so welcoming. The four blog drafts are really basic – but I find if I have something started to edit then I will do it, no matter how rough, but if I have to start from scratch I delay. I’ll work on next week’s tonight – it’s just a short book review. I could have walked today, it was warmer, but went to two grocery stores instead, which is sort of walking. I would say about 50% are not wearing masks, mostly younger people, even though our top doctor Dr. Tam said that people should continue masking up as some areas are experiencing surges again. I think people just don’t care anymore. I asked mom to do an Easter bunny for me, and she did but it was very plain, then she went back to her jigsaws. I don’t think her heart is in painting lately. Those puzzles are addicting!
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I saw the possum in the backyard last year – scared me, even though I see stories on social media that they are harmless and eat mosquitoes and not to shoo them away or hurt them. I did neither – just stared at it and it stared back I didn’t have the camera and next day I went out early and it was gone – I’ve not seen it since. I wonder if a possum would eat carrots if the rabbit doesn’t? Hopefully not the moles. It’s always something. Speaking of always something – I went to charge the new phone today and it had no battery. Should have gone to the AT&T store but I was trying to eliminate going to any more stores than necessary – I see no one wearing masks here – not at the Park, not at Heritage Park yesterday, no one in that group wore a mask. I also think nobody cares … I care and still worry and you care too as you don’t want to bring it home to your mom. I did hear they still expect a surge around Eastertime and they think people are not going to mindful, nor care. I have to get this shot in tomorrow, then decide re: COVID booster. Have a dentist appointment on the 14th – mulling over that too and don’t want COVID booster around that time, in case I get side effects … maybe afterward. Too much to think about. My mom would put aside a good book if she had a puzzle she liked. The head of the group is nice – so were the people I met, including one guy who is a teacher at the local community college and I had seen his work (when the head of the group mentioned his class was going to be joining his group. So I was looking at this guy’s FB page where he shared pictures of his students’ work (all very nice). I stressed that I couldn’t join until I had a basic knowledge of sketching and I had bought some how-to books, sketchpad, charcoals, etc. in the Winter of 2019 and blogging takes up a lot of time so I had not looked at it. He said to try sketching if I wanted … I do, but not now. They go to a lot of places, but I’d even try doing things on my own first. I have a long way to go, but thinking ahead of things that interest me and I always promised myself I’d return to when I was retired. Now to be retired – whenever that will be. I can’t even get a movie or TV show watched on Friday night or a chapter read in a book. Right now I am three days behind in Reader and I may spend the next 3 to 3 1/2 hours in Reader and still not catch up.
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It is hard to get everything done, and I don’t even have the excuse of work. I hate possums – they’re such ugly things, remind me of rats. The moles are at my place, but I’m feeding the rabbit at mom’s. I think the rabbit eventually ate the carrots, he just took his time…..or maybe some other rabbits ate it. How can they sell you a phone without a battery? I though it was an internal part? You’ll have more time for sketching when you retire – it’s just an added stress to fit it in now. The only people who understand blogging are other bloggers! Going to bed early tonight. Sanditon was a bit better tonight, episode 3. Watchable anyway.
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I wrote a message to the Seller yesterday and didn’t have an answer today, so wrote another message and he said he would send it today and asked my address (which he would have had I would think from shipping?) I wrote back and gave it to him and asked for tracking info as it was likely coming by mail and we have porch pirates. No response … I will write back tomorrow if I don’t hear back from him.
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that is very strange. I don’t order from Amazon, although I should try it, but are there dealers who might not be reputable?
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Well, I think I won’t order from a third-party vendor anymore, but, if you have an issue with a vendor and write them (you just click on what you ordered and there is a place to contact the vendor that way), if they don’t contact you within 48 hours, you contact Amazon and they will deal with the vendor (probably get somewhere then). So they said they’d mail it yesterday – not heard back with tracking info. We have a week of crummy weather and I don’t want it sitting out on the porch in the rain/sleet/snow or whatever. We had heavy fog this morning. They HAD said today was the only nice day until Sunday.
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I found it overwhelming when I tried to order that calender clock for mom as there were so many vendors and some of them sounded sketchy…..so I made my brother order it.
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I heard back from them this morning and they have shipped the new battery priority mail so it will be here on Friday. I was relieved as I didn’t want to have to tangle with them as they are in Florida. If you order from a third-party vendor, they are usually good as they don’t want to end their relationship with Amazon as it’s lucrative to be associated with Amazon.
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Good to know.
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Yes, they (third-party sellers) want to remain in good standing with Amazon.
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PS. I think the pussy willows are $6 a stem!
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That much – wow! We used to buy Daffodils at the grocery store years ago – 10 for $1.00 around mid-March. I’d get a couple of bunches for the house and also for work. You would not get them that cheap now.
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I think the pussy willows are expensive as they are so scare. I do see bunches of tulips for around $6 in the grocery stores, but the cancer society hasn’t sold daffodils for quite a few years – they used to be $5 a bunch. Now they sell plastic yellow pins for a donation, but I haven’t even seen that this year.
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I remember them from when I was young too. We lived in a new subdivision and the end of the street was a meadow and small creek and a wooded area. The kids in the neighborhood used to play here and I think I saw pussy willows there growing wild. I think I remember the Daffodils t Easter time – we used to go over to Canada to visit my grandmother at Easter time and I went into work with her a few times. She worked at the CNIB in downtown Toronto and I guess I saw them there. I don’t see them selling poppies here for Memorial Day any more.
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We still sell poppies in November for Nov. 11, but I haven’t seen any daffodils for the cancer society, plastic or not. Mom got her Shingrix today and seems okay so far….fingers crossed…..arm a bit sore, but then my side effects didn’t start til the next am.
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I have not seen any pins for poppies here in a long time and I’ve never seen the daffodil pins. Hope your mom didn’t get any side effects since it is almost 24 hours since you wrote this comment. I’ve not heard much about getting this latest booster shot. I think the consensus is that people were vaxxed and boosted and still got COVID during the original Omicron surge, so why get a booster again? I still plan to get it – this b.2 surge is coming.
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No, she’s fine…..just a sore arm. People over 80 tend not to get reactions as they don’t mount as good an immune response, so I read. No sign of any more boosters here, and if they do recommend will probably be 6 months from the third, so June for us.
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That’s good no reaction for your mom Joni. Today I heard on the radio that all seniors should have flu shots, hepatitis shots and shingles shots … it is a must for continued good health. I just read a story today that the new COVID boosters are really only good for about 6-8 weeks. Social media articles are all so negative, but I still will get one nevertheless.
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I need Hep A, but had Hep B back in the 90’s when I had a needle stick injury at work, but plan on getting Twinrix if I ever travel again. I find the whole COVID booster thing puzzling as there should be some longer lasting T-Cell immunity, even if antibody levels drop off……will have to research more.
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Yes, I want the Hep A too – we had too many people died from Hep A here in Michigan. I think it was 32 if memory serves me right. I don’t mind getting the latest COVID (and it is free from age 50 and above; the rest of the population has to pay for it this time, so maybe that is part of the reluctance). I would pay for it to get it in me with this new b.2 strain. I will send you the article I read today in a separate comment, but I also heard a similar story on the radio.
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Here is the story Joni:
https://news.yahoo.com/second-booster-shields-elderly-covid-023742438.html
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Ugh, moles. I had mole runs in both the front and back last year, but have not noticed any yet this year. Maybe I’m just not paying attention.
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I remember you posting about them as I had a problem with one mole a few years ago, which I knew was still there but behaving itself, but this seems to be a whole village. I’ll have to reread your blog to see what you did to get rid of them? I was hoping they would have just died off with the cold winter.
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Sad to say that I have actually not had success. Like you, my method has been to hope they move away.
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Thanks JP!
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Darned moles. They’ve left similar evidence in my own dormant lawn, albeit just a few long tracks from one side to the other. I know the winter ground is rock-hard, so those little critters must have some tough teeth!
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It must be a bad year for moles. I remember JP blogging about it. I knew mine were there but they kept to their den and I’ve never seen any lawn damage before. Fortunately the area they have invaded is bound by a sidewalk, so I’m hoping it will be a limited space, as I doubt they can chew through cement, although they could always tunnel under! ?
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Love the pussy willows…takes me right back to childhood when we had some growing in our backyard… hopefully spring will come soon. We had flurries yesterday!
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That’s cool! I’ve never actually seen pussy willows growing anywhere, although we had willow trees near the pond on the farm. It’s nice and sunny here today, but it’s been a cool spring. My sympathies on the flurries….
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