Marchness

Poor Burtie, still patiently waiting for spring even though he thought it was here to stay a week and a half ago when it warmed up and the calendar said it was official. Now it's cold and snowing - again. Ugh, what a mess, but we can't let that get us down because there are signs of spring everywhere else. Who knows, tomorrow it might be warm again, ha!

Now that spring is starting to show up, so are the casualties winter and it's time to get to work on the repairs. There's always something and this year it was Elwood, our trumpeter bunny/fountain.

This bad photo of him actually working was taken through the patio screens last summer. A decade or more ago, I stopped by a flower shop (because one of my son's friends had just started working there) and left with this rabbit playing a horn. I didn't have a clue what to do with him but he was way too unusual to leave behind.

We called him Elwood after one of the Blues Brothers in the 80's movie by the same name, and it stuck. With a cheap pond pump and some black hose shoved between his ears, he was turned into a fountain in the worst looking way possible. However, apart from the awkwardness of it all, the water sprayed beautifully from his horn and it made a wonderful sound splashing down on the rocks. He's been attracting all sorts of wildlife to himself ever since and we have enjoyed watching the show!

Like most towns, there is no shortage of critters in ours. Around our home the squirrels nest in the pines, a family of chipmunks live under the front steps and bunnies pop out of burrows in the herbs and under the crabapple. Sometimes I wonder if our backyard might not be one huge rabbit warren. They usually cause only minor damage and that's worth putting up with for their entertainment value. Except for the mother raccoon that give birth to five babies in the upstairs of our garage. It took three days and cost us a small fortune to have them humanely trapped and relocated to a state park twenty miles away. I hope they don't find their way back but the babies were really, really cute.

Now however, we have to deal with a very serious problem.

 

Replacing the whole pond with a fancy, tiered fountain came to mind but once we imagined what the squirrels and raccoons would do to it, that idea was quickly abandoned. There was a spitter fountain in the shape of a gargoyle that seemed like a possibility but it probably wouldn't sound so great. Eventually we realized that  Elwood greatest quality is the ability to attract wildlife. If he was replaced with something else, we could lose that. It's the sound of running water that attracts them so it's also important that it's easy enough for them to get a a drink - without falling in! The chickadees are some of his biggest fans. They're always sitting on his head and inside the armillary but what they seem to love the most is flying through the spray of water!

A search for a replacement turned up a photo on Pinterest but no other musical bunnies. The only option left was a bad repair job! As it turned out, he was attached to the armillary by just two small screws and one had broken off. The remaining one was probably too weak to hold a bunny and an armillary together on his own so we opted for another Frankenstein-ish adaptation.  

In the end it was up to Doctor Madness to repair the damage.

Now, Elwood has an unattractive hose clamp to go along with the black plastic hose.

Well . . . he's fixed for now. How long will he last is anyone's guess. 

It's easy to forget what things actually look like in the middle of summer. When the finches and hummingbirds come back to join the cardinals, chickadees and all those sparrows at his pond, they probably won't even notice the difference . . . if he is still standing!

Thanks for stopping by! 

Pi Day Silliness

Over the years we have been stuck at home a lot during January and February. However, combined with the covid restrictions we've all been living with for the past year, this winter has seemed like an eternity! Speaking of things that go on forever, yesterday was Pi Day so HM decided to whip up a blueberry pie in honor of the numerical sequence that never ends.   

Okay, Pi is really all about circles, but pie and blueberries are both usually round.

Every faux holiday needs a pastry symbol.

Let's just say it tasted way better than it looked, ha!

   

This is the Pi Day pie HM made last year. It was a masterpiece.  

It took us until St. Patrick's Day to finish it!

This year (not to be left out and since it was Sunday and I was in charge of brunch) I decided to join in on the numerical nonsense, too.

  

It's kind of amazing how much unattractive food came out of out kitchen on Sunday, ha!

Who gets the nerdy computer reference?

Once again, the apple pie HM made for Pi Day 2020, at the beginning of global pandemic . . .

. . . and the 2021 Pi Day. Hmmmm....

 

Luckily, he was able to redeem himself with this quiche for dinner.

Maybe 2021 will do the same.

 

Thanks for stopping by, hope everyone had a great weekend! 

Where to Put the Poisonous Plants

Earlier in the week, Burt and Ivy took a trip to the garden center for some new houseplants. The current ones are looking a little winter weary so they thought a few new neighbors might be a distraction from their current shabbiness.

 They didn't make a list because you never know what you might find at our garden center, ha! Sometimes there are orchids and all sorts of exotic plants but mostly, it's just the basics. Usually they have primroses and oxalis in stock at this time of the year. The primroses in our basement garden didn't do too well over the winter and barely had the energy to put out these two little flowers. So Burt and Ivy were definitely on the hunt for something blooming.

Finding a less than stellar selection at the garden center, they decided to buy whatever looked good or interesting from what was available. Back at home, it only took three quick searches on the internet to discover that ALL of the plants they bought were poisonous to cats! Oops.

Unfazed by the lethalness of their haul but confident they could work around this unfortunate situation, the Skeleton Crew got right to work finding pots for the new plants. 

Burt personally tested each one to make sure it was the right size.

The poisonous lineup consists of a variegated Dracaena, three Oxalis, commonly referred to as False Shamrock this time of the year and a little, spiky succulent called Senecio Himalayan.

Our cats have been around poisonous plants before but there's no point in taking chances. They normally don't get up on the coffee table but after Stewart's look of disapproval these two plants were moved out of reach, too. Meanwhile, Spencer is happy to munch on a non-toxic spider plant.

Luckily, it's not that hard to find places where the kitties can't get to anymore. In a couple of months all these plants can be moved outside and hopefully not be a health risk to the backyard critters.

As for the senecio, it needs more light than the others and ended up all by itself on this windowsill. I think it could use a few new friends to keep it company.

Stay safe and don't eat any poisonous plants!

Have a great weekend and thanks for stopping by.

Between the Seasons

Now that it's the last day of February it should be okay to think about spring, right? It doesn't help to get too far ahead of yourself up here in the frozen north, there's still a good month of snow and cold to go but we are a lot closer to the end than the beginning. Winter's not really that bad, but I definitely have a love/hate relationship with it, ha! Sometimes I wonder why I've acquired so many snowflake decorations when there's so much of the real stuff outside? This crystal snowflake reflects a different color depending on the direction you're looking at it from. Whoever made it apparently hasn't heard of yellow snow.

 Now that the sub-zero days of winter are (hopefully) past, Burt and Ivy went to work swapping out the Christmas decor for some other seasonal trimmings.

 We are definitely removing the outside decorations later than usual this year! I'm afraid the wreaths and garland are still frozen to the house.

Of course we can't leave the patio unadorned.

The garden books I've been reading lately talk a lot about taking time during the winter to give some serious thought to the structure of your garden. What? So I decided to think about all the things I could do with this empty space and came up with quite a few elaborate plans based on this supposedly "blank canvas".  Then it occurred to me to look at my photos to see what is normally growing there.

Oh yeah, lots of stuff! It's not a blank canvas in August. No matter how many phlox I dig up, by the end of July they have teamed up with the hydrangea for a complete take over. Now I remember why I don't make plans. It gets left up to Mother Nature and I call it a cottage garden.

Another thing the books tell you to do during the winter is to prune. Now that at least makes sense. The biggest issue with plants is that once they get to be just the right size, they never stay that way. It seems like pruning is very complicated and I always afraid I'm accidentally going to kill the plant. Our insurance company insists that we cut down this giant hydrangea because it's too close to the garage. They should tell that to the cardinals, they think it's just a perfect spot to catch some sun.

I guess taking a hard look at everything while it's covered in snow has brought more than couple things to my attention. Apparently, the phlox and hydrangea aren't the only out of control plants in the backyard. One way to tell if it's getting close to spring is to check out how much of the bench is still buried in snow. In January it's completely engulfed. It's also good at highlighting what needs to be fixed. Just how did the terrarium get full of snow? It's fun (and a little scary) to see all the different animal foot prints. Wonder where that critter path leads to? Clearly this bench needs some attention. 

It looked great last summer because you couldn't see it at all when the roses were blooming. It always was an uncomfortable place to sit even without getting poked in the butt by rose thorns. 

It looks like has Ivy decided a few birdhouses and some bunnies would help us think of spring while we're shivering in the cold. The fake greens stay to fill in the space.

The green lights are for St. Patrick's Day, because there's nothing else to do but drink!

(Okay, and maybe some pruning, but not too much.)

I hope everyone had a great weekend. Thanks for stopping by! 

A Convergence of Holidays

I can't recall a time when the Lunar NewYear, Valentine's Day, President's Day and Mardi Gras all occurred so close together. Granted, they may not get as much attention as Christmas from most of us, but if you work within the global economy or own temperamental appliances, it's very important to know which holidays are happening and where the festivities are going on. Once, I stupidly sent a catalog off to be printed in Hong Kong without realizing they were in the middle of their Lunar New Year celebrations. I had no idea the entire printing operation would be shut down for three weeks. Even worse, it was during a period when workers would often change occupations or move to a different company. The whole process took even longer while the entire workforce learned their new jobs. Then there was the time we needed a part for our stove, the only one in the entire country was located at a supplier in New Orleans. They were closed for two weeks prior to Mardi Gras. I was very happy when Lent began that year. Finally there's President's Day, which always catches me by surprise. It's so easy to forget there's no mail and my sister-in-law and niece usually get their birthday cards late.  

Fortunately, Valentine's Day is always on the 14th so there's none of that moveable holiday treachery to confuse the situation! Plus there's usually only one person to be concerned about so any forgetfulness can be quickly fixed.

Last Sunday, candy and flowers made their usual appearances, along with several bottles of liquor. It never hurts to keep your spirits up during a visit from the polar vortex. Spencer kept track of the recipe while I made brunch. He's looking a little shaggy these days from going out in the sub-zero temperatures. 

 Rummaging around in the freezer produced a layer of chocolate cake that eventually turned into a dessert. All it needed was few strawberries sprinkled with sugar and Cointreau then topped up with Reddi-wip.

It could have been better looking but it was okay for a last minute treat.

  

As usual, Burt and Ivy were their ridiculously, cheerful selves and became especially energized after discovering Valoween while shopping online. They immediately launched into a frantic search for some appropriate decorations. Not that they found much to work with but combining Valentines Day with Halloween made it more fun! 

We're pretty short on Valentine decor, not that there's a lot of variety available. All we have, apart from a few dishes and a string of lights, are empty candy boxes. Discovering this darker concept of the holiday has definitely opened up a much wider range of possibilities though. This is a concept that definitely needs further exploration. Who knows what might follow, maybe a Spooky Spring or Scary Summer? Bwahaha! 

 

So, how many skeletons does it take to hang up a banner?

None.

They get someone else do it and then take all the credit.

Seriously, do decorations matter if there's chocolate?

Thanks for stopping by!

I hope everyone is doing well, staying safe and wearing a mask!