Enough Is Enough

Seriously.
It's suppose to drop to 8 degrees tonight, negative numbers to the north.
Argh!

Humans aren't the only ones being affected.

The dog puts one paw on the frozen, snow covered front steps and balks. Apparently, the crap on the ground will outweigh the need to pee every time. She's depressed. She wants to go out and play on some green grass. I know how she feels all balled up in a sighing lump on the floor after staring out the window all day and longing to be able to just find a stick under all that frozen white crap.

I've taken to calling my daughter's bunny (why do they never take animals with them when they move out?) 'Slug'. She's usually so chipper towards spring, but the fresh clover and tender, new grass shoot treats aren't coming at the usual prescribed time this year. She's a depressed bunny. I don't blame her.

And the Koi - just plain ole pissed. Sun - thaw - snow - frozen - sun - thaw. Uhrg!
I'd be pretty miffed if I were them too. I imagine they wonder if the Jap Beetle treats will ever show up this year. Even the Orfe are sluggish when around now is usually the time they're zipping through the water like mini torpedoes in a race for those first bugs of spring.

It's suppose to be 60's on April 1st. Yeah, a real April fools since it's suppose to drop right back down to crap after that. They're hinting at another snowstorm next weekend. The joke is on us.

Poke us all - humans and animals - with a fork, we're done.
Winter can just bite me!

Wanted: 5 amateur gardeners & 5 gardens

Munster Express - Waterford, Ireland -
Wanted: 5 amateur gardeners & 5 gardens

Ha! Could you imagine the response if this were in the US?
Oh, that's right . . . we already have a bazillion boring shows like that already . . .

And, in the Wiltshire Times news:
Fury as ancient trees get chop

So much interesting news happening abroad lately.

That's What I Get

5 inches of snow on the way.
Yup, that's what I get for wishing some heat would move in, or that spring would at least peek in at us and say, "I'm coming", or that Old Man Winter would just go away already.
If wishes were horses...I'd have a herd living under 200 feet of snow.
Serves me right for drooling over everyone's burst of yellows, whites and purples sprawled across their blogs.
Ok, I get it. I've been not such a good girl in the jealousy area.
No, really. I get it.
So, no more wishing!

Vietnam Veterans Memorial Virtual Wall

How awesome is this:
The Virtual Wall

Besides entering a name, you can search all sorts of other ways:

Alphabetical List
By Wall Panel
By State & City
By Military Unit
Height of Valor
Faces Of Freedom
Recent Additions

10 Degrees And Tomatoes

Yes, ten degrees. Ten freaking degrees on March 25th. We're suppose to be somewhere around mid forties during the day, but it ain't happenin'.
Global warming, my ass. Yeah, I wish my ass was warm. :)

On the bright side - the sun is shining. Is it a sign when the hubs asks, "What the hell is that strange, bright, shiny, orb thingy in the sky?" I luuurve the sun! Welcome back. (snow is coming but I'm ignoring the forecast - what I don't know, I don't know, ya know?)

The tomatoes are up. Yay!

Large Yellow (came from wintersown.org, so unknown but delicious - according to the fam)
Rutgers
Yellow Pear (some I received in '06. thanks Kim!)
Beefsteak
San Marzano (another thanks to Kim)
Ace 55
Large Red Cherry

Ok, so it's weird that I'm psyched over growing tomatoes and don't eat them because I don't like them. Shhh!

I still have to get the buckets washed out. Half will go to my Aunt D. Since her MS is progressing, she can't bend down anymore without falling over. If she sits, she can't get up. So, hopefully the buckets will raise the veg plants up enough that she won't have so much trouble, and if she'll turn one over to sit on (the woman can be so stubborn sometimes!) she should be able to stand back up a little easier without falling over.

The peppers I had to resow (thanks to that dern James Mouse) are germinating. I'm not too concerned. We still have 8 weeks to last frost and I usually don't put them in the ground until a week or two after that, just to be on the safe side. I received a packet of leftover seed last year from one very kind man and there were a few of Parks 'Whoppers' seed included. I tried germinating half of them last year but got nothing and assumed the seed were too old. I tried again with the rest this year and got 2 to germ! I'm excited to see what they'll do.

Everything seems to be doing pretty well. The Hungarian Wax already have little peppers on them. Very cool!

I'm suppose to be hardening off my onions as of April 1 to get in the ground sometime around the 8th. Not gonna happen unless we get some kind of freak heat wave soon. Hey - I can hope!

Snow Geese

What a beautiful sight to see on Easter.
They'd stopped in the corn field in the afternoon and took flight, heading straight north, just before sunset.
I don't think there's another bird more awesome to see in flight soaring over your head.
I haven't seen any for years, so this was quite a treat.

We Broke Our Own Rule

I swore we'd never have a credit card.
It's common sense: If we don't have the cash on hand for something, then we can't afford it. Period.

But, no fuel + no money = freezing house, freezing kids, freezing pipes, freezing plants.

Now we just have to pay it off and forget we have it.
~sigh~ I sooo didn't want to go there. Ever. At least I know we aren't the only ones being pressured to the limit this year. It's getting ridiculous. I have older friends who are cutting their pills in half because they can't afford their prescriptions. Not a good idea in any way, shape or form, but what are they to do when it's a choice between dying of starvation or dying from health problems because you can't afford your meds and you need basics like heat, water, rent, mortgage, lights, food, clothes and to pay your property taxes so you can hold on to your freaking house?

I keep hoping the economic conditions around here will eventually get better, but they just continue to slide downwards. People aren't at the 'barely making ends meet' position any more. It's now the 'impossible to make ends meet' area.

Honestly, I don't know if these people are going to make it another year. A few have already lost their homes or moved to cheaper apartments, but social security and minimum wage still isn't cutting it. Prices on everything are doubling and wages aren't budging.

I help out where I can, even if it's something small like the excess vegetables I disperse from the garden to people I know really need the food, or the mittens I knit every year for the Rescue Mission, but I can only do so much.

It's all so depressing that I could just break down in tears. And to think we've been sitting at way below normal temps for weeks on end and spring is another month away only adds to the gloom (or maybe it's just the menopause).

I should just shut up and count my blessings - I have a wonderful spouse that I love to death, my kids are pretty healthy and happy, I have vegetables in the freezer from last years garden, I can sew our own clothes if I have to and we can hang on to our house for now. It may be over 200 years old, leaky, drafty and a maintenance nightmare, but it's ours and it's a roof over our heads.

It's gotta get better...right?