Forecast: Rain and Sarcasm

Misery. Grey, wet, cold sopping misery. And deluge. During our last big rainstorm, the lawn on the north side of the house flooded. JP dug a ditch in the hopes to drain the water out of the yard into the culvert. Logical, right? Uh, no. We woke up this morning to find that the culvert had overflowed and used the ditch to flood the yard, washing leaves and silt practically up to the garage. It’s backwashed into our well, too, so the water is brackish.

Live and learn.

I am having a REALLY hard time dealing with the weather! It puts me in such a funk and the minutiae of everyday life starts kicking my butt.

I am dying to get outside into my garden but so far, all I’ve been able to do is put in some seedlings of lettuce, spinach and broccoli. I sowed carrots, radish, peas and beets just before this last spell of cold weather….waste of time, they’ve probably frozen twice over and rotted. Oh well, if at first you don’t succeed, wait for the next new moon and then try try again…..that’s Farmers’ Almanac talk: always sow/plant during the waxing or full moon. My own personal almanac dictates me to sow anything at any time after January 31^st to avoid going insane. Hence I have perennial seedlings crowded around my picture windows and sliding glass doors, all clamoring like impatient children to get outside.

Mail order plants have been arriving….I’ve been throwing them into a makeshift nursery garden on the south side of the house, mulching them with layers of leaves and hoping for the best.

Saturday was a nice enough day to work outside. JP’s friend K hooked us up with an 8-person camping tent on sale at EMS, and we set it up in the yard for the kids to play in. They had a blast – taking in their toys and pillows and blankets and demanding lunch be served outside. Meanwhile JP and I took a chain saw to the gigantic burning bush behind the veggie garden. We didn’t want to take it out entirely because it does give some privacy from the road; we just trimmed it back so we could build some more raised beds this year. What a difference. Now it still screens the road somewhat, but looks like an interesting tree.

I wonder if I could get a clematis vine to grow up it?

Sunday the rain cameth and still cometh and will continue to pummel us the rest of the week. So I’m doing a lot of moody pacing around the house, looking out the windows and sighing, peering at the seedling trays to see if they’ll actually germinate before my eyes. Goldfinches have started showing up at my birdfeeders. Along with some red bellied woodpeckers. And of course, JP’s two favorites: bushtits and titmice. Har har.

Oh I know, I know, this too shall pass and the earth will bloom. But it just seems to take longer every year, and every year it gets a little harder for me to deal with the time between New Year’s and May.

- Suanne