It was not winter's last gasp as we had hoped. The morning after another big snowstorm dawned gorgeously still and quiet. I think they may be about done for the year with the possible exception of some flurries coming up late this weekend. This one didn’t last too long due to warmer ground temps and the ground shows up once again even though we got about 8 inches. 

This gives you an idea of what we are planning for our garden with the possibility of a few flowers thrown in around the house. The lawn area we tried to plant last year on our excavated ground turned into runaway crabgrass and clover so after killing it off this year I will need to start all over again. I’m looking forward to the upcoming days and weeks of warmer weather spent outside working on things. I’ve never really had a yard to develop and I never got into gardening at a younger age but am avidly looking forward to it at this point. We have lots of plans; now just to see if we can make them work out!

Marc is away in Bismarck, ND this week but managed to add a huge safety feature to his big saw so he no longer has to reach across by the running blade to guide a long piece of lumber. It’s quite cleaver, done with rollers and folds up out of the way when he is done. That man is so inventive!

I took advantage of his absence and visited Goodwill for more yard art project material so hope to have some photos of those by the time I blog again.

Winter's Last Gasp?

We’re hopeful we’ve seen the last snowfall of the winter earlier this month because recently our temperatures have been so warm we are completely rid of snow. Next come the spring rains so we’re not out of the woods by any means, although we are getting some days of warming sunshine. 

Marc has taken that time to do some outside chores like the apple tree pruning; something he didn’t get the chance to do at all last year. In addition, we spent the weekend working on our garden area and fencing. To make it tall enough to keep out the deer, he is doing two courses of four feet field fencing with a lower layer of mesh at ground level to help prevent rodents. All of that is weaved together with fencing wire to make something strong and secure so it’s no easy or quick task. He also had one pole left to set which I now need to paint and there is yet a gate to be built. Since our last killing frost can be in mid-May it’s really not safe for us to plant much until the end of April so we still have time to get things in order.

We’ll actually be working a whole bunch on outside tasks this summer as we have lots of landscaping planting plans. In addition, there is some major fix up to be done to the RV and Freightliner which we are considering putting up for sale. We can’t envision ever fulltiming again and there is no need locally for such a large RV so if we can ditch this one we may eventually get a 30 foot bumper tow we can pull with the Dodge. But we’re not even sure if we’ll do that since Marc only has two weeks’ vacation a year so other than weekend use it would likely sit a lot. Marc has continued to work in his basement, putting together his work area and building drawers for storage, etc. Once he feels he is practiced enough, there will be laundry room cabinets to build and the kitchen island and hood.

He did decide he’d like to get out fishing at some point soon so he picked up a clean little boat & trailer the other day. He has to go through his old motor to get it running but maybe before long we’ll have some fish stories to relate. I was holding out for a pontoon boat but remain hopeful maybe we can add to the fleet a little later with one. Wisconsin has over 11,000 lakes and 300 rivers so there is just way too much water fun to be had to live in this state without a boat or two!