Last year, I set up a little critter corner in our backyard to feed the wildlife that stops by. We also set up a camera so we can see our visitors.
Recently, we had some Blue
Jays stop by to eat some peanuts. (The date and time on the camera are wrong
because it messed up when the batteries died and we haven’t reset it.)
Enjoy this video of the Blue
Jays enjoying their peanuts.
Some of our azaleas are starting to bloom.
They tend to
bloom anywhere from late March to late April.
Some years,
we’ve definitely had more blooms by April 1st, and some years,
they’re just barely starting to bloom around this time.
I love azaleas,
so it always makes me very happy when they bloom.
So what about
you? Do you like azaleas? Are they in bloom where you are?
Since I missed doing a Thursday 13, I thought I’d do a March wrap-up for the random things since my last Thursday 13.
A cat picture is always a good place to start, so enjoy
this one of Charlie in a basket. He
doesn’t exactly fit in the basket, but he still enjoyed hanging out in it.
We were close enough to some of the NC wildfires to get a lot of smoke and falling ash from them. I’m not sure how well you can tell in the pictures, but the haze is from the fires.
We had rain yesterday and
today, which has helped with the fires.
Even though we desperately needed the rain, it’s still making me
nervous.
Last week made six months since we were hit by Hurricane
Helene. The recovery process is
ongoing. Storm damage was a contributing factor to the fires.
Our wonderful neighbors have been helping us dig a dry well
for drainage. It didn’t occur to me to
take a picture while anyone was in the hole.
Hopefully, you can tell from these pictures how deep it is. I just dangled my legs in for the pictures
because I didn’t want to have to climb out of it again just for pictures.
We had four tons of gravel delivered last week for the drainage project.
I started some seeds (only for cold-tolerant plants since
we’re not past our last frost date yet) last week. Hopefully, I’ll be sharing seedling progress
soon.
I’ve decided (at the last minute!) to participate in the
Blogging from A to Z April Challenge.
You can read more about it here, but the basic idea is to blog every day
(except Sundays) in April, starting with A on the 1st and ending
with Z on the 30th. Some
people do themes. I’m not doing a
specific theme; I'm just trying to blog more regularly and hopefully catch up
on some of the things I’ve meant to blog about.
So, how was the rest of March for you? Are you planning to participate in the
Today’s Thursday 13 is going to be all over the place.
1. Mortimer
had an emergency visit (fortunately to our regular vet’s office) on Friday due
to eating plastic. Fortunately, after
x-rays to confirm there wasn’t an obstruction, fluids and an anti-nausea shot
did the trick.
2. Unfortunately,
I doubt this did anything to curb his obsession with eating plastic.
3. We
mailed out a total of 152 protest postcards on Saturday.
4. We had
severe storms and a moderate risk of tornadoes late Saturday night into the
early hours of Sunday morning. Pre-Helene,
we wouldn’t have been very concerned, but almost everyone here gets nervous
about storms now.
5. Because
our house doesn’t have any rooms without exterior walls, we deemed our bedroom
closet the best place to shelter in case of a tornado. We didn’t want to have to round up five cats in the middle
of the night with a tornado imminent, so we opted to lock all five cats in the
bedroom with us.
6. Catching
and containing five cats is a big job!
7. Fortunately,
there were no tornados, and we didn’t have to shelter in the closet. We had a lot of rain, but no flooding or damage. Unfortunately, we didn’t sleep well at
all. Caroline’s facial expression sums
up the night well.
8. Other than
that storm, we’ve still been enjoying mostly sunny weather.
9. The
daffodils along the back fence have bloomed.
10. The
daffodils next to the carport are at their peak.
11. The
forsythia is just starting to get a few blooms.
12. There
are a lot more flowers on the bush in the front yard.
13. And
the hyacinth is still blooming,
How was your week?
Today’s Thursday 13 is going to be all over the place.
1. Let’s
start with a cat picture. Mortimer is
warming up to Theodore, and I was able to get some pictures of them hanging out
together.
2. I had
to go to the DMV to renew my driver’s license this week. It took about five and a half hours. A little over five hours of that was waiting. The good news is that I should be able to
renew online the next time, so it should be around 15 years before I have to go
in person again.
3. The
DMV line and waiting room definitely seem to bring out people’s true
natures. Most people were very pleasant
and kind of made friends with their waiting companions. A few people, though, were just awful. They complained about everything, berated the
employees (who were really nice and doing their best), and complained about
people taking lunch breaks. Complaining
that something takes a long time is never going to speed it up!
4. We had
more nice weather this week, so the flowers are still blooming. The hyacinth still looks great.
5. More
of the daffodils are blooming.
6. These
are the ones next to the carport that were just buds last week.
7. I
don’t know what it’s called, but the bush with the tiny white flowers is
starting to bloom.
8. Here’s
a close-up of the flowers.
9. If you
know what it’s called, please let me know in the comments.
10. On
Saturday, we got together with some friends at a local coffee shop to write
protest postcards.
11. If
you’re not familiar, they’re postcards to be mailed to the White House on the
15th to express our displeasure with the current
administration. They’re also being sent
to state representatives if applicable.
Unfortunately, ours are in lockstep with this administration. We wrote a lot of postcards.
12. I
realize that some bloggers view Blogger as a politics-free zone, and I like
that idea. However, I think there comes
a time when not choosing (and declaring) a side makes you complicit. I’m not going to turn into a political
blogger, but I do want to be clear that I am not okay with what is happening in
our country right now. I don’t expect to
change anyone’s mind, and I know I’m not powerful or important enough to make
any real difference, but I can’t just be quiet, either. Liz wrote a great post about feeling this way.
13. I’ll
end on a more positive note with this picture of Theodore in a basket.
How was your week?
