March 30-April 5, 2026

Weather | 3/30, sunny, 57°, 83° | 3/31, sunny, 62°, 83° | 4/1, rain, 45°, xx° | 4/2, xx°, xx° | 4/3, xx°, xx° | 4/4, xx°, xx° | 4/5, xx°, xx° |

• Monday, 3/30: Mowing South Yard & Orchard
  • I mowed the south yard. This is an area we neglected to mow last year, so it had tall dead grass with a few bits of green grass poking through. When I mowed around the Sargent crabapple tree, I stopped to pick up black walnuts. I tossed several walnuts between the crabapple and a neighboring walnut tree that were on our lane last fall. Now there are hundreds of them in one patch east of the lane.
  • Once finished with the south lawn, I mowed all of the triangles of tall dead grass between the paths in the south apple orchard so that the whole area is mowed. It was tough going and my muscles tell me I'm an idiot. It looks nice, though.
  • Meanwhile, Mary cleaned in the house and vacuumed more ladybugs.
  • I played fetch with Cooper. His rear leg wound broke open, again, so he will be off from fetching a ball for several days. This time, the wound was not as bad as the last time. It comes from him chewing on his hind leg while in the shelter before we got him.
  • Mary took down the second stalk of amaryllis blossoms, because the flowers were drying up. It was a bright color countering the dull browns of late winter and early spring.
  • Mary briefly heard the song of a white-throated sparrow, so we still have winter birds floating through on their way north.

   

• Tuesday, 3/31: Garden Prep & Violets
  • We were back vacuuming ladybugs, which seems to be a daily constant.
  • I mowed dead grass inside the near garden, then mowed around the outside of that garden.
  • Mary hoed weeds out of the near garden.
  • She also took hay and a bag of food to the chicken coop.
  • We heard wild turkeys gobbling to each other to the north. They weren't too far away.
  • Thunderstorms were rolling through to the north after dark. Rain didn't get to us until very early the next morning.
  • Violet blossoms are popping all over our yard. Mary took photos of them (see below).

Close-up of a violet blossom in our yard.

More violets...one of Mary's favorite flowers.