April… finally!

I hope they (the ubiquitous “they”) are right when they say “April showers bring May flowers” because April has started out with showers. There was even the possibility of snow in the forecast. Ick! Our little corner of the world is definitely showing signs of spring, though.

This was taken yesterday, while on my walk behind our local skating rink facility. There’s a lovely park that goes past the Thompson Marsh and the Mission Sports Fields. The park bench you can just see at the top of the picture overlooks the marsh, a lovely place to sit and watch the ducks. Someone planted these, obviously, as a memorial and, since coming across it last year, I’ve looked forward to seeing it again this year. It’s such a lovely tribute, one that comes back year after year.

There are other signs of spring at the marsh. The ducks are pairing up, the buds on the trees and shrubs are beginning to swell, the redwing blackbirds are singing cheerily and though the air was brisk yesterday, it was a lovely day for a walk.

Here’s another sign of spring…

Construction! You may not know this (or you might), but we live in a fourplex. There was a fence between the two sides of the house but it was looking somewhat worse for wear and wasn’t centered to the house. Over the last few weeks, the old fence has been removed and a new one is being built. There’s a pergola at the back of the yard and we understand that there may be another one closer to the house. Needless to say, it’s a little difficult for us to do any kind of landscaping out there at the moment, but we’re definitely looking forward to the completion of the fence and getting the yard ready for the upcoming warm weather.

And speaking of landscaping and gardening, my little nursery is coming along very nicely. Right now, the following are up and thriving:

• tomatoes (Brandywine and Marglobe)
• Walla Walla onions (lots of them!)
• jalapeno peppers
• basil
• butterfly weed
• sweet peas (to be planted outside soon)
• cabbage
• lovage
• salad greens (up in two days!!!)

I’m still waiting for the Italian parsley and the sweet peppers to come to the party. They’re the slowpokes for some reason. The salad greens, incidentally, are from a packet of mixed greens. The packet calls it “cut and come again”; there are about six or seven types of greens. When I was home last Monday, I filled a basket with dirt (plastic lined) and sprinkled some seeds into it. By Wednesday, some of the seeds were already poking their heads up! I could hardly believe it!

Because the sweet peas will be planted just outside our back door, a fairly sheltered spot, and because they’re thriving already, I think I may be planting them earlier than I’d thought. Hopefully, they’ll do well; if not, I have more seeds.

Oh, I am so looking forward to warmer days!