Chatty Caturday

There must be a lot going on today because I keep taking pictures and then I keep sitting down here to tell you all about it. We managed to get the greenhouse cleaned out, and in the process, I took time to walk around and check out the state of things in the yard, the field, and the woods. There is a lot of winter kill as there always is this time of year, but little by little, we get it cleaned up. We just need some nice weather, and we got it in spades today.

It was crystal clear, and the mountains were standing out white against the blue sky. That's Mt. Rainier on the left, Mt. St. Helens on the right. To the far right...outside the frame of this image...you can see Mt. Adams.

Mike was already busy pulling crap (and I do mean "crap") out of the greenhouse. I took some time to fill the bird feeders and set up the birdcam. On my way from the garage to the greenhouse, I set up the sundial. If you want to read the story of the sundial, you can click on this old post. I always bring it in for the winter because if we get a heavy wet snow, it will break that gnomon right off. It happened once. That's how I know it's called a "gnomon". I had to order a new one, and Mike was able to repair it.

And then I got to work dumping the old potting soil out of the pots from the greenhouse. In the process, I put my finger right on this slimy little bugger.

I paused long enough to take this picture, then I went in the house and amputated my finger. In my experience, a digit, once slimed, is no longer useful for anything. I was much more careful after that, and in my caution, discovered this little nest of slug eggs. Gack. I'm assuming those shriveled up ones have already hatched, thus, the multitude of little slugs populating the bottoms of the pots. Note to self: slug bait in the greenhouse is not a bad idea.

While I was dumping the old soil from the pots, Mike finished cleaning things up, sweeping, and generally putting things ship shape. I didn't take any pictures before we started. I was afraid readers of my blog would be turned to stone seeing all the above-noted crap.

The slats are out of the tables to the right. I put those back, but forgot to take a picture. I use them when the tomatoes are small, and then I take them out when I put the tomatoes into their largest pots. Then, they sit on the ground for the rest of the season. It works out very well. Right now the tomatoes are too small to put outside, but I'll be moving them from inside the house to the greenhouse within the next couple of weeks.

Right now, they're living in the laundry room. I turn a fan on them for several hours a day to toughen their stems a little bit. The tomatoes are doing well. The two plants to the bottom left are dill (on the far left) and basil (at the bottom middle). Most of the herbs were a complete bust. Their little stems are so fragile and thin that they can't seem to support the weight of their own tiny leaves. They grow up fast and tall, and then fall over and die. I'll keep what survives, but I'll probably end up buying more starts of those. No big deal. It's fun to grow my own from seeds, but I'm not above buying ones started by others.

We just dump all the debris into the bucket of the tractor. This old soil is headed off for the compost pile.

The old dead tomato vines are headed for the burn pile. That photobomber is my shadow self.

While Mike was tractoring back and forth, I took some time to walk around the yard and down into the woods to see what's growing. The star magnolia is just about to burst into bloom. It's one of the most beautiful flowers in the garden.

I was thinking the trilliums might be blooming in the woods, and so I ventured down there. Since George went to the rainbow bridge, I haven't walked in the woods. 

There's my Georgie. He did love our walks in the woods. Sniff. Anyway...I've tried taking Smitty down there a few times, but he's always been a little too wild to risk it. Maybe this year he will have matured enough. I hope so because I miss walking in the woods with my kitty. Gracie is too timid. She much prefers staying up next to the house.

So there are a few things blooming in the woods. These little wild violets are among the first to bloom. There were lots of those. They are tiny...about the size of a dime.

I walked about 50 yards along the path before I saw the first trillium, just starting to open.

As I walked back, I noticed this one that I'd missed on the way in.

If you've been reading this blog for a while, then you may remember why the trilliums are special to me. And if you don't, you can read this old blog post where I talked about them in more detail.

Back up in the yard, I noticed the cherry trees are pregnant with blossoms.

Tufts of daffodils are blooming all over.

By this time, the greenhouse was looking pretty darned good. On the right side, Mike placed some drums that he painted black. They are filled with water, and they provide thermal mass. They warm up during the day and then help keep the greenhouse warm after the sun sets.

We set up the greenhouse in August of 2010. I wrote about its beginnings right here. Mike went to a lot of work putting in those pavers and pea gravel. Also, you can read about the pretty entry he made for it right here. It's been a boon to our gardening since we were never successful growing tomatoes to red ripeness until we got it. It has a nice little potting area right here. 

When I'm not using it, I keep it covered with slats to avoid, you know, prying, peeing, and pooping paw people (awesome alliteration).

On the outside wall this morning, I saw the season's first ladybug. Hello there! Happy spring to you too!

Then I wandered over to the tangle of dead catnip to see if anything was growing there. It's never a sure thing that the catnip will return in the spring. Sometimes I have to replant it, but this year, no problem!

You can see several tufts of it in the image below.

And there's some more just over there.

Seeing me sitting on the ground, Gracie thought she'd investigate what was up in the catnip field. Mmmmmmmmm. Kitties do loves them their catnip.

Hey, Smitty! Come check out the greenery!

Oh wow, Gracie. This stuff is righteous!

Nom, nom, nom, nom...

Beautiful catnip. Where have you been all my life?

Oh, Catnip, how I love you with all my heart!

What's that you say? Are you whispering sweet nothings in my ear?

Oh, Catnip. I worship the ground where you grow.

I want to bathe in your essence and write poetry for you!

Okay, it was getting a little nauseating at that point, so I called it a day and came inside. I'll let these two have their privacy.