Never A Dull Moment...

Hi all!

It's been busy around the house here. Spring has sprung, along with all the grass.
Though we're renters, I can't stand a messy yard. It just isn't right, you know?
So, we've weeded, seeded, and now planted.

I feel so happy!

The irises are blooming

Just gorgeous.

And voila, a start to the garden. This was taken a couple weeks ago. It's looking much stronger now, thankfully.

Black seeded lettuce in the front, radishes behind, carrots behind them, then leeks in the back.

Next to them I have a bag with wildflower seedlings. Hopefully we'll get the bees to help pollinate things.

No idea of the mix. But the packet said we'll have Coneflower and Echinacea among others.

Peach tree is looking fine! We had some snow a couple weekends ago, but I think we'll have some nice fruit this year too.

And waiting in the wings...the rest of my babies. The marigolds I planted just a few days ago. When the seedlings get to be about two inches, I'll plant them.

 

Now, that's all well and good. But the weather here has been gloriously beautiful and a bit ominous. I've never met such violent weather before in my life. One minute it's sunny and bright and the next, wind picks up and the clouds roll in looking much like this:

No, that's not blue sky. That's about the darkest cloud color I've ever seen.

And today, I went out to water my tub with the help of this little one.

We were in for a rare event.

Mr. K took this shot of what was over our home. It pretty much sums up spring where we live, I'd say.

What's coming from the clouds you ask?
Is it snow?

Well, not exactly.

It's graupel.

Yes. That's right. Graupel. I thought it was snow, so I ran back in and got Mr. K to help me put the screen over my babies. They're still young, and if I'm not careful, they'll die all too quickly.

We managed to get there, just in time. With the help of some wood pieces, a few weights, and the mesh, I think they'll survive.
Now just to pray that the wind doesn't pick up too bad.

The small snow pellets do sting if they hit your ears, just saying. Oh, what we do to protect the things we like.

Other than that, we've been doing pretty well. Mochi is our fearless protector against flies, moths, beetles, bees, and wasps. I'm happy about the first three, not so much about the latter ones.

She runs after them and catches them in her mouth. In the house, it's great. I haven't had to use the fly swatter at all! But in the garden, the insects sometimes win the battle, as evidenced by Thursday night, after coming home from visiting a friend. 

I'm holding her ribcage, not her jaw. That puffiness on her left side? Yeah, the bug won that battle.

We may or may not have called her Puffy Lips that night, after we made a call to the vet to make sure she'd be okay. If the swelling started migrating to her throat and air passages, then we would have had to take her in to the vet's office in Santa Fe. All the offices here in our town close at six.

But even with that minor incident, she was undeterred. Okay, maybe not that night. She wanted only petting and such. But, the next day she was at it again. It was all fun and games until she batted a fly down the heat duct. 

She lay in wait for a good twenty minutes and was very insistent that the thing come out and play, whining and pawing at the grate.

It didn't.

Definitely heard it buzzing around down there, though. Made for an interesting writing session.

By the way, I dare anyone to try to tell a puppy to leave a buzzing noise alone, to leave the place where she last saw it. It's near impossible.

Eventually, when there was no more noise, she resigned herself to the fact that M. Mouche was not returning. I was happy. She was not.

And now that Camp NaNoWriMo is over, I'm resuming a more active social life.  Much needed, I've discovered. Plus, it gives me a great chance to get out and enjoy friends (and acquire new ideas!)

Perfect shot.

So that's it for now!

Until next time,
Bisous!