Saturday, March 30, 2013

It Must Be Spring!

Yep, spring is definitely on its way . . . but I sure do wish it could arrive without going through this dreary, damp, muckity-mud period.  Spring time this far north is never pretty.


Last night before it got dark, just the very top framing of the garden beds could be seen peeking out of the snow cover.  After a night of slow, steady rain (we got about 3/4"), the above picture shows what they look like this morning.


Some of the ground underneath must still be frozen because there is standing water in most of the beds.


Our little pond has a melted, murky puddle of water in the center of it.  (I wonder how long before our returning spring Mallards arrive?)


It took only two sessions of cleaning the muddy feet and underbelly of our granddog, Tucker (after he convinced me [I'm so easy] he really, REALLY had to go outside to take care of his business), for me to decide he's spending the day in the greenhouse.  From there he can come and go in or out as he wishes.  In the shot above, he's in for a rest after giving himself a spring cleaning by rolling, rolling, rolling in the mushy snow.  But he's not happy I told him he can't come inside the house.  He's pouting and so mad  he's even refusing to lie on his nice, soft bed.  Yep, it's a dog's life.

The temp is forecast to go up to the high 40s today, possibly even hitting 50 degrees which will be a high for us this spring season.  The rain is still steadily coming down so it's guaranteed more snow will be gone by the end of the day.

All this is evidence that spring IS coming to the north woods, and I'm getting itchy to put some radish seeds in a garden bed.  I may have to wait until the frost leaves the ground first though.  And the water drains out of the beds.  And the temperature climbs out of the 30s.

Happy Spring, Everyone!

16 comments:

Sparkless said...

I can't believe you still have so much snow! I hope it warms up soon for you so you can get those seeds in the ground. Your beds look wonderful even if they are still frozen. Mine are still empty because it's too early to plant even if our snow is gone and the days have been sunny and up to 18C.

Tombstone Livestock said...

What a difference in our weathers, walking my pastures lately I am looking at dry ground and grass turning brown already, chance for rain tomorrow. Have a Happy Easter.

DFW said...

Although I'm not happy you still have the very cold temps, I am glad that you're getting some moisture.

Love it when dogs pout. I'm sure he'll be over it by morning ;)

Leigh said...

Oh my goodness, never trust the calendar to tell us spring has arrived, HA! The greenhouse for Tucker sounds like a good idea. :)

Anonymous said...

LOL on the dog :P They can be so testy sometimes. It got to the high 60's here yesterday, after more than a week of mid 40's and wind. Glad to have the warmer weather, but like you, don't like the rain.

Cat Eye Cottage said...

Oh, I don't envy you that weather, although I will probably be singing a different tune in July and August when it's 100+ and 80% humidity here. It was the high 70s here yesterday, and I put in some tomato transplants and planted cucumber seeds with more planting lined up through the week.

Mama Pea said...

Sparkless - It's a rare March when we don't have snow on the ground. But it's going fast now!

Mama Pea said...

Tombstone Livestock - Yes, yes, yes! Reading other blogs from all over really brings home the huge climate differences we have in this country.

Mama Pea said...

DFW - Tucker has such a happy personality that I don't think he was really pouting . . . just a little perplexed as to why he couldn't come inside when he made it plain that he really, really wanted to!

Mama Pea said...

Leigh - Yep, that halfway place works out perfectly (although he may not think so) in the mud season.

Mama Pea said...

Stephanie - Nope, rain certainly puts the kabosh on many things but we do need the moisture and places that don't get enough have a whole other set of problems!

Mama Pea said...

The Weekend Homesteader - Oh, my! I won't be able to thinking about setting out tomato transplants until the second week in June!

LindaCO said...

That's really funny how the dog takes a pass on the nice soft dog bed. Take that, human. Muddy paws do a lot to a clean(ish) floor, it seems.

Mama Pea said...

LindaCO - My floors would never, ever, EVER pass a white glove test (or even a white scrub rag test!), but I just can't stand to see those muddy paw prints this time of year. Don't know how we avoid it though. I even tried velcro-ed on dog booties for one of our dogs. (He was very good at taking them off as soon as he got outside.) Sigh.

Erin said...

LOL, yes I can imagine little Tucker is like a mud shovel!

Mama Pea said...

Erin - "Mud Shovel" . . . what a great nickname!