'Dogs and Logs and more

Well, I just peeked at the ten-day forecast. Of late it's been like looking at the daily stock market reports throughout the winter. Down, down, down. Cuss, cuss, cuss. Moan, groan, moan groan.

Today, happily, we're having a BULLish day on the weather front. The sun is shining, nary a cloud in the sky, cold though. A big improvement from the BEARly spring disappointments that have been driving folks insane, every bit as much as their stock losses.

In the ten-day forecast, we're going to have a lot of down days. In fact, the next time a big yellow smiling sun shows up is next Friday. Lots of clouds, cold, snow and wet graphics in almost the entire string of days ahead. I'm sure that really makes everyone happy who's getting off for Spring Break and having to stay in Sandpoint during the misery.

Since we're getting short-changed again on our good weather commodities, I'm planning to make full use of today to do outdoor maintenance. And, I'm gonna depend on our Gonzaga Bulldogs to do their thing tomorrow night in Memphis when they square off against No. 1 North Carolina.

The 'Dogs have gotta keep going cuz a bunch of folks who've hated the weather for months and are likely to commit cabin-fever rage desperately need them to stay in the tournament more than ever. So, you Zag dogs keep it up. We need you to be true "BULL" dogs during this weather downer.

And, speaking of dogs keeping it up, my mutts--oblivious of any stock market trends---did their jobs of making regular deposits throughout the winter. And, speaking of maintenance, I've discovered something over the past few years about those thousands of doggie piles which become more prominent each spring with melting snow.

If you rake them, they will die. When they're all soggy and wet, they just can't withstand movement. Almost immediately, they begin to disintegrate and blend into the brown grass, hopefully helping the greening-up process.

Knowing that, I spent part of my morning yesterday, happily stroking away at any and all doggie deposits I could find---either atop remaining snow piles or in the ever growing patches of still sleeping grass. Within hours, I did a second round because yesterday was a good melting day, revealing even more lawn log decks.

I'll be on the log assault again today, along with other projects. Only one outdoor Christmas display needs removing, but it's a bit on the stubborn side. The snow just doesn't want to leave the deck, so I've got lots of lights and extension cords still refusing to budge. Maybe today's sun will do something about that.

I've also been raking lots of rocks off the lawn, pruning lower limbs on the apple tree so maybe this spring and summer that devious tree won't attack me and my hairdo every time I mow the lawn.

The horses went the full day yesterday without their blankets, even though we did have some afternoon snow. They can now chase each other and escape each other around the entire barnyard instead of that one skinny winter pathway which has given Lily distinct bullying advantage over the young 'uns for months.

We're seeing progress toward spring, even if slow. Anything sunny and positive looks good. Plus, my sisters will be off next week, and possibly we won't have too much more winter to keep us from riding our horses in their indoor arena.

In the meantime, we'll hope for our Zagomania to carry us through one more week, and by that time, all winter doggie deposits should be long gone. Little things make a big difference this time of the year in North Idaho.