Spring Dilemma: So Much to Do, So Little Time

Spring Irony:  Days are longer.  There's never enough time.

Winter Irony:  Days are shorter.  Time marches slowly.

That thought occurred to me this morning as I felt myself hurrying more than usual while doing chores. 

Seems we don't have to go looking for things to do in the spring.

They find us.

Yesterday I tuned in on the sounds of spring while making some of my own.  I heard pounding, sawing, chopping, the roar of an air compressor, a vacuum, geese honking, ducks quacking, dogs barking, crows crowing-----the air was full of busyness.

My neighbors next door are building a new stretch of fence on the Meserve Preserve.

I could see that while digging up grass around my raspberry bushes with the determination that this year nasty bees will not build a nest in the tall grass around the bushes and sting me every time I try to pluck a prime berry.

Of course, while digging, I discovered a new adversary:  ants, thousands of them.  Seems ants love the Lovestead.  I'd say at least half a dozen huge ant hills have added the those already here when we moved to this farm almost eight years ago.

There's no ant hill yet at the raspberry patch, and they eventually seemed a bit intimidated by me and my shovel.  I kept a watch out, though, to avoid last year's scene of racing to the house from the front yard flower bed as ants were crawling up the insides of my clothes enjoying dinner. 

I can report that my vigilance paid off yesterday, and it's possible that band of ants might take off for a better building site, as I'm putting gravel over the dirt dug up around the raspberries.

I could hear Gary Finney with his chainsaw over in his woods last night.  That was the same time Bill was cleaning out his Ranger pickup with the vacuum cleaner and airing up his bike tires with the air compressor. 

Speaking of the quacking ducks, Mother Duck likes Ritz crackers.  Every time I go down to visit, I throw a few her direction.  They're always gone with each successive visit.  

This morning, she did not fly off; instead, she simply waddled away from her eggs and hung out until I left the area. 

Much outdoor work awaits today.  I'll mow more lawn and will finish the gravel job at the raspberry bushes.  Cabbage plants in the garden window will probably go into the ground as will some more seeds.  

Time is a'wastin' on this day which is a couple of minutes longer than yesterday, and more than likely, I'll still be working on outdoor projects when the sun dips behind the Selkirks. 

Happy Wednesday, and good bye, April.