A much-needed break

It's officially Spring Break for me! We're out of school tomorrow for Good Friday and then all of next week. 

The past two weeks at work have mildly stressful for me and the other bookkeepers. Between really serious federal Title 1 budget deadlines (with constant memos and reminders from the CFO and senior accountants), and a general budget freeze that takes effect this afternoon but wasn't announced until Monday, we've had to scramble to get everything done. At the elementary level, the bookkeeper and school secretary positions are combined, so there have been other job responsibilities on my plate as well. And to top it all off, I've had a mild cold coming on this week, so every day has been just a tiny bit harder because of that. I'm tired! The one great thing about these tight deadlines is that when I go back to work after the break, most of this year's budget is gone and can't be accessed. My job will get a little bit easier and soon summer (and really easy days and easy hours) will be here. All good stuff!

I really need to work in the garden next week, and it's time to plant tomatoes. I have way too many seedlings, as usual, but this year I've only potted up enough for my own use. I've decided to give away the extras while they're still small and needing to be potted up, because all that potting up is a lot of work. Gregg has a buddy, Tyrone, who always texts him in spring to see if I have extra plants I want to give away. He has a large garden and so does his dad, and they're always happy to take all the extras I'll give them. I'm glad they get good homes!

My lettuce and carrots are really doing well, and by the end of the month I should be getting some of both. My rattlesnake beans (that Mary Moon convinced me to grow) are getting big, too, and this year I planted more of them. They really are fabulous! Everything is off to a good start (knock wood) but I still have a lot of work to do. A week off this time of year is perfect timing.

Break, birthday, and a brat

It's Spring Break! I've been off since last Friday and don't go back to work until Monday. Easter was so late this year that it seemed like this break would never get here. For the teachers and kids, there's only about four weeks left in the school year. I work all summer (with the exception of a little over a week off around the 4th of July) but as soon as school's out I'll be on "summer hours" and I'm looking forward to that. District employees who work through the summer only have to work 9am-3pm, Monday through Thursday and Fridays off. How sweet is that?

Meanwhile, this week, it's vacation. A much-needed vacation.

Today is Administrative Professionals Day. Since we weren't going to be at school this week, the administration and staff surprised me, Robin (the receptionist) and Ms. Williamson (the data/records/attendance clerk) with all kinds of gifts on Thursday afternoon. We got flowers, chocolate covered strawberries, $50 Walmart gift cards, and a nice card signed by teachers and staff. It was all so thoughtful and lovely!

Pretty pink hydrangea plant!

The strawberries were absolutely delicious! 

Today is also St. George's day, which I picked as our George's birthday the first year we had him. He's 12 years old now! He's come a long, long way from the wild, slightly traumatized shelter pup we adopted back in 2013. He's mellowed into a gentle, sweet, loveable old fellow who's always happy. He's also really active and healthy for 12 years old which I'm so thankful for. 

Gregg has a special thing he does with George occasionally, just the two of them. He gets up very early and the two of them tiptoe out of the house, jump in the van, and go to the park down the road for an early morning ramble. This morning I woke up at daybreak when I heard George's harness click into place, and I knew they were headed to the park. It made me smile (then Poppy and I went back to sleep).

Later in the morning I went to Sam's, and I found some large, good quality dog beds on sale for a really good price. So Georgie got a new bed for his birthday! He's already taken a nap on it, so I guess he likes it.

We love him to bits. He's a very good boy!

Speaking of George and life with our pets, I'll leave you with one other thing that happened this week. 

Guess what I caught Marco doing a couple of days ago?

Creeping around on the floor eating dog food out of George's bowl!! That's what! 

Little a**hole. He drives me crazy.

Spring garden update

The baby crabapple tree has doubled in size this year, and for the first time, it has a few flowers! Aren't they pretty? Unfortunately, the deer came back night before last and ate a bunch of the tender new leaves. I was so mad when I walked outside yesterday morning and saw the damage! Apparently, apple trees of all types are irresistible to deer. 

The tree will never amount to much without protection while it's young and just starting to grow. With that in mind I went to Lowe's in the afternoon and bought four seven-foot-tall garden stakes. Along with a big roll of fine mesh bird netting that we had stashed in the garage, they make a decent protective "cage" to keep hungry wildlife out. It's not the greatest looking thing in the world, but it should do the job. 

In other garden news, I've been hardening off my tomato and pepper plants and preparing the bed for planting. I started some herb seeds (basil, parsley, and oregano) in pots, sowed borage seeds in the bed in front of the porch, and planted marigold seeds in the raised bed between the spaces where the tomatoes will go. And I planted rattlesnake beans! (Thank you again, Mary, for sharing those with me!) I've been at home on spring break this week and the weather has been wonderful for working outside. Going back to the office next week is going to be hard!

This week at home

This week is flying by. I knew that it would; breaks from work always do, especially this year. I can't shake the mild dread that comes up at the end of every weekend and holiday. This wasn't the case during my first five years at this school! I hate that there's no fun and no joy up there any longer. I'm still looking (and hoping) for positive changes next year. In the meantime, all I can do is keep my head down and wait. This, too, shall pass. (It may pass like a kidney stone, but it will pass!)  

The cold, rainy weather we had through Easter has finally given way to a warmer, sunny morning. I'd hoped to get my garden planted this week, but I've had a setback. I moved my tomato plants out to the porch the other day to let them start acclimating to the outdoor light, and some of the leaves got sunburnt. Then, I was stupid (again) and left the plants out there overnight and it got down to 40 degrees. The next morning lots of the new young foliage had turned brown and shriveled, and I had to trim them to the point that they now look kind of pathetic. Most of the plants will probably recover, but they're going to be very delayed.  I've been so mad at myself! It's not like I didn't know any better. I don't know what I was thinking.

In wildlife news: the pair of Carolina wrens that built a nest in our old, rusted-out grill have successfully reared a brood of babies! The youngsters fledged yesterday. Early in the morning and all though the first part of the afternoon there was a flurry of activity and bird chatter (sometimes I could even see the grill moving as the babies inside hopped around!) and nervous behavior by the parents. Then, late in the afternoon, all activity and noise suddenly ceased completely. I cautiously crept over and lifted the lid, and there was nothing inside but an empty nest. 

 The babies are out in the big, wild world now---I wish them the best! :)

The spot of green is the rusted-out hole in the bottom that the birds used as a door.

The bluebirds in the nest box are still coming and going all day, so I'm assuming their babies are still small. I dare not peek, not while there are likely little hatchlings in there. The adults are so beautiful! We've really enjoyed watching them from the porch in the afternoons.

I had to be up and about early this morning. Poppy had an 8:15 vet appointment for her yearly shots and checkup, so I was up and showered and caffeinated by 8:00. The new vet's office is less than 10 minutes down the road, and of course Martina works there. The dogs are always so happy to see her, especially Poppy! Now it's only 10am and I have the whole day in front of me to do whatever I like. These are hours to be savored (away from work).

Back tomorrow. xx

Rabbits, bluebirds, butterflies..

Now that April's here, we're seeing so many animals starting to emerge from their winter hideaways. 

I spotted a rabbit the other night in the circle of light shining from our neighbor's front porch.

A pair of bluebirds have claimed the nest box and are busy from sunrise to sunset, flying back and forth to raise the year's first brood. I'd love to peek inside, but dare not lest I upset the parents.

 Another pair of birds, Carolina Wrens, have made a nest inside an old BBQ grill that we were getting ready to throw away. A small hole had rusted through the bottom, and we noticed the male and female going in and out through it. You can hear the babies squeaking and peeping inside if you listen carefully! What a creative spot to pick for a nest; I'm glad we didn't hurry to get rid of the old grill when it was no longer serviceable. Turns out it had plenty of service left in it--wren sanctuary.

Last week the first hummingbird appeared by our back porch. I hurried to clean the feeder and make some fresh sugar water, and now a pair of ruby-throats are constantly around, sucking up the fresh nectar.

The first butterflies of the year have shown up. It seems early, but they're here. I saw a couple of beautiful swallowtails yesterday.

Today hasn't been great for animal spotting, because it's turned chilly again with lots of rain. The woodpeckers have been turning up at the suet feeder, though. Not much deters them, plus the feeder's hanging under an eave of porch and that keeps some of the rain off while they're up there. It's fun to watch them from the dining room window.

That's all I've got for today. Oh, and I'm on spring break! I've been off since yesterday and I don't go back to work until the 17th. I'm so happy for the time off, I can't even tell you how much. Once we get back to school there's only five weeks left in this year; the end is finally in sight. 

A very happy Easter to you all!

Spring Break

It's been an eventful week.  We brought Poppy home last Wednesday night, just as my spring break was starting, and that proved to be good planning. I can't imagine dealing with the first few days of a new puppy in the house while going to work! I still have the rest of this week off, and things are already settling down a little bit. 

Poppy is a real delight so far. She's super smart, sweet, and incredibly playful. Having never gotten a dog this young, this is all new to me. Also, I need to give my George a big shout-out. He's been incredibly patient with the puppy. She follows him around, dives on him, brings him toys to try to entice him to play, and he usually just lets out a heavy sigh and ignores her. Every now and then, when she jumps on him once too often and attempts to bite at his ears with her needle-sharp puppy teeth, he issues a quick but stern correction. Ginger used to do the same thing to him when he went too far! In fact, Ginger helped us raise him, and now it looks like George will do the same thing with Poppy. He already seems to accept the fact that she's going to be living with us now. What a good boy!

Puppies are tiresome.

We had a pretty good Easter. I cooked a ham, deviled eggs, rice served with glazed ham drippings, green beans, and fresh salad (lettuce and radishes) from my garden. I picked enough salad from the raised bed that I was able to share two big ziplock bags full with Ms. Luella next door. I can't wait to harvest some carrots--they're not quite ready yet.

Did I mention that I'm growing some potatoes in a large container as an experiment? It's the method of growing potatoes where you slowly add layers of soil around the plant as it  grows until you reach the top of the container. (You start off with a thin layer of soil in the bottom). Here's what my potato bush looks like as of this morning.

The only other thing of note going on this week is that my seasonal allergies have gotten so bad that my asthma has been kicking in. I had two or three nights of wheezing and getting short of breath despite using an inhaler, and I haven't been sleeping well. Yesterday I decided that if I had another restless night I'd call the doctor and go see her today. I feel a little better, though, and slept fairly well last night. I'm hoping a trip to see the doctor can still be avoided. 

All in all, it's been a wonderful spring break so far! A new puppy, a thriving garden, sunshine and nice weather--even the crabapple stick tree we planted in the front yard has put out its first tiny leaf buds! The chickadees nesting out back obviously have babies right now, given how often they're flying in and out of the nestbox. And on Easter Sunday I saw the first hummingbird of the year--about 15 minutes after I hung the feeder up for the first time!

It's a really nice time of the year to have a vacation. 

An interesting week

Even though I've barely left the house this week, things have been....interesting....around here.

The good stuff first:

It's been a banner week for birdwatching. About three days ago a Facebook friend posted about a rare sighting of a Rose Breasted Grosbeak at one of his feeders here in Florence. I told my husband about it that afternoon while we were sitting on the porch watching our feeders, and not an hour later one showed up! This was a first for me.

And if that wasn't exciting enough, we had another feathered visitor a few minutes later that was even rarer in this part of the state: a Painted Bunting!

I've seen Painted Bunting before, but only a couple of times at Huntington Beach State Park in Murrells Inlet, SC. They tend to stay close to the coast. My dad, who grew up in Murrells Inlet, talks about seeing them there as a boy. I've never even considered seeing them 50 or 60 miles inland. What a treat!

Unfortunately, the Rose Breasted Grosbeak and the Painted Bunting only hung out at our feeders for a few minutes, and then they both disappeared. We sat outside all afternoon yesterday hoping they might stop back by, but no luck. They must have been passing through on Monday and it was just sheer luck that we were sitting outside and got to see them.

Speaking of birds:

Somebody kept trying to sneak up on the dyed eggs to see what they were all about! I had to stop him twice or he would have broken into them. I finally just took them away. Brat!

I also got a much-needed haircut:

In January and February I started losing an alarming amount of hair. Every time I took a shower there would be gobs of hair around the mesh drain covering. Of course I googled it (thanks Doctor Google!) and discovered that stress can make that happen. Apparently you're supposed to think back two or three months before the hair loss started to see what was going on in your life. Well, we bought a house and moved in November. So there you go. I'm beyond thankful that the loss seems to have gone back to a normal amount, even though now I have tons of 1-2 inch new hairs that stick out all over. Hey, at least it's growing back, right?! I hadn't had a haircut in several months and my hair was looking bad. Limp and tired, thin, with dead ends. I usually go to our local Great Clips to get my hair cut, but that's always a crapshoot. I've had some of the best and some of the worst cuts of my life there. I went yesterday hoping to get someone good, and as luck would have it a woman named Wendy who has hair very similar to mine in texture and color was assigned to me. She listened sympathetically to my tale of hair woe, assured me that she's seen lots of people lose a bunch of hair when they're stress and that it always grows back, and then talked to me about  the best method of cutting fine hair like mine. I was very, very pleased with the results. The cut is good (hard to see that in these two pictures) and now my hair looks much healthier and shinier again. Wendy was a godsend! I feel so much better about how I look right now.

Finally.....the weirdest thing that happened this week. I've been looking at the fence line in our back yard, planning how we need to get back there and do some weeding. On Tuesday afternoon I went out there again while scooping up dog poop and this had appeared, hidden in the bushes just behind the crazy old man neighbor's property line:

What does that look like to you? The crazy old asshole has set up a surveillance camera! It's pointed at our back yard and porch, although when you're sitting on the porch the angle of our garage blocks it from view. It's hidden in thick bushes about 6 inches behind his property line, and it definitely wasn't there the day before. There is absolutely NOTHING on his own property that he could be filming. Not his yard, not an entrance, nothing at all except our yard and house. What a creep!

I texted the sheriff's deputy that works at our school. He said he didn't think anything could legally be done, since the camera is outside and on his property. He said he would put up something to block the view of the camera, and see if it moved. He thought it was hilarious. I was furious at first, but now I think it's kinda funny, too. There's nothing for him to see, and our dogs rarely bark anymore (not to mention they spend over half their time in the house these days) so I can't imagine what he gets out of it. I've gotten close, leaned over the fence, and flipped off the camera a couple of times but now I'm trying to think of something funny to put right there his view. A sign of some kind, maybe? I would LOVE any suggestions you all might have!

So that's been my week so far. Today I'm planting a few tomato seedlings around the back porch (I'm sure Crazy Neighbor will be watching from inside his house) and then going to lunch with a friend. Spring break is going by a super light speed, but once we go back to school we only have a little over a month and then summer vacation will be here! Then I can spend three months thinking of ways to get revenge on the nutty neighbor! Hahaha.

Spring break (still waiting!)

I can't wait for spring break, it seems to be taking forever to get here. I can't help but laugh at myself a little when I'm tempted to complain about how late it is this year. At this time two years ago I was working in a retail job I hated with no time off except the two or three weeks' paid vacation I got which had to last the whole year. And I had to work there over 5 years to qualify for that much time off! Now I have a week and a half at Easter, the whole summer, almost a week at Thanksgiving, and two weeks over the winter holidays off. I'm trying to always remember what a luxury that is.

It does seem to be taking a long time for our spring break to get here, though. Our local school district ties it to the Easter holiday, and Easter falls late this year. We're out of school from Good Friday, April 19th, until Monday April 29. Once we get back to school there's only 4 or 5 weeks left until we dismiss for the summer.

Gregg is taking an extra day or two off with me over the holiday. He gets very little time off so I kind of insisted he take some time to spend with me and to relax! After he goes back to work I'm considering going to visit my father in law and sister in law for a day or two. I've been meaning to get up to Raleigh for a visit since my mother in law passed away, but we've been so busy with buying a house and then the holidays that it's been on the back burner. I'd like to see Lou, and I'm also thinking about asking for some divisions and cuttings of plants that Edythe loved from their yard.

Spring has already fully sprung here in South Carolina. Our new little neighborhood, being adjacent to a small creek and nature trail, has lots of old dogwoods in full bloom, wisteria running riot, and even some trees draped in Spanish moss. Not to mention a thousand shades of green. We've never seen so many birds and such a variety at our feeders. There are scores of Northern Cardinals, House Finches, Song Sparrows, Mourning Doves, Tufted Titmice, Carolina Chickadees, Carolina wrens, and lesser numbers of Red Bellied woodpeckers, Red Breasted nuthatches, White Breasted nuthatches, Common grackles, and the occasional Blue jay. Best of all, we have our very own pair of Barred owls that live here! We hear their calls almost every afternoon when they first wake up ( a soft "who cooks for you, who cooks for you all") and then occasionally throughout the night. They're often hanging out close to our house (I fear they may have some interest in our well populated feeders, but so far we've never seen an attack). One of them landed in the tree over our driveway the other evening at dusk, and we got a good look at him/her. It was pretty amazing! Sometimes when the weather is mild and I'm sleeping with the window open, I wake up in the middle of the night to the sound of the pair calling softly to each other in the dark. It's a lovely, reassuring sound.

How is the season coming along where you live?