For the last couple of days, temperatures reached into the 60s. It tells you something about our winter that snow remains in the shady areas,
but a large swath of lawn is finally out from under the white stuff! Scooter knows what to do. Sunbathe.
Lucky dog. This weekend, I had other things to attend to. The barns got a good cleaning and an airing out.
It’s not yet time to do the thorough spring cleaning, but on Saturday I took stock of what needs to be done now that the long and snowy winter is over.
Some plants will need tender loving care. Branches broke under the weigh of the snow. Mice ate bark. But the climbing hydrangea is astoundingly vigorous and sturdy. I clip it back several times a year, if I didn’t it would overwhelm the Little Barn and even lift the shingles from the walls.
This is the first plant to show signs of spring life.
Looking closely, it revealed a secret from last summer.
I had no idea that birds had made a home in its branches.
I’ll clear this nest out, prune the plant, and wait to see who moves in this spring.
So nice for you to see that Spring is here! Scooter the little “Supervisor” !
I did my spring cleaning in the hen house yesterday. It took 2 hours to clear out all the pine chips in the house, rake then sift all the manure out of the outdoor run, then shop-vac all the hard-ware cloth walls and vents, eaves, ceilings, then awkwardly climb into small henhouse with shop-vac crashing and banging behind me and get every nook and cranny sucked up in my mighty loud machine, then wash the windowss and all other surfaces, then refill the house with fresh chips……all the while sat Julie the Barred Rock in her nesting box, patiently attempting to lay her usual humungus egg whilst all the camostion was going on. She did not even appear to blink an eye until she finished her job and lay her egg, then the carrying on happened! She had the whole flock joining her in a loud protest to the humilities a hen goes through when trying to relax and concentrate so one can lay when said human was making all that noise!!
Quite ambitious! I’m sure you felt quite satisfied when done.
Many birds reuse their nests year after year. Always a good idea to leave a nest undisturbed.
Yay, for spring! Boo! for all the snow you still have! Have all your birds shown up? We’re still down a few species and as of three days ago the juncos still hadn’t flown north.
Scooter has the right idea!
Glad to see you are getting some warm sunny temps. With the winter you’ve had I think I would have taken a shovel to that stuff in the shade and pitched into the sunny areas. BE GONE!!!
Understatement when you say Scooter is a lucky dog.
Not rubbing it in but I’ve mowed the grass three times already.
The nest looks like the work of a Robin.
I gave my coop and converted greenhouse a thorough cleaning at weekend. Also moved girls onto their summer pasture (sounds grand), but its where I move them from the side of garden that has all my veg beds, some grass and spare growing areas, and gets lots of winter sun to the other side which has a Hedge, Shrubs and a large area of lawn and places to get out of hot summer sun, the change over in winter allows the lawn 6 months rest from the girls and they eat all the over wintering pests for me. Their main run goes right across bottom of garden so works quite easy.
My girls have been sunbathing all weekend just like Scooter. Was watching all the activity on the webcam, Pip and Caper got very excited every time they saw you. Your weather looks set for a few days, hope it lasts and you have time to enjoy it. :)
The last couple of days I have undertaken mowing the grass for the first time. We had a couple of ice storms and a very heavy snow late in February. I spent a good deal of time cleaning away limbs that have come down and mulching down leaves left from last year. My oldest Golden followed behind me the whole time. He was so happy to see me working in the yard again. Of course, he kept bringing me a tennis ball to throw. We lost some trees and bushes over the winter. It was a hard winter for North Carolina. Glad to see you actually have ground around you now instead of all that white stuff.