
A pair of mallards were taking their ease in the pond Saturday morning when I started my work. That’s the first we’ve seen of them and it seems early but we’re glad to have them, as always. There’s a good chance it is the same pair that was around last spring. They weren’t shy and stayed put even when I went into the enclosure to get a stick I needed. There was an unauthorized cat in there as well, no doubt wishing it could get its nasty paws on one of the ducks. The mallards finally took off when Chris and I started trimming the big elm on the south side of the enclosure. They probably didn’t care for the noise we were making but I’m confident they will be back.
In spite of the forecast of wind and cold for late Saturday, the working part of the day was about a nice as one could ask for for working. The air was chilly but there were only light breezes and lots of sunshine so we got a lot done, mostly of a trimming and hauling off trimmings nature. I did run some cardboard boxes I’d been accumulating through the shredder. Joyce said her red worms like cardboard and I shredded enough to last them a while, I think.
During the week I took advantage of some reasonably warm weather to do some weed spraying. It was warm enough to switch to Weed-B-Gone which doesn’t have to be sprayed in bright sunlight. That allowed me to whack some weeds that weren’t in the sun, at least at the time I was spraying them. I also finished putting together the last two garden bed frames. I haven’t positioned them yet but there is still plenty of time to get that done. I still haven’t worked out the watering yet. Joyce experimented with soaker hose last year but they didn’t work very well. The drip system requires a lot of maintenance, which Joyce has a hard time keeping up with. Maybe we’ll just use sprinklers.
A, R and I descended to the cave after work Saturday to relax and watch TV. When we emerged around 6 o’clock the predicted foul weather was in full blow. Back in the 30’s it no doubt would have been a black roller. It dumped a fraction of an inch of snow on us which was pretty Sunday morning but was gone before noon in spite of sub-zero temperatures.