March 14…
We got some rain to go with our wind this past week. Today we just have the wind, though it is nice to see the sun. Jill and the girls made the trek here from Sachse, arriving in the wee hours Thursday morning. The weather had already turned from pleasant to not pleasant and they have pretty much been house-bound since they got here.
I have managed to continue the spring cleaning in spite of weather challenges. To my surprise, I was able to get myself to cut down and remove last year’s cattails from not only our pond, but the Wildcat Bluff pond as well. Last year I think I used a weed whacker to mow them down but that tends to scatter them around quite a bit. This year I tried using an old hand trimmer that has been around the place as long as I can remember. It is essentially a small sickle bar that is operated with two wooden handles that move back and forth like, say, lopping shears. It takes some force to cut through a swath of cattails and I quickly learned to push the two handles together with the palms of my hands only on the close stroke because the two handles actually meet and any fingers lying around get a nasty surprise. It is important that this little chore be done as early as possible because the cattails will soon put up new growth and make the task much more difficult. Anyway, now it’s done and I’m glad.
March 21…
Our daffodils in the meadow got buried by some five inches of snow this week, as did the rest of the place and probably most of the area. We were concerned that they might have been done in and they had been showing out this spring, more so than normal. The snow melted off in a day or two and in a day or two more the daffodils revived. Now they are prettier than ever and there are plenty of buds to produce even more flowers. We aren’t sure why they are showing out more than usual this year. Our moisture last year was less than average, less than 15 inches versus more than 18 inches, but the moisture we did get was fairly evenly distributed through the year. That doesn’t mean we got about the same amount each month. But we got some every month and more in hotter months but still some even in cooler months. It could be that that explains this spring’s daffodils. I’ve noticed the same phenomenon among other flora in other years. This part of the world is so prone to dry spells that they are more likely than not and things don’t do as well as a result.
The Wylie women returned to Sachse Tuesday and the Zbinden women went with them. They had planned to leave Wednesday morning until Joyce alerted them to the Wednesday weather forecast of blizzard conditions so they high-tailed it out Tuesday evening and were fortunate they did. We didn’t get the predicted wind but we sure got the snow, starting early Wednesday morning and it was good that they were snuggy in their beds in Sachse rather than navigating their way through the storm. Jill reported that they got a lot done, mostly squaring stuff previously moved but not yet squared away. The old house is getting closer to ready to sell. That’s the main reason Kari and her girls went. I don’t know how much if any Rebecca, Kaylee, Sophia and Vivian contributed but three big women should have been able to make the fur fly and probably did.
March 28…
It snowed as usual this week but not enough to show up. It may have been too warm, or may be the flakes were too small. That’s 1.62″ for the month; average is .71. No moisture predicted for the coming week, though plenty of wind. There is a squirrel in the backyard acting, well, squirrelly. Must mean it’s spring. I got our tax return filed. We are getting a refund mostly because we hadn’t gotten the first Economic Impact Payment. Okay, so I miscalculated last year’s estimated taxes and over-paid. My preference would be to wind up having to pay $100 or less but maybe it is unrealistic to hit it that close. Still, I would like to get closer than I do. Last year I had to pay. It’s my understanding as long as your estimated tax payments equal what they should have been the previous year, you are in the clear. Maybe the best thing to do would be simply make the estimated payments the tax software says you should, knowing that RMD’s weren’t required in 2020 but surely will be in 2021 and thus the 2021 tax bill will be higher. Oh, and I logged onto my bank account a couple of days ago and found an EIP had been deposited in my account. If this keeps up, I’m going to have to pick up some new bad habits to spend the government largess on. Strange times we live in, my friends. I can’t help thinking the light at the end of the tunnel is a train.
The Shocking Truth About Health Passports https://youtu.be/xz2IGjIXKfQ