April 19

The snow, as predicted, didn't last. The temperatures were much too warm. It is already at 52F a little after 9am. We should have a string of nice days in the high 50s and perhaps reaching 70 on a couple of days. From the weatherman's lips to the gods' ears. I just checked the pots outside. One of the large ones have I forgot which flower coming back as well as the creeping Jenny I planted with it. I am surprised because I thought I would have to dig out the whole thing. I did dig out one of the spearmint pots. Nothing at all coming back there and I may dig out the other spearmint pot which shows only two anaemic shoots. So far all six of the spearmint cuttings I salvaged from that one runner are surviving. I will be happy if only two of them make it and ecstatic if all of them do. The bee balm is doing very well--in fact better than it did last year. The yarrow is still doing well. I have a whole bunch of clean up planned for the dry parts of the week and a re-positioning of many of the containers.

Euronews asks an interesting question: Why are so many of you baking bread during the coronavirus lockdown? Evidently our local stores weren't the only ones run out of flour. We had thought to get a 5lb bag because our canister was nearly empty. We bought three: one to fill the canister and two more just in case. We haven't started baking our own bread because we have been able to get adequate supplies--so far. However, we can easily start any time. I stopped baking bread a couple of years ago because our eating habits changed and we were eating less so baking our own wasn't worth the time or resources. I keep a sourdough starter going for pancakes mostly and can easily ramp up for biscuits or bread.

Well, I did more than I intended outside but it is time to stop for the day. I swept out a large section of the patio, moved the wheeled trash tote to its new home and moved the three tiered pot and its stand into place. I wanted it in a position where I could easily reach all parts of it. And I found two cells of it had chives coming back--another winter survival.