Take That, You Rat!

The only thing on my to-do list today was figuring out how to seal up the sides of the garden shed to keep the rat from enjoying our hospitality next winter.  I've got plenty of chicken wire and some good (really old) shovels, so I relocated all the garden stakes into the shed, moved the clay pots off to one side, and gingerly shifted the rickety park bench I junk-picked from the St. Norbert College campus trash pile when DD went there to have her senior pictures taken.  Then I shoveled dirt into the wheelbarrow until I'd exposed the base of the shed and the hole where the rat had slipped under it.  Once I'd graded it away from the house I dug a 6" trench along the side, put some chicken wire in the trench and around between the house and the shed, then shoveled dirt back to hold the wire.  I wasn't happy with the floppiness of the wire so I scooped back some of the loose dirt, wedged an old board against the house foundation on the end and tight to the wire, then replaced the dirt and smoothed it out.  Since it had been easier than I thought it'd be I moved around to the other side of the shed, dug that out, sunk the wire a couple inches in the ground, and put another board over it, then added dirt to hold it in place.  I repositioned the park bench across the corner so it's not in front of the furnace vents and will plant flowers in pots to put on and around the bench--make a bit of a feature in that corner.  Not a bad day's work, if I do say so myself.



Look what I noticed when I was out digging around.  The lilacs have started blooming.  Oh, I wish there was such a thing as smell-o-vision because the aroma is intoxicating.






There are teeny tiny buds on the bleeding hearts too.  Soon there will be scads of drooping clusters of pink and white flowers but today I'm happy to see these little budding promises of flowers.



 
Last night after supper I made a batch of birdie juice then got out the hummingbird feeder and the oriole feeders.  It's kind of early for us to get either hummingbirds or orioles but we want to be ready in case a scout comes by to check if there's nectar here.  We usually don't get hummingbirds until the honeysuckle blossoms so it'll be a bit chancy this year since I whacked it back last fall so it's kind of starting from square one.  Here, birdie, birdie, birdie!

May 17--Vincent van Gogh, Cows.  Stevie watched the red cows walk away from him as he crossed the pasture.  They didn't act like they saw him or even knew he was there but they kept moving so he never got any closer to them.  He was fascinated by the movement of their hip bones as they walked.  The joints moved up and down under their hide like bizarre puppets.

Today's Me Made May garment was a camp shirt I made ages and ages ago in the heyday of the Camp Shirt (the mid-80s maybe?).  It's the only garment I've kept all these years because that style of shirt never really goes out of style (does it?) and, well, it's red.  Wearing it makes me feel good.  I had a knitting guild meeting tonight so I didn't get home until about 9:30, otherwise I'd have written this at least an hour ago and have tucked myself into bed by 10:30 at the latest.  Typing faster... good night.
--Barbara