April 4th, 2007 - What a disappointment!
Yesterday’s overnight forecast for an inch of snow. After listening to the wind howling all night, I was certain that I’d have a difficult walk to work.
What disappointment I felt when I let the dogs out and discovered a bare dusting had occurred/was occurring (snow was coming down just then). Yes, it was cold and the wind was howling. But no real snow. :(
I am, however, very thankful that I didn’t get around to planting my cherry bushes. I do not think they would have survived last night, not to mention the continued cold weather: Highs in the mid 30s through Friday at least.
In other garden news, Pi is following in Shmi’s footsteps and eating sprouting plants. The cabbages and tomatoes were too tall for the mini-”greenhouse” (plastic lid to retain moisture). He pulled two plants out–one of which I rescued and is doing fine–and ate the “leaves” off of a couple others, along with breaking the stems of a couple (he didn’t go for the ones on the outside edge but the ones farthest back). Unfortunately, we don’t have many sunny spots in the house that he can’t reach. In fact, I’ve only thought of one: our back entry. Which, do to the cold, isn’t a very good spot this week! But once the sun comes back out, it gets quite nice and warm back there and sunny if we remember to open the window shade (there’s also a door w/ a window so some guaranteed light). The problem is remembering to water them twice a day. Having them on the kitchen counter was a great reminder since I’d see them at breakfast and dinner.
I wonder what I’ll do next year–we expect to be gone for about 10 days for Michael and Ann Marie’s wedding (and related visits) right in the middle of indoor season, April. However, since we also have two dogs and two cats to be taken care of, we may look into a housesitter. I wonder what they cost? Maybe I can find a student here on campus who would be cheaper than a pro…but at the same time, we have to be careful since its not just our house but also our pets. For shorter time periods, we’ve had friends watch them all, but two weeks in April isn’t the greatest. (In the summer, we have hired a teenager, but not so keen on that during the school year.)