Thursday, March 28, 2024

 3/28/24 Your home should be living space, not storage space.

.75 inch of rain. Dense fog   Rain today with a light NNW breeze, a high of 45. Rain tonight with a strong NNW breeze, a low of 38.  Rain tomorrow with gusty NW winds, a high of 42.   Rain becomes occasional tomorrow night with strong gusty NW winds.  A low of 32.  Partly cloudy Saturday with strong, gusty WNW winds, a high of 42, a low of 24.  Winds will moderate Saturday night.  Chilly for Easter sunrise services with a stiff WNW breeze but some sun.  The breeze will blow all day with a high of 45.  Sunday night's low 24.  Sunshine Monday with a NW breeze, a high of 47, a low of 25.  Clouds Tuesday with a NE breeze, a high of 45, a low of 32.  Snow flurries Wednesday, 1-3 inches possible Wednesday night.  A strong ENE breeze, a high of 39, a low of 32.  Rain/snow Thursday with a strong NW breeze, a high of 40, a low of 32.  Cloudy next Friday with a strong NNW breeze, a high of 44, a low of 31.  Partly cloudy next weekend with brisk NW breezes, highs of 48, lows of 32.  Unsettled weather the week of the 8th with highs in the fifties, lows in the mid to upper thirties.

     Another dreary day watching the snow melt. There was enough watery sunshine to warm up the greenhouse.   The snow seemed to be melting slowly but at the end of the day there were a lot less inches. The snow left is soft and slushy.  Will it be gone for the Easter egg hunts Sunday.  For the deliveries next week?  What will Wednesday's snow amount to?  We aren't postponing any deliveries,  Plants will move to the greenhouse back room and pansies to the hoop house Tuesday, right on schedule.. Moving and planting will take a break to celebrate Easter.
     May God bless you on this day, Sally

Wednesday, March 27, 2024

 3/27/24 Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying I will try again tomorrow.

.15 inch of rain.  Clouds with occasional rain showers, an east breeze, a high of 49.  Periods of rain tonight with a gentle south breeze, a low of 38.  Rain Thursday with a light NNW breeze, a high of 47.  A strong NNW breeze Thursday night with rain, a low of 38.   Rain Friday, may be rain/ snow Friday night.  Strong NNW winds with a high of 41, a low of 33.  Gusty NW winds Saturday with possible morning snow showers, a high of 39.  Clear Saturday night with a light NW wind, a low of 33.  Some sun Easter Sunday with a strong NW breeze, a high of 45, a low of 28.  Sunshine Monday with a strong NW breeze, a high of 45, a low of 29.  Perhaps PM showers Tuesday with a NE breeze, a high of 45, a low of 31.Rain/snow showers next Wednesday with a strong NE breeze, a high of 42, a low of 32.  Perhaps some PM showers next Thursday with a strong NW breeze, a high of 42, a low of 32.  Partly cloudy Friday the 5th with a strong north breeze, a high of 45, a low of 31.  Partly cloudy the weekend of the 6th and 7th with NNW breezes.  Saturday's high 48, the low of 32.  Sunday's high 51, the low 34.  Highs in the fifties the week of the 8th with lots of clouds and brisk NW breezes.   Lows in the mid to upper thirties.

     Even though the snow was melting, the sight of all that dingy white stuff covering all we needed to do to get ready for next week's shipments dampened our spirits.  It was very slippery and rough walking outside.  I carefully got on the back deck and threw seeds on the snow.  Early in the day and late afternoon the blackbirds were gone letting the local birds eat.  This morning the snow will be soft enough for me to walk on it and fill the feeders.  I'll throw some stuff on the ground for the blackbirds.
     Bekah and Sally Jo packed and cleaned.   Today I will move the truck out the garage and put the tractor where the truck is usually parked..  Sally will put boxes in the garage where the tractor is.  She has a place upstairs where Bekah can put boxes.   Most of what came from my mother's  has found a new home.  Other people's stuff that was upstairs has been claimed or found a new home.  Today Bekah will be back in the greenhous as more plugs and cuttings are coming.  Jay will fill my boxes and baskets. with soil and put them in the back room. I can plant them next Tuesday.  Gilbert will put up my little greenhouse as soon as the snow goes..  The weather report says I can move into it mid week.  As soon as the snow goes I'll get the flowerbed under the get to gather room windows ready to plant.  Then I'll cover it with clear plastic to warm the soil.  It will get planted as soon as the soil is warm enough. The flowers will be protected by remay.  Greenhouse room is at a premium now.  Crowding does not produce healthy plants.  Some plants want cooler temperatures, others like to be warm.  That holds true for both flowers and vegetables.
      May God bless you on this day, Sally

Tuesday, March 26, 2024

 3/26/24  Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could all be a little more gentle with each other, and a little more loving, have a little more empathy, 

    Cloudy, calm, 27 degrees.  Showers this afternoon, a high of 42 a NE breeze.  Light rain tonight with  a NE breeze, a low og 37.  Showers tomorrow with a light east breeze, a high of 45, a low of 38.  Rain Thursday with a NNW breeze, a high of 46, a low of 36.  Rain Friday with a strong NNW breeze, a high of 42, a low of 32.  Partly cloudy Saturday with a NNW wind, a high of 40, a low of 26.  Partly cloudy Easter Sunday with a strong NW breeze, a high of 44, a low of 26. Sunshine Monday with a stiff NW breeze, a high of 43, a low of 25.  PM showers next Tuesday with a NE breeze, a high of 41, a low of 30.   Rain/snow showers next Wednesday with a strong NNE breeze, a high of 38, a low of 31.  Rain/snow showers next Thursday the 4th with a strong north breeze, a high of 42, a low of 31.  Rain/snow showers the 5th and the 6th with brisk NW breeze, highs of 44, lows of 32.  Some clouds the next three days, highs about 50, lows about 34, brisk NW breezes.

   Another day spent mostly going through my mother's sewing supplies.  Sally has half of the ell cleared out so Bekah can start moving her things in.  Bekah has several dressers and boxes empty.  Many boxes are here in this room waiting to go to their final destination.
    Bekah's planting of Elfin impatiens isn't doing very well.  She called Kirby Ellis of Ellis greenhouse and he had extra.  Over the years Kirby has often helped us out and we try to do the same for him.  Between his knowledge and being a much larger nursery than we are it seems it is mostly him helping us!  I went to get the impatiens and he gave me some pansies.  He knows we always put pansies in the church boxes and put  some a few other places where people need some spring cheer.  With last week's plug and cutting order all transplanted Bekah worked on transplanting petunias we had started in the house.  It looks like pansies can be put out Sunday, April 7th.  They could go out a few days earlier but if very much snow mixes with the rain the flakes might make brown spots on the leaves.
    Ayden helped me box eggs yesterday.  He deemed it necessary to weigh nearly everyone.  He was careful, none were cracked.  There were a few small ones, lots of fat ones, the ones that maxed out the scale were obese.
    May God bless you on this day, Sally
    

Monday, March 25, 2024

 3/25/24"Success is the sum of small efforts - repeated day in and day out.

 Fair, calm, 20 degrees.  Partly to mostly cloudy today with a NE breeze, a high of 41.  Cloudy this evening becomes partly cloudy after midnight, a NE breeze, a low of 22.  Clouds tomorrow with PM light rain, a strong NE breeze, a high of 41, a low of 35.  Showers Wednesday, rain Wednesday night.  A light SSE breeze with a high of 47, a low of 37.  Rain Thursday and Thursday night  with a light north breeze, a high of 50, a low of 37.  Showers Good Friday with a strong NNW breeze, a high of 44, a low of 31.  Cloudy Saturday with a strong WNW wind, a high of 41, a low of 27.  Partly cloudy Easter Sunday with a WNW wind, a high of 41, a low of 24.  Sunshine next Monday with a stiff WNW breeze, a high of 40, a low of 25.  PM Rain/snow showers next Tuesday and Wednesday with stiff NW breezes, highs about 40, lows of 30.  Some clouds Thursday the 47th and Friday the 5th with stiff NW breezes, highs about 44, lows of 30.  Clouds the weekend of the 6th and 7th with brisk NW breezes, high about 49, lows about 43.

     Yesterday was mostly spent cleaning up after the storm.  It was necessary to get some of the snow out of the way but no one did a good job.  It will mostly melt midweek.  I didn't try to get to the feeders, I just threw seeds on the snow. My church was only online, the others had church in person.  Bekah and Jay had to run water to the greenhouse.  It is spring inside the greenhouse regardless of the snow piled up outside.  We did spend some time talking about all the different you tube videos telling how to plant and care for strawberries.  Gilbert and Heather are both going to plant about 300 plants.  I'm going to plant one of my raised beds with strawberries.  We all grow everything organically.
     May God bless you on this day, Sally

Sunday, March 24, 2024

 3/24/24  It is not our job to fix people, change people, or judge people.  It is our job to LOVE people.  Leave everything else up to God.

 Everything is white outside,how much snow?  At six, just before the sleet started there was 11 inches. Now it is fair, calm and 16 degrees.  Sun and clouds today with a high of 36 and a NW wind.  Increasing clouds overnight with a NW breeze, a low of 14.  Sun and clouds tomorrow with a brisk NE breeze, a high of 40, a low of 21.  Spring returns midweek  PM showers Tuesday with a strong NE breeze, a high of 41, a low of 35.  Steady light rain Wednesday with a SE breeze, a high of 49, a low of 38.  Rain Maundy Thursday with a light NNW breeze, a high of 50, a low of 37.  Showers Good Friday with a stiff NNW breeze, a high of 44, a low of 33.  Cloudy Saturday with NW wind, a high of 42, a low of 29.  Partly cloudy Easter with a NNW wind, a high of 41, a low of 27. The week after Easter highs slowly climb from 42 to fifty the weekend of the 6th and 7th with brisk NW breezes, lows around freezing.

     It looks like less snow at daylight this morning than it did as darkness descended last night.  The hours of sleet must have settled the snow.  The texture is like gravel.  When I threw seed out it didn't sink in but neither did it skitter across the snow.  A flock of juncos has joined the gold finches.  No sign of black birds, too early for them.  When I got up this morning I saw Gilbert's truck lights going up his driveway.  That meant his rentals were all plowed out.  Everything is lovely and white but I won't complain when we return to mud Wednesday. 
      Our church will be online.  Facebook is not working for me this morning so I don't know what other churches are doing.   Cleaning the church yard for parking is the challenge.   May God be with you on this day, Sally

Saturday, March 23, 2024

 3/23/24  Marriage may be made in Heaven, but man is responsible for the upkeep.Amish Proverb


 Light snow, calm, 20 degrees.  Heavier snow will start around 8 this morning.  Around 8 this evening the forecast is for a couple of hours of mixed precipitation followed by heavy snow until 2AM.  NE breezes will become brisk late this afternoon,   It will be  a NE wind late this evening and overnight.  Winds will be stronger north, Dover/Milo.  Less to the south.  8-12 inches of snow today, 5-8 ice and snow tonight.   Today's high 28, tonight's low 20.  Partly cloudy tomorrow, Palm Sunday with a light NNW wind, a high of 37, a low of 15.  Cloudy Monday with a stiff NE breeze, a high of 39, a low of 23.  Spring returns Tuesday with a stiff NE breeze, a high of 40, a low of 33.  PM showers.  Rain Wednesday with an ENE breeze, a high of 45, a low of 37.  Showers Monday Thursday with a Nw breeze, a high of 40, a low of 33.  Showers Good Friday with a stiff NNW breeze, a high of 44, a low of 33.  Rain/snow showers next Saturday with NNW wind, a high of 46, a low of 31.  Partly cloudy Easter Sunday and next Monday with stiff NW breezes, highs about 47, lows about 32.  Showers the first week in April with brisk NW breezes, highs about 45, lows about 33.  Some sun the 5th and 6th with highs about 48, lows about 33.

     The top of the pine tree got cut up yesterday thanks to Uncle Mike.  Gilbert hauled a lot of it to his house to put in his boiler.  The  small brush left would make an excellent organic spring tonic for people with goats.  If no one wants it Jay will put it in a pile for burning next week.  It is where the Coast of Maine products go.  They are coming April 1st.
     After an xray at Mayo hospital I had PT.  I left PT tired but feeling much better. Bekah, Heather and Maegin were all here when I got home.  The power cords were all rolled up and the house cleaned up making me feel even better!  They spent the rest of the afternoon planting.  Heather and Mike came out in the afternoon. After spending some time on hold Heather was able to update the debit/credit card machine with Bekah and Jay's information.  It is all set for the 2024 season.
    All is calm now but the forecast says we may lose power tonight.  We will be prepared.  May God bless you on this day, Sally

Friday, March 22, 2024

3/22/24  In all things, God is with us; we are not alone.  Paster Bruce

10 of mist/light rain before the cold winds changed it  to 5" of blowing snow.   Fair and calm now,15 degrees.  Sunshine with gusty WNW winds today, a high of 31.  A WNW breeze tonight, a low of 18, snow after midnight.  16 to 24 inches of snow tomorrow and tomorrow night with  light north wind.  A high of 29, a low of 22.  Clouds Sunday with a NNW wind, a high of 35, a low of 19.  Cloudy Monday with a strong NNE breeze, a high of 38, a low of 20.  Partly cloudy Tuesday with a strong NNE breeze, a high of 43, a low of 28.  Freezing rain Wednesday morning, rain in the afternoon and overnight.  A NE breeze with a high of 39, a low of 35.  Showers Thursday and next Friday with north breezes, highs about 45, lows of 34.  Showers next Saturday with a strong NW breeze, some snow may mix in.  Saturday's high 45, the low 32.  Clouds Easter  Sunday and Monday April 1st with strong NW breezes, highs about 45, lows about 30.  Snow to rain Tuesday the 2ed with a brisk NW breeze, a high of 43, a low of 33.  Showers the next three days with highs in the mid to upper forties, lows about 35.

    We lost power early yesterday, but got it back about 3:30 in the afternoon.  Gilbert bought the generator back inside to make sure it would start if we lost it again but it never even flickered.  Trees and downed lines closed many roads.  I didn't put away electrical cords when the power came on, now I have to do that this morning.  When the power came on there was a message from Versant.  Next Thursday at nine they will change our meter  so we can switch off hydro and run the house on the generator without cords when we lose power..  That will include the water pump.
   The winds took out the larger of the two tops the pine tree had.  It fell the only way it could have fallen without causing damage.  Now the other top looks weak and exposed.  Is it possible for it to fall without taking out electric lines or doing damage?  It doesn't look like the odds are very good.
    Bekah, Jay and Azalea spent yesterday planting the two boxes of plugs and cuttings that came Wednesday.  They'll finish today.  There was no school.
    I have been calling the number IRS publishes for an appointment with no success.  Wednesday I went to the Bangor office thinking even if I couldn't talk to an agent I could get an appointment.  I was given that number and told to make an appointment.  Yes that was a problem but they were very busy and I could keep trying.  Over the last three years I have been sending certified letters, no answer.  I left the IRS office and went to Susan Collins' office.  The man in charge of her office was familiar with my problem. It seems the IRS often has a problem with incorrect classifications of Agriculture federal id numbers.  He made copies of my letters and said her office staff would take care of it.
     I have an appointment to get an xray of my jaw this morning.  This afternoon I'll get back to spring cleaning and downsizing in preparation for Bekah and Jay switching with Sally Jo.  They were wishing they lived right here yesterday!  I need to fill bird feeders.  Yesterday the birds, including some blackbirds, were glad for feeders full of seed in the shelter of the Christmas trees.
     May God bless you on this day, Sally