Spent most of yesterday outdoors and have a sunburn to prove it. The lawns are mowed and my wife has been working on the flower beds. The feature image is from our web cam this morning. The cam faces to the north which shows all the bird feeders in the foreground. In the background are the woods and the Kalamazoo river in the distance.
The frame of the swing set I built many years ago has served as entertainment for two generations of our kids and now our grand kids. There is a bird house I built which sets on top of the swing set and yes multiple generations of birds have lived in it. The teeter totter to the right of the swing set has been around for many years as well and yes, I built that also – the fulcrum of the totter is a one inch hickory peg – all of these have held up well.
I am getting ready to put out the fire pit today. During the day we can watch and listen to the birds and at night we can set around the fire and listen to the frogs. After several years of lack the frogs seem to be making a comeback as it is pretty noisy at night with their chirpings and croakings – I think the wet conditions have helped them along. My neighbor has a large pond and the banks of the river seem to be alive with them.
I have lived in the country for a good portion of my life and can’t imagine having to endure city life. Otsego is within walking distance, about half a mile and this is close enough to the city for me. When I lived in Maine the wilderness was within half a mile in any direction.
Today is planting day, my tomatoes and peppers which are now in small pots need to get into the ground as they are outgrowing the small containers I have them in. I have some basil and Rosemary I need to replant in larger containers and get them out on the deck. I bought onion sets yesterday and have some potatoes which are ready to be planted. It is going to be another busy day on the homestead.
My only concern this year is the cooler and wetter than normal conditions which may exist throughout much of this month. The CPC is showing equal chances of above or below normal temperatures for this summer for southwest Michigan. We are just in the beginning of May so time will tell. With the temperature gradients so close we could end up with a stormier first part of the summer.
Seven Day Forecast
Pollen Forecast
Great post MV. Time will tell about how cool of a summer we will have. We were out to I really like your webcam too.
The weather all weekend was awesome!!! Yesterday went to the greenhouse and got some flowers to plant(not jus yet)and also our tomatoes. Today we headed to the Holland Tulip Festival – a daughter called and wanted to go so we had a beautiful day. I haven’t been to the festival in years. My idea of going is when the tulips are blooming but before the festival. LOL!! to avoid the crowds. I hope you all enjoyed the day.
Today’s weather = fantastic!!!!!!
It was!!!
Way this pattern is shaping up, i wouldnt not doubt we still could see snow at some point. Welcome to Michigan 😉
Lots of rain for sure the mosquito will love it! INDY!
I don’t think so. It might be cool but not snow.
Great post MV I love my fire pit out at thee YARDOFBRICKS and Slim a below normal summer will be ok with me hopefully we can get some good storms going though ….One thing for sure the blog maybe a little slower with a below normal summer lol…INDY!
We are in a wet and cool pattern and are now at 9 days in a row of below average temperatures at GR. While today will be warmer then average most if not all of next week looks to be below average. With there being a good chance that May being the 5th month in a row of below average temperatures there is a good chance that one or more of the summer months could be warmer then average. While MV is putting his tomato plants in the ground I will wait another two weeks or so before I put… Read more »
Nice write up, MV. Perfect weekend for anything outside. I got a little pink yesterday too. I burn easier now than in my younger days.