The vernal equinox has come

The Good Mr. Dr. was on Spring Break this week. We made time to prepare for the beginning of Spring by taking one day off in the middle of week to go to the garden centers and start choosing a few flowers to experiment with.

Remember how I mentioned that we had lots and lots and lots of rain last weekend. Well, it finally stopped on Tuesday. We were lucky. Our garden was waterlogged and the backyards of several of our neighbors were under quite a few inches of water. But it was nothing compared to what some folks outside the city faced. For example, on the way to one our favorite garden centers, one major roadway was flooded out. Here's what it looked like in Sudbury:

The water has risen over the banks. It's not easy to see in this picture, but what looks like a levy is actually a a train track that is almost completely overrun with water.

When we arrived at Russell's Garden Center in Wayland, they too were flooded out. They were still open but if you needed something that was in the back, they literally had to get out the canoes to get it for you.

Those little blue buildings are usually where you would pay for your purchases.

Water, water, every where water.

Despite the flooding, they were still operating. We bought some pansies and tangerine geraniums. We then headed to Home Depot to look for pots and other assorted garden stuff. We got grape hyacinths and daffodils, some pots and other stuff to repair the fence and hopefully keep out the skunks that have been digging up the garden.

We also bought some lilies and experimental seeds that we plan to just throw out and see what grows.

Yesterday, we went pot hunting. We managed to get one nice one from a woman in West Roxbury who also shared her gardening wisdom with us. Today we potted our new flowers and also found some new bulbs planted by previous owners poking through.

Not sure what they are are yet.

The lineup from left to right: pansies, tangerine geranium, mix of daffodils and graph hyacinth (two pots), pansies, daffodils with Asiatic lily buried within. In front of the daffodil/hyacinth pots is the lambs ear, which should only be potted because they can takeover a garden.

If you know us by now, you know that we like to plan things out in as much detail as possible. So, you must be asking yourself, "What is their plan?"

I wouldn't want to spoil the surprise, but I can tell you this: there will be pumpkins.

Somewhere in here. But not where the bulbs are.

In other news, we are very close to choosing a contractor to replace the one chimney that is falling down and the skylights. Once that is complete, we'll have a larger repair job to tackle in the 3rd floor southeast room. That will likely be a bit later, maybe even over winter. We want to experience some rain before we start rebuilding floors and ceilings, just to make sure.

So its been a couple of months

Two months and a week, if you want to be precise. Sorry. It's been a bit busy here.

Updates on the house:
We have discovered that the leaking in the 3rd floor southeast room is most likely related to either the skylights or the chimneys, or both. So, the project this summer is to replace all of them. Not inexpensive, to say the least, but less expensive then having to replace the wood in the ceiling. That room is currently sealed off. We are taking quotes and hope to have the work done by summer. The next challenge is repairing the damage to the floors and replacing the ceiling in that room. In the meantime, I have to think of a medium term solution to the loss of my yoga room.

The cold winter brings higher heating bills and sore backs from shoveling snow. Apparently, it also brings the mice. The Good Mr. Dr.'s attempts to block off the visible entrances seems only seems to have slowed them down. What appears to have been more effective was shaming The Cat. After yelling at her for not doing her job, she promptly went off, found a mouse and presented it to him. I could not have been prouder. Since this incident, it seems like there are fewer mouse break-in attempts. This proves two things: 1) The Cat is a mouser after all, and 2) She speaks English.

We've also been getting quotes to determine how much we have to save in order to completely redo the garden's hardscaping. Let's just say that we will have to set up a separate savings account for this one. In the meantime, we're going to learn how to manage the plantscape first. This summer we will focus on the next step in our learning process. We know what grows and took out what we didn't want. Now we need to learn to control what we're keeping and to grow a few relatively easy things.

Today, our garden (and everyone's backyard) is beginning to take on the look of the wetland that this place was only a couple hundred years ago. It's been raining nonstop for about two days, and it will continue apparently until tomorrow.

The garden. Notice the many little lakes.

Here is the much larger lake in our Good Neighbor's yard.

This is the yard just catty-corner to us. It must be a good 6 inches deep there.

Hopefully this does not portend another cold, wet summer.

Updates on the job front:
So far, I've been encouraged to apply for jobs in colleges and universities in places that are too far to commute to or where my husband works. We already work together at home. I don't think it would be a good idea for us to work in the same campus. I've also been making it to short lists, but not to the short-short lists. So, the search for a secure academic position continues. In the meantime, I am pretty secure in the part time adjuncting work. I've also started to apply for administrative management positions. We've got to pay for those chimneys somehow.

In other news:
The census is coming! The census is coming! You should be receiving your census forms this week (if you are in the U.S.). Fill them out. You don't count if you are not counted. And if you are not counted, then your community will lose money. Money for teachers, firefighters, and police officers. Money to maintain your roads and water systems. Make sure your friends and neighbors fill out the census.