This morning I stepped out onto my back deck. The snow has melted into the earth and brown, faded grass and if you look closely at the tips of tree branches you can just make out buds pushing through the bare bark. Today was the second time in as many weeks I was able to visit the part of my home I can enjoy during the warmer New England months. The warm and dry wood felt good under my feet as I studied the dried vines of last year's Morning Glory or the remnants of my herb garden. The wind blowing through the woods behind the house creates a muffled and distant roar not unlike the sound of the sea and strangely the creak and chirp of the elm and maple as they rub against each other reminds me of the calls of Orcas or other toothed whales. I close my eyes and feel the sun on my face. Soon the yard will have absorbed enough of Winter and I will begin my work but not quite yet. Maybe another month or so. I have plans for my garden. It did not fare very well last Summer so some things must be changed. Plants need to be moved, new soil put down, edging extended and perhaps a berm for the front depending on my ambition and motivation. I need to be more diligent in my efforts to keep snails and Japanese beetles from eating everything in sight and perhaps make available more of the particular flowers that brought the many hummingbirds.

On the opposite end of things, I did some indoor gardening today. I realized I had hit critical mass with the houseplants. The last frond of my Kentia Palm took a nosedive. While trying to straighten it out, the branch in my hand came out of the soil. My reaction was my usual, WTF? Also, my neglect in repotting a Norfolk Island Pine when I purchased it a month ago has resulted in half the thing dying off due to being root bound. I trimmed the dead parts and repot what was left. The Pointsettia I've had since Christmas have been retired as well. And to top my plant woes off, Nikita, having found and embraced a comfort zone in her new home, has begun a bit of digging and chewing. Sheets of tin foil now covers the soil of the largest pots and bitter apple is sprayed on anything I see her paying too much attention to. She'll come around, it's really not a problem. Speaking of the kitties, they are getting along pretty well. They take turns chasing each other although truth be told, Feya does most of the chasing. There'll be a chase, a tumble, a tangle of cats then they will separate and do it all again. No hissing, no growling so I am not worrying about it.