I Control the Weather

Yes that's right, apparently I control the weather.  After writing that Spring is Officially Here, the weather Gods promptly made an example out of me by dumping 8 inches of snow on Grand Forks over the weekend in a somewhat unusual spring snowstorm.  It also snowed lightly yesterday and is forecast for another inch or two of snow today/tonight and another chance on Friday.  It has been duly noted that I am too big for my britches. 

We went from this scene.....

...back to this all too familiar scene.  I tried to convince Shaak Ti to stand in the same spot for comparison purposes and she would have none of it. 

It's also been a quiet week here on Deaf Dogs and Benevolent Gnomes since some manner of sickness has knocked me flat on my backside.  As such I haven't posted much this last week, sorry, I'll make it up to you.  

Spring is Officially Here

We might not be out of the woods yet in terms of flooding (don't fret we're dry here and in no danger whatsoever), the river is expected to crest around 52 feet here in Grand Forks on Thursday or Friday, Spring is definitely here.

Shaak Ti does a great job modeling next to the last snow patch.  I took this photo a couple of days ago and this was the last of the snow in the yard (it's along the North side of the garage so it never gets direct sunlight).  After a few days of 50+ degrees and some rain, this patch is currently the size of a dinner plate (my dinner plate not your dinner plate, which is likely substantially smaller).  Snow be gone!!!

The tulips have also started to pop, a sure sign of Spring!!  These will probably be a foot high by the end of the week and we might have blooms very soon. 

The weather now is so fantastic it defies adjectives, warm during the day and cool at night.  The mosquitoes haven't come out to play yet so outdoor time is fun and fancy free with no bugs.  I'll get some seeds started indoors this week and they should be ready for transplant by Mid-May.  Even though we have pleasant Spring-like weather, we're nowhere near our final average frost date, and I jump the gun by planting the garden even in Mid-May. 

Flocked

Deaf Dogs and Benevolent Gnomes and it's humble creator, El Gaucho, attained worldwide recognition yesterday when it was mentioned in the Along Life's Highway - The Yard Art Game blog.

See the Flocked entry on this fantastic blog to read what all the hubbub was about.

Trouble With The Law

It seems that my nephew has already attracted some attention from state law enforcement authorities. 

It's always a shame when good kids go bad, especially at such a young age.  I'll do what I can to be a positive role model as an uncle, but it may be too late and Jacob may already have a permanent record.

Welcome To New Readers

I have a longstanding tradition of personally welcoming all new readers here at Deaf Dogs and Benevolent Gnomes.  This wasn't much of a challenge when I had four readers and they were all family and friends.  But after last months Urban Homesteading and What it Means to Me post was mentioned on a Facebook group, my readership exploded.  I went from 9 followers to 15, almost overnight.  Wowzers.

I vowed that I wouldn't let my meteoric rise in the blogosphere go to my head and endeavored to stay focused on my humble origins, and true to my original blogging promises.  As such here is a hearty Deaf Dogs and Benevolent Gnomes welcome to the following new followers:  

Stone Cottage Mama - Has some fantastic stories of urban homesteading in the Pacific Northwest.  I may never keep chickens and ducks like she does, but I do enjoy all the terrific pictures of their feathered residents and the detailed information about their care.

Nitty Gritty In The City - A fellow Midwest resident, she has a very entertaining blog and I look forward to every posting.

Liberalucy -writes a terrific politically oriented blog that I spend way to much time reading.

And to Sheryl and Brande, who near as I can tell (please correct me if I'm wrong), don't have a blog of their own but are gracious enough to visit mine.  Thanks!

Much love to my new readers and many thanks to all my readers.  You validate my time spent on here and every visit and comment is greatly appreciated.  Thanks!!!

Baby Pictures - My New Nephew

Here's another cure baby picture for you all.  My nephew Jacob. 

Look at that big ole' Buddha belly.  He's gonna be a swarthy young gentleman when he grows up.

I Won!!!

There are a ton of great blogs out there that are more popular than this one (I know I know, calm down, it's OK, this came as shocking news to you) and they often get cool books or new garden tools to try out, write a review of, or giveaway on their blog.  In the course of all the incredible blogs I visit I end up entering quite a few of these giveaways.  Well, I finally won.

Special thanks to the awesome folks at Dog Island Farm (a great name and a fantastic website so chock full of information I get lost there) for randomly selecting me as the winner.  See Winner Winner Chicken Dinner.  Thanks!!

Spring Projects on the Urban Homestead

The urban homesteading blogosphere is atwitter with everyone's plans for Spring and various upcoming projects on their dockets.  What are we going to be working on here at the Deaf Dogs and Benevolent Gnomes Homestead in the next few weeks?

1. Shoveling snow.  Yeah, this sucks.  Even though it's near 50 degrees today, we're under a Winter Storm Warning here in Eastern North Dakota for Saturday night through Monday morning.  We're supposed to get 6-9 inches of snow, but I'm really hoping that this storm will skirt us like the last one did a few weeks ago (see Major Winter Storm on the Way), or maybe just dump rain instead of snow.
2. Finish the compost bin I started in the fall.  It's a 3-bin system (like the one here) and has a ton of space for yard waste.  I quickly realized last summer that my new yard was WAY too big for one small compost bin and needed additional space to make compost.  I'll continue to use the one large plastic compost bin for kitchen waste, fruit and vegetable waste from the garden, and anything else that attracts pests since it's more secure than the open 3-bin system.  
3. Build a fence around the blueberry and strawberry patch in the backyard.  These are all within the backyard, inside the fence, and have taken a beating from the puppy tornado this winter.  Between her eating the blueberry bushes, crashing into them and breaking them, and peeing on the strawberries, I think it's for the best that this area is cordoned off from Little Miss Puppy Carnival of Destruction. It won't be a serious fence, probably just made of scrap wood or lilac shoots, it just needs to be a visual deterrent to keep her out of the area.