It’s still a long way away, and I love the snow and cold, but I am getting excited for spring. I think the thing I missed the most was taking road trips with my partner in crime, Gerald’s daughter, Breonna. I missed going to the orchards and taking her out to eat at new places and showing her things and taking her places she had never been. Plus, it’s just nice to spend some times with kids and remember how they look at things and se the world through their eyes.
Then after a couple hours, dropping them off and not having to put up with their bullshit.
Mary G
I enjoyed doing that with my teen housemate, dragging to different places. He is too busy these days
Firstly I was first. Now can we go back to not caring about it?
Housemate came home early as her fever is up over 102, but she’s cleaning instead of resting.
smike
1,
Ummm, not so much. But look what I found! a shiny, brand new 2!!1!
Chetan Murthy
@Mary G: IIRC, you got the jab, right?
geg6
That is exactly my feeling about kids. It’s why I was such a great aunt. Many adventures with my nieces and then I’d hand them back to mom and dad before I got overloaded and turned into cranky, mean aunt.
JanieM
As to the coming of spring, realistically it’s still a good way off here in the north country. But I’m just loving the longer daylight.
MMM
I think they already made this movie. The Professional.
NotMax
I’ll cordially waive my time and willingly hand it over to Mr. Cole.
;)
SiubhanDuinne
This is for you, John.
https://youtu.be/mCNaDLb4K9k
HumboldtBlue
I’m an uncle 11 times over and a grand uncle six times over.
Uncling is the best job in the world.
Got a birthday celebration coming up Sunday with one of the grands whose birth I attended, albeit as the weeping uncle in the hallway trying to text the family the baby had arrived.
namekarB
Yep. It’s always a pleasure to be around my grandkids and another guilty pleasure when they go home. But it has been a long dry spell without those in person gatherings.
NotMax
Not my cuppa eye of newt but may score a hit with the younger set.
smike
Don’t know what I think about the spring, yet. Near Austin here, so we came out of the deep freeze, had about a week of winterish weather, then jumped to spring weather. A couple of lemon trees are goners (unless the root survived), fig tree gone, large rosemary bush frozen, but hopefully that is about it. Saved what herbs I could, Oregano in the ground seems to have done well, and same with some thyme that got buried in pine needles during the storm/s.
Kent
Here in Camas (Portland metro) I noticed the first ornamental flowering pear trees starting to flower while out walking the dog today. So spring is just around the corner in this part of the world, even though it was only about 40 degrees out today.
BruceFromOhio
Uncles are the best. I was blessed with a plethora of smart, talented uncles who know clever witty shit, and smart, talented cousins who know clever witty shit. And aunts that keep everyone in line and don’t take that shit from anybody.
bertintx
The potatoes in the school garden look (feel) okay. Onions and kale are still good. We had several beds of red clover as a green manure and it came through last week just fine. I don’t understand. Next week we will plant more after tilling in the plants that froze to death. The peach and plum trees are still waiting to bloom, excepting the two early ones that have now been reset until next year. While driving around Austin today I saw lots of dead prickly pear cactus flopped over dead, damaged Sago palm and yuccas.
Jay
Might this weekend, ( finally have a weekend), get some bags of soil, some Casablanca Lillies, some Lilly of the Valley, ( bulbs), a pot, tray, tomato cage and add a pot to the 22nd story balcony garden.
Richard
A large flock of robins, too many to count. 500 + or more. A sure sign. It was amazing. Turdus migratorius for all you bird people.
TomatoQueen
It’s light out at quittin’ time, gonna rain all weekend, the first notice of tree pollen (elm, juniper, both mofos) arrived in email from pollen.com, and local TV news reports a beaver munched a Yoshino cherry tree at the Tidal Basin. Also, Lady Gaga’s Frenchies are returned safely by “a woman not involved in the theft”. BBC Nooz tonight had a view of the Snow Moon at full, an island with a gold-domed building on top, and a murmuration of starlings just in front of the building, over the water. Must be spring.
trollhattan
It was 76 Wednesday and I had to turn the irrigation on because the yard is already dry. Guess that counts as spring. Am happy to get out in the sun but will bitch like hell once fire season returns. Easter?
Kelly
I saw tiny leaves breaking buds on a bush next to the river here in the Oregon Cascade foothills. After a very late start the snowpack has caught up to the long term average. We had really good ski day Wednesday. Pondering replacing my decrepit old dry suit so I could get my kayak out on the water. March used to be the beginning of prime whitewater. I get cold easier nowadays.
Wapiti
@smike: A couple of years ago I had a rosemary with snow sitting atop it for about a week and it had a lot of dead branches by spring, but I aggressively cut the dead stuff out and the plant recovered very nicely.
trollhattan
Lest I sound ungrateful, the county reports 271k Covid vaccines administered. > 1/4 million is GREAT progress.
trollhattan
@Wapiti:
IDK what it takes to kill rosemary but we have never managed it. They are tough, tough, tough. Do not turn your back on one.
debbie
@geg6:
My nieces and nephews were absolute joys for me too. Wish there had been some way to keep them little, like kiddie bonsai or something.
Jay
@trollhattan:
yeah, they will stab you.
Jay
Chetan Murthy
@Jay: I have no yard, but have a [decrepit, about-to-fall-apart] deck where I could have some pots. Summer-before-last I tried a basil plant (bought it with roots-and-all) and …. it didn’t survive so well. I watered it daily, but somehow ….. no dice. This year I put one in a jar, and it was pretty good summer/fall, but since then, it seems to be failing. I put it in the window to get sun, and make sure there’s enough water, but … sometimes I think about putting it out of its misery. Not enough leaves to be worth harvesting for making a caprese sandwich, sigh.
I wonder what I’m doing wrong.
Martin
Oh, turns out there’s an America First white nationalist/insurrectionist conference nearby CPAC and Gosar is (appropriately) a speaker.
Jay
https://www.wweek.com/news/courts/2020/12/16/tusitala-tiny-toese-will-be-released-early-from-jail-next-week-after-violating-probation-for-assault-charges/
smike
@Wapiti: I like that idea.
Mary G
Never mind.
Jay
@Chetan Murthy:
#1 rule of gardening, good healthy soil.
Basil likes heat, and “bottom watering), ( waterspots on the leaves, cause mold).
Up here, basil season is late March to September, sometimes October.
We moved here in August, potted up some plants, ( some herbs and colour).
Looking forward this year to have more greens, veggies, and extravagant plantings.
It’s not like I sit out there, ( vertigo).
Many, many years ago, lived on Commercial Drive, ( first time). Had a big south facing balcony. Filled it almost completely up. All the Nonna’s loved it, ( Little Italy).
Achrachno
@trollhattan: You can’t kill rosemary, everyone knows that! Crabgrass you have a chance with, maybe Bermuda grass too, but not rosemary. On the other hand you can season things with rosemary, which crabgrass is pretty useless for.
Chetan Murthy
@Mary G: I guess it’s for people who don’t actually need to -learn- anything in college.
smike
@Chetan Murthy: Don’t know where you are, but basil wants to bolt early in the year here (centex). I pinch the buds and flowers as soon as they become evident, and it is something that must be done often. I let the pots dry a bit and then hit them with a good drenching. Also, throwing a good bit of compost on top of the soil doesn’t hurt.
Jay
@Achrachno:
depends where you are. -40c kills Rosemary.
Jay
@smike:
I use a mix of good composted manure, Sea Soil, ( kelp compost), worm casings and planter potting soil.
cain
It seems I’m going to have a minority opinion, but it comes from a place of love.
Goddam it Cole, I’m sick of this friendship bullshit in your relationship. I want to see you deep in love, man or woman, whatever, and living your best life. I feel like you’re holding yourself back. You are such a good person, that I feel like some woman is missing her chance to find the man of her dreams. Can we fucking find Cole a woman who can match the kind of deep empathy that our man exhibits. It really concerns me that he lives in an island.
You and I are the same age by a few months – and I know that you are still a young man, and I really want you to start dating and putting yourself out there. There is a woman out there that will long for all the goodness that you bring. Don’t do it for yourself, do it for your future partner.
cain
@cain:
Just want to add that I spent nearly 20 years on this blog. I feel like I can speak my piece.
smike
@Jay: Sounds yummy.
NotMax
@Chetan Murthy
It could be…
.
…a faulty basil.
:)
Chetan Murthy
@NotMax: Just don’t mention the *war
bertintx
@Chetan Murthy: I’ve never had basil make it through from fall to spring, so I plant again each year from transplants from my local garden centers. It likes heat but not too much afternoon sun ( a problem in central TX) . It does not need daily watering. The people who grow basil year round are using fancy greenhouses with all the necessary climate controls.
Richard
@Chetan Murthy: they don’t live long. Annual plant. Year or a little more at most for me. I love them but they are on an annual schedule. They smell so nice. For me it is best to buy the young plants from local nursery and keep them in pots.
One year i planted them in the garden from seed and they did great. But they are an annual plant.
CaseyL
Seasons in Seattle are hard to discern as they slowly slide into one another. I, at least, figure that Spring Is In The Air once I see birds returning and crocuses coming up (I used to have a brave little crocus near a tree in front of my house. Landscapers took out the tree and the crocus.)
I have uncovered the deck strawberries, and hope they’re ready – the weather really is unreliable. But if we get another freeze, I can cover them up again.
Tonight my neighbor and I, both fully vaccinated, went out to a restaurant (Thai Siam) for dinner. Only a few tables in use, all widely spaced, and everyone masked. It was a grand evening. The food was quite good, too, and the portions so enormous I have enough leftovers for two meals.
cain
@CaseyL:
Huh.. I feel like the birds never left – -plenty of birds here.
Mai Naem mobile
I saw a breathless report on one of our local news stations on the number of wasted vaccine doses(200!!!) in AZ. I am assuming its for the month possibly the week. The bigger picture is 1.1 million individual doses have been given. Varied reasons at different sites – improper storage during transport, expired, vials left out too long etc. Nothing nefarious but,hey, let’s talk about 200 wasted doses!
Richard
@cain: yes you can. Oof! Maybe that guy likes his island. Maybe he is still working on things. Maybe he doesn’t like girls. Maybe he doesn’t like boys. Maybe he’s just that way. Maybe he doesn’t like people at all! It is not your job.
Give yourself a break. It is not your fault.
David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch
? ? ? ?
Baud
@David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch:
???
Baud
@David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch:
Pelosi does it again.
BQUIMBY
@cain: Living one’s best life does not always require a lover… or kids. What’s w/the pressure and need for people to assume or insinuate single people are not as happy? or are somehow isolated? or not living their best life? lesser than?
A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan)
@Chetan Murthy: I live in N California and always have a basil plant in the summer (in a pot), and it is an annual, so I don’t think you are doing anything wrong. One and done. If you want perennials which will live through most anything, in my experience daylilies, canna lilies, all kinds of sages, and all kinds of chrysanthemums fit the bill. They will die back at the end of fall and then regrow in the next spring.
It is daffodil time at our house, plus we have some cute little miniature iris (like Doug Iris) I had planted bulbs of last fall and had forgotten all about. A nice surprise
ETA: we have a huge rosemary bush that I cut off branches from for cooking (herbs) and the bees love it. No downside I can see. Of course I have a large “yard” near the house (we have 20 acres).
Brachiator
@David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch:
The minimum wage provision will have to be removed from the Senate version of the bill. Maybe this will provide some negotiating room for other items.
I am hoping that they don’t accept the faulty recommendations to lower the income threshold for the $1,400 stimulus payments.
David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch
@Baud: Master of the House
will go down in history with LBJ (blessed by thy name) and Joe Cannon
David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch
Are you ready for the sunshine?
Are you ready for the birds and bees,
the apple trees,
and a whole lot of fooling around
Are you ready for the summer?
Are you ready for the hot nights?
Are you ready for the fireflies,
the moonlit skies,
and a whole lot of fooling around
No more pencils, no more books
No more teachers dirty looks
No more math and history,
Summer time has set us free
Are you ready for the summer?
Are you ready for the good times?…”
AlaskaReader
@Richard: The collective noun would be a ’round’ of robins.
mrmoshpotato
This jobTaking the kids to see things would be great if it wasn’t forthe fucking customerstheir eventual bullshit.satby
Today is predicted to get close to 50° here in the rapidly thawing north, and the deeper snowdrifts in my yard have melted down to only a couple of inches high. Still a lot of ice on the pavement in shady areas, but today will eliminate most of it. Soon as I see some dirt and grass, I’ll be looking for little signs of crocus and daffodils, though they’re both probably a month away from blooming.
Geminid
@Richard: Basil are neat to grow from seed. The seedlings stand out from other sprouts because of their dark green color. Poppy seedlings stand out too, only they are a sea green.
This makes me want to plant the 100 sq. ft. patch I’ve dug, but it’s been raining and snowing on and off in central Virginia for six weeks, and the soil is too wet to work. Smells like spring, though.
I’ve heard of people using large rosemary branches as shiskabob skewers for grilling meats. They are said to impart flavor.
mikefromArlington
With spring for me comes itching and sneezing…at least it used to.
Last fall I got a sinus infection from severe allergies. I went and ordered a neti pot with the little salt saline packets.
LIFE CHANGER!
And I’m not kidding. Any time I’ve got a bit of itchiness I use em. Instant relief. They’re cheap, quick and reliable. The one I bought was a CROING kit with Sinus Rinse Bottle with 80 packets from Amazon.
If you haven’t tried them yet John, do it now.
It’s not just allergies. Even my kids and wife has seen results if they’re starting to feel some sneezing or possible cold, it cleans the sinuses out and prevents it from getting worse.
Anyways, cheers. Happy spring.
Lavocat
We’ll just call you Uncle Buck, or Youbee for short.
Hey, here’s a quarter! You know what to do with it.
wvng
Here’s a song for John. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HtSxPf9iO8Q
Skepticat
I never wanted to have children, but being an aunt is all right, especially now that my niece and my nephew are adults who treat me like peers.
BellyCat
I am dead. ? (Father of 5 year old)
DougInDowneyCA
That was funny