Up here in Northern Canada, we celebrate when Winter starts fading into Spring. It's dusy, and gray, and sloppy... but Spring is around the corner!

![gg.JPG](https://img.blurt.world/blurtimage/drutter/912ef058d6cb735d26a239c0b985732217683f13.JPG) Those of you from, well, pretty much anywhere else probably have NO clue what this is. Towns that get a huge amount of snow attach these markers to fire hydrants at the start of Winter, and remove them in the Spring. It tells the fire department where to find the buried hydrants. This year, we didn't even get enough snow to go half way up the hydrant, at the very deepest point. Let alone that huge yellow marker. Practically nothing! And as you can see, we're down to just a few little clumps here and there. Hopefully, that's the end of it! ![image.png](https://img.blurt.world/blurtimage/drutter/820247e44d59f3a9289c006cbd18428d54ebaf8e.png) There's the local weather forecast! That looks like HEAVEN compared to the past 6 months, let me tell you. Really looking forward to the weekend! I hope I'm well enough to get outside and take stock of what needs to be done in the garden. I'm hoping to have another good year out back. Here are a few daily shots of the garden and yard, taken in the same manner as the 150+ I took last year. They represent the past 4 days. ![g1.JPG](https://img.blurt.world/blurtimage/drutter/6fdf4ecc00e02c6955ed25f225b83dbcb717ca06.JPG) ![g2.JPG](https://img.blurt.world/blurtimage/drutter/8325dc00cb058cdae66ff325be2a93e5fbf85553.JPG) ![g3.JPG](https://img.blurt.world/blurtimage/drutter/3bb204fc4691f6f344c5f877a326840c312a4a0e.JPG) ![g4.JPG](https://img.blurt.world/blurtimage/drutter/db12d7b16c435b03449669ddf83ef2fa8fa3d17a.JPG) Here's to Spring (or Autumn if you're in the Southern hemisphere)! As long as I'm still kicking I plan to grow food and flowers, so please stay tuned to this blog to watch my progress. If I can get the heart surgery I need, and recovery well, I might even dig up a second garden, right there beside the first! We'll see how it goes. First, the ground needs to dry out just a little more, as it's quite mucky still. This weekend should do the trick!

All the best to the gardeners, the farmers, the growers, and anyone else who lives for Spring! Have a great season.

DRutter ![banner2024.jpg](https://img.blurt.world/blurtimage/drutter/e52003e0afc3db0100f7ab7b0c069bd3818cc3d1.jpg)