March Forth, my daughter said

and I comply. It was a good rallying cry. It has not been a bad winter. At all. At all.  We've not been cold, never had to deal too much with frozen pipes, didn't come sick with several of the viruses that went around, and we had company off and on every week.




This old house is not a pretty sight and I haven't the money or inclination to do it up much. Oh, I would if I could, but it is not a priority. Some days I want to take up these carpets and it's all I can do to distract myself. Really can't deal with it in winter. In warm weather, we only had six weeks to get this place ready before change swept in and took over. Mark was in the hospital and then making his way back to strength. We'd done the worst of what needed done and so, had a place to stay this winter -- unlike last.

Neighbor's dogs dig up any flowers I plant and I can't afford a fence and don't want to trouble the neighbors who are good people, just over-taxed with staying alive. So this dog called Motley comes over and digs up our yard and the rest of their dogs join in to poop the entire length of the yard on that side of the house. We were fortunate in that the house on the other side has stayed vacant. Hopefully, that will continue as that place is a bigger dump than this one. We are in poor-people row, in a company house. But it's warm.

This year, we'll make changes, but possibly not too many to this house. We've got other things that need done first. We make our money on rentals we own, and those have to be fixed up before our own. We know how to live with a few inconveniences, but you can't ask paying guests to do that. So, off to Wheeling we'll go and see to our places there. Two incomes close this year, as the folks are paying off their places we've been selling to them on a rent-to-own basis (only without the high interest rates). Those will need to be replaced and we have bought a couple of places that may help with that.

Along with this, we have bought little "worthless" lots to be planted in bee gardens and apple trees. One, in particular is ten minutes away.

It's a mess right now:

There's a lot of debris. The place was once the Maewood School, then a truckstop, then an antique mall. It burned and since then, it's been a place where drunks go to toss bottles around. We'll clean it up and begin to plant,leaving trees and bushes that are already there, cutting the invasive things like multiflora which wold take over.

We have other such lots that we'll be working on over quite a long period of time. Hopefully, other people will get interested in the lots in their area. We'll do our part and that's as much as we can do. Each place will be protected. Our company, OldenEarth, will set them up with protection status. Little green lots for the bees and monarchs and birds.

Right now, snow covers the ground, but already, the temperature is getting warmer. We'll be in the high fifties by the weekend. Last night, it was 2 degrees here. Such is March.

In a way, I hate to relinquish my winter status. I liked having all this time to paint and write and knit and spin and cook and bake. But another season is here now, so it's time to shake myself awake and see what's out there.