I walked from my office to the back patio door just a few minutes ago and watched a red-headed woodpecker taking a splash in the bird bath that came with the house (likely too heavy for the previous tenants to haul away). I don't think I have ever seen that bird at the bath before this, though a large number of birds are making good use of it this spring even though it has been a wet one.

I planted my tomatoes this morning and hilled my taters this afternoon. It is a warm humid afternoon and it really reminded of hilling potatoes down on the farm. I am glad I only have 8 or so plants to hill as I am getting to old and out of shape to want to do an acre of the darn things. Our peas are growing up the pea fences we stuck into the ground, still to early for any flowers or peas, but not too much longer I suspect. I should be planting some beans and some okra, but haven't been able to due to the wetness. I need to dig at least one and a half more beds to accommodate everything i want to plant, but can't. I did dig a little this afternoon to give the last tomato some space, but it is really soggy, and our last rain was a week ago. That was a real bridge wrecker of a series of storms, the whole back yard was afloat, puddles and everything for over a day. It almost drowned a few plants (primarily the lavender, though it seems to be recovering a little). The bluebonnets we planted this spring are blooming, wish we'd been able to buy a lot more plants.

Some of the plants are doing great though, including the rose that was in a pot when we moved in. I am seriously surprised to see it leafing out.

Most everything has gone green and is flowering. Only a few old trees remain without leaves. Spring flowering plants are going like crazy (big patches of bluebonnets and Indian paint brush are everywhere), while the summer flowers are getting ready to take over. It feels great to be able to sit out in my back yard and enjoy the wonderful weather.

Next weekend we are off to Arkansas to see Carol's parents for Easter. Should be a great time to visit. The week after that we are off to Houston for the annual Texas Library association convention. Not really looking forward to that, but I need to go.

No job yet, no signs of one either. Very disheartening, but I carry on. Still doing my volunteer stuff and enjoying that a great deal.

I have started running again after a long break. Well, more walking than running, but it is a restart. I would like to get up to 3, 3, 6 by the end of the summer. Maybe at that time I will look into doing some heavier training.