The seasons change and so do I...

Over 10 feet of snow fell in the Cascades this week, a massive amount, making the mountain passes pretty much impassable.  It isn't over yet, in fact we may get some lowland snow this weekend.

Still there's the feeling that Spring is winning out.  The days are longer, the sun more intense when it comes out, the birds are active, bulbs are coming up and our unusual black pussy willow is "blooming" or whatever you call the sweet fuzzy things.   The roses are leafing out too, and I'm hoping to prune this afternoon if it stays dry for a few hours.  I know this sounds incredible if you're in Ohio.

The big pots of jasmine froze this winter, and I threw them in the compost bin. I felt sorry after all these years, but they were root bound and I wasn't going to wrestle them into even bigger pots. I have a pot problem (not that kind) but one where containers keep multiplying.  I'm weak-willed when the nursery plants come out.  Enough is enough!

Around Valentine's Day, Lowe's has blooming jasmines for sale and I bought a beauty yesterday for $9.  We can enjoy the fragrance now and then it can live outside for the summer.  They usually bloom again in August.  I'm going for quality over quantity this year-- at least that's the February vow.

While I was waiting for my hand surgeon yesterday I took a picture of his amusing pain chart.  Well, it wouldn't be so amusing if you're up in the 9-10 range.  Happily, I'm down to 2.5 and he said my progress is exactly right for 5 weeks. The things that were worrying me (like new crunchiness in the joint) are "completely normal" for trigger finger surgery recovery.

Of course it would have been nice to know that ahead of time, but I suppose everyone is different and he doesn't want you anticipate things that might not happen.  Apparently it takes about 3 months until you can walk around and forget that you ever had hand surgery.  Which puts me right on target for summer gardening.