A Day That Felt Like Spring

Day two of a warm weekend with temps in the high 30's and low 40's filled with sunshine and the sounds of melting. Gotta love it. The dripping sounds coupled with the warm sunshine on my as I played outside unburying my compost bin, cleaning up from the rabbit, sorting where the plow must have gone by depositing a nice row of ice scrapings behind my car (I wondered what that was I drove over when I left early for work Sat am) spreading salt along where my car is parked to eliminate the slippery ice rink that had built there along the incline to the goat path, chopping some ice off the sidewalks by the side and out to the front of the house, and down to the street wearing only jeans and a hoodie. Ahh, nothing like the warmth of the Sun beating down on me!

The rabbit really seems to like this pineapple top as I've put it back into the compost bin several times in the past few days. I am tempted to toss it over in the corner by the deck where the most rabbit poop is, but last time I did that the melon peel sat there for days untouched, most likely as my scent was on it I am guessing. Although my scent hasn't seemed to bother in the case of this piece. Greens I guess.It was originally sat up there by the rim of the brown refuse bin I collect rainwater in along with the other scraps, and as the snow has melted the bits became more visible along with the rabbit tracks up to that spot. Today I also made a move to reclaim my deck, grill and glider from the ice and snow. If I would have cleaned it off earlier in the day I would have been able to sit out here and read. Drats! Not a bad job, but I didn't quite finish as my shoulder had had enough chopping through the thick top crust, the snow underneath was for the most part powder. The gas grill and table will be tackled once it's a bit warmer, but I'll try to dig out my grill piece* and get to the lighter fluid. The marshmallow table top is showing signs of melt as well, but you can clearly see the thick ice base.My poor bird water dish that's been kept on the corner shelf for years sadly didn't survive this time.

To celebrate the warm temps I had my first BBQ of 2010. Just tossed on some burgers and chicken patties, but it smelled divine and felt good to finally grill again. Mmmm Burgers!My grilling piece was frozen to the other grill's side table. I cleared the snow off of it *see above* and chopped away at it with a shovel and the ice was just too thick to free it. So I just used foil instead. While waiting for the coals to become ready for the meat I gave the Vinca Vine a haircut. It really seems to like this window.The aftermath of snow removal. This will probably take ages to melt off - it always does as this corner really doesn't get much sun til later in the year. Usually around April, sometimes May it is still there. We'll see this year what happens. I'd love it if it just stayed warm and never snowed again and we had a nice early spring to make up for the past few years of long winters.Side view. Yes there really are steps under there. When the kids were small they'd slide down them.All I have left to shovel next time. I just couldn't throw the snow over the rail anymore.After doing this bit behind the glider I just had no more strength in my shoulder to do any more.