March into April already

Far too long since I wrote actual words and not just photo captions, so here goes. That and I'm quite sick of posting pictures that contain "snow" and "ice" and "migrating geese." I want daffodils and I want them now. Is this witchy attitude from age or just a particularly tough New York winter? I hope it's the latter. March never felt so long. February is such a tease, 28 days and out. March's 31 days feel like...35 at least! But hope is on the horizon, or at least in my spring bulb garden.

The post-Easter, $1/pot sale hyacinths I planted in May last year are coming up a bit prematurely. Worry not, they seem a hearty bunch, if a bit hasty. I can't remember what color they are, but the surprises in a spring garden are half the fun.

I've got 40 lbs. of milorganite that says the deer are feasting elsewhere this spring. Only minor invasions this winter by these itinerant bambi-wannabees. Perhaps they thought my rhododendron needed a trim near the bottom. They could've been right. The blackberry bramble near the street could use a cutting back, too, but they didn't seem as attracted to that one.

A right neighborly bunch, those deer. And friendly, too! I recall one early fall morning last year when a deer was chomping at the last blooms of my roses. Helped himself to all of them, save this one. He stood there, beneath my window, for a long while, listening while I schooled him in the finer dining choices in my neighbor's yard. He nodded attentively, all the while grazing in between the thorns (deer tooth floss, my friend quipped), as I gave him my recommendations. It wasn't until I tried to move closer that he ran off, clearly heeding my sage advice, or perhaps he was full. Tell the neighbors I sent you! Try the tulips! She's the only brave soul who still plants them! Ta, ta!

We'll see what spring brings. That sounds skeptical, doesn't it? Maybe I am getting a bad attitude. The calendar says spring starts on Sunday. The weather forecast for Saturday is snow. Seems like Mother Nature needs a bit of attitude adjustment herself.

Right now, I have a split whole chicken slow-cooking on the grill outside. It was marinated in soy sauce, italian herbs and lemon juice. If that doesn't chase away the winter blues, I don't know what will. Ok, maybe mango-mojitos delivered by a cabana hunk on St. John's would. But then, who'll entertain the deer?