RI Birdnerd

I’m finally getting some yard work done now that the weather has been a bit better; the forsythia, roses, and blueberries got cleaned out around and then received that new mulch I had bought. I took all the leaves and other detritus from the cleaning and carted it out to my wooded side yard, being careful not to disturb the little fairy ring there. Somewhere along the way I lost a nice folding knife I had used for opening the mulch bags; it had been clipped to my overalls and may have fallen out during the emptying of the cart.

I’ve been moving out cartloads of pruned and downed branches from the backyard as well: the new gate is a boon! I purchased a nice set of Fiskars hedge shears to help with this: compound action with extendable handles. I was also considering getting a small Ryobi electric chainsaw (18V One+) but the price was prohibitive. In looking at pruning videos I realized that I already had a useful tool: a reciprocating saw (also a Ryobi One +) aka ‘Sawzall.’ I ordered the recommended blades for this and used it to prune and to cut branches and logs to fit the lawn tractor cart. More detritus for the woods!

The lawn tractor has been doing okay, all things considered. The battery is weak, but has kept its power up after a long charge. The tires are getting on, with sidewall cracking allowing slow leakage. The mice still occasionally try to nest under the blower housing, but with frequent running, and warmer weather, the little pests are giving up. I check under the hood every use, and no chipmunk heads have reappeared, but…

Oh! A little side story. I was checking for mice Sunday, and decided to look under the seat where the battery compartment is. The lost knife (first paragraph) was there. I would have sworn I lost it out by the fairy ring… Yes, so my furry nature thinks that perhaps it was a token for avoiding the ring, and also having removed some fallen branches from it. Or maybe it unclipped from the side pocket of my overalls and went between the fender and seat of the tractor. I prefer the first thought ;o)

In any event, I reciprocated in part by leaving some shinies in the ring: some colorful antique glass marbles I had by the garden shed. After that I went for a walk through the property to see if the vultures were hanging out in our little pine grove. I came across a small herd of deer resting, and changed the direction of my walk. Stooping to pick up what appeared to be pieces of faded Easter basket cellophane from the leaves I came across the bottom of a plastic Easter egg, maybe from a hunt we did long, long ago. An Easter gift, in its own right!

Back to yard work. The deer have breached the garden fence! Well, one or more jumped into the area. The asparagus bed was full of hoofy prints, some amongst the emerging spears! So now I need to add another strand of electric fence wire above the fence, as well as repairing and critter-proofing the lower ones. That may be a separate entry as this one has gotten way past its tl;dr stage!

Easter bunnies-


Apparently The Creator did not know what “Peter Cottontail, Rankin-Bass style” was. I had just finished the cartoon and tried a few unsuccessful prompts :D


The White House Easter Bunny this year- fairly cute! Sean Spicer’s wasn’t bad, but this one looks more like the cartoon Peter Rabbit.


Hope everybunny had a wonderful Easter!