April 2021

The unseasonably warm temperatures continued and many plants went into full bloom.

Here are some pictures from Ann's birthday. Tar was right there to help her open gifts.

Troy was cleaning some brush behind the red shed and found these grubs in some wood.

Troy went mushroom hunting in our usual area and he saw some flowers and this one little mushroom. He started to take it away from the snail that was eating it but he decided one little mushroom wasn't going to be enough for all of us to have much more than a taste so he put it back for the snail. There was a stem from the one large mushroom that is near the same tree every year but the top was gone.

Troy got a call to remove a swarm and this one was nice and close to the ground.

Ann and Elizabeth received their first COVID vaccine and Troy received his second vaccine.

We had a late April snow storm and it covered many of the flowering plants.

With the snow on the ground we had a cold night and there was freeze damage to many of the flowering plants. The paw paw blooms show the extent of the damage. We had a few tiny paw paws survive.

The cold snap did not slow down the asparagus. We had a nice harvest this spring.

Troy got a call about a second swarm. This one was in Washington, Missouri where it was hanging on a rose bush at the end of the sidewalk.

We had an adventure with a spider. Here is Troy's account: So last night as I get into bed, I flip over the covers and grab my wife's hand. Then I feel something crawling off the covers I just flipped over and onto my hand. I think it is probably a tick that came in on the pets, since it is now that time of year. It is moving quickly up my arm, so I ask my wife to get a light because I do not want a tick biting me during the night. Time seems to be passing slower on my wife's side of the bed as she gets her phone and fumbles to turn on the flashlight. This creature has crawled completely up the length of my arm with the speed no tick has ever mustered and is now crossing my chest, heading for my neck. Yet, I do not dare move and risk losing it in the sheets. Still no light and this creature is now climbing up my neck, over my face, right between my nostrils and over the tip of my nose. I can tell by the size of the steps on my face this is not a tick. Finally, the light comes on. I swat the pillow, sheets, and covers aside with one motion as I get up on my hands and knees. I am now up trying to shake this creature from the top of my head carefully onto the bed. It falls onto the bed and as I slide on my glasses, I can see it is a brown recluse. Now the spider races over the edge of the bed for the safety, and I quickly find a book to end this once and for all. It took two swats, but that spider is no more. After all that adrenaline, I somehow managed to fall right asleep and slept more soundly than I have in several weeks.

Troy went out for another mushroom hunt. He had a little more success, saw more lovely flowers, and we enjoyed the harvest. You may wonder about the spiders but it seemed appropriate since the night before