I saw one female Monarch. Didn't get stung, never get stung by those carpenter bees. I've been out washing off the 2 billion aphids on my swamp milkweed. No one in my yard takes me seriously--I'm talking about the bees, butterflies, birds. They think I'm there to serve them--I am. Glad you had a good day. I saw a Least Skipper, loads of Pecks and Sachems, Tigers, Pipevines, and Spicebush Swallowtails, a Red Banded Hairsteak, Silvery Checkerspot, Pearl Crescents, Eastern Tailed Blues, some type of Duskywing, probably a Wild Indigo (I have the plant).

It does sound really good. But would I have to wear a uniform?

Hi Jack, It is definitely snowing and has been all day. Those seeds that I started two days ago are nearly all sprouting already. If I didn't know better I would say that some of those have germinate rates at 120% - HA! That caught me by surprise. I did not expect such a rapid emergence. I am not really so far behind though. In years past it was quite common for the ground to still be at least partially frozen by mid April. Can't work outside yet and this is actually my fourth flat for the garden. The earlier one for the hardy stuff has some lettuce with three leaves already with broccoli and napa not far behind. I need to do one more flat: the tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, and basil. I expect to have beds ready by next weekend for outside seeds and the hardy transplants as soon as they are ready. I do not think tender transplants by mid May is too late, and the sweet potatoes by the first of June. I kinda went overboard with some 4 different types of lettuce, 4 or 5 of various colors of sprouting broccoli and three colors of cauliflower. The broccolini types intrigue me and the sprouting cauliflower also does. And the variation in colors ... I intend to treat my vegetable garden visually like a flower border with different colors, textures and heights. The biggest surprise is the size of the scallions that have wintered over for me again this year. They stand nearly knee high already and are as thick as small leeks. Originally they were scallions right off the supermarket shelf with roots attached. I just stuck em in the ground and away they went. Pardon the babble. We have stay at home orders here in Minnesota and my employer has ordered us to work from home; so I am for all practical purposes a shut-in and it is a drag!

I also noticed Cynthia McFadden's home during a broadcast of CBS Sunday Morning. I love the rug in the room shown. One of my co-workers put a virtual background of the FS New York penthouse on her Zoom, and we all thought it was her living room until she told us otherwise. I was having real house envy! A couple more I like are William Brangham's of PBS NewsHour and the interesting things on Mo Rocca's wall. I noticed on the most recent SNL that some of the cast members have some really cool art on their walls.