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IT'S FRIDAY, MY FAVORITE DAY!!

Well, Spring has sprung and I don't know about you - but it still feels like winter so me. Burrrrr!! I have tried to do some spring cleaning out in the yard between rain showers but it has been too cold to even think about planting anything.

We had a busy week running back and forth into town. I had a dental appointment to get my teeth cleaned on Monday so I made a trip in by myself. Dave had been running back and forth all during the previous week and he didn't feel like going with me. By the time I got done and made a stop at Costco to pick up a few items, I was back home by early afternoon. On Tuesday afternoon, I attended a Master Gardeners class in Tillamook on diseased plant identification. I have one more class next week on pesticides and then I will be done with my required classes. I always like to brush up on some of the classes because it helps when I am working in the extension office and people come in with their plant problems. On Wednesday Dave and I drove into Portland to the VA hospital for his hearing aid adjustments, followed by a visit with the tax man. The tax man had good news for us as we don't owe any additional taxes. Yahoo!! After all of that, we took a breather and stayed home the rest of the week.

Dave and I have been busy clocking in some walking time with Stanley. This too has been tricky between showers. We get all ready to go with Stanley on the leash and then it starts to rain and we have to wait for another sun break. Stanley is a good sport though and does whatever we need to do and is happy as long as he gets his work out. Each walk is more than a mile, and yesterday, we pushed it up to 1.75 miles. We've added a few extra blocks through town to the trip, so now we're doing some hill work too!

Stanley spotted his first raccoon the other day. He was sleeping by the patio door when a raccoon sauntered by on the other side of the glass. He was headed for the feeders and didn't see the dog. I don't know who was startled more, Stanley or the raccoon as they both took off in separate directions! As soon as he recovered, Stanley let the raccoon know who was boss though.

Speaking of raccoons, I always bring my bird feeders into the house at night as the raccoons like to trash them trying to get the food or take off with them. Lately, I have been leaving the squirrel feeder out which is a little complicated to get into unless you're a squirrel. Anyway, each morning I have noticed that the feeder is completely empty and as I suspected, the raccoons have figured out how to get the feed out of it. I have to unscrew the jar attached to the fenced-in feeder so I don't know how they are getting the food. I don't think they can unscrew the jar but maybe I am not giving them enough credit to figure it out. Anyway, that feeder is coming back into the house each night from now on.

I am planning on going to a workshop on Saturday so that I can learn to make a birdhouse. Master Gardeners is putting it on and it is something that I have always wanted to do and it sounds like a lot of fun. One of the guys will have the boards all cut; we just have to sand them and put the wood pieces together and paint. Sounds easy, doesn't it? We'll see.

Next week is spring break for everyone so I hope to see a few granddaughters come my way.