at home, springtime

Spring is the best.   We survived another cold, dark winter, and so did our garden.

The first project of the spring was Clara's idea:  build a mini-swing inside our tree fort.  We used some rope that had been in the garage for some time, and a short piece of wood.  Nothing fancy, but it brought many smiles.

 Jill is a gardening fiend.  We've been eating lettuce from the garden just about daily. 

 ... while I and the kids eagerly await the arrival of raspberries and blackberries.  The giant cherry tree is even holding some cherries, despite the bounty of last years crop.  Perhaps the awful smelling fish emulsion that I poured around the base helped?

Latest project around the house:  2 rain barrels.  During intense rain storms, water overtops the front gutter.  So I added this new downspout near the front door for one of the new barrels.  We'll have to wait a few more days before we see the barrels in action.  [I had a photo of the setup, but it's gone missing.  Google warned me not to use Microsoft Edge, but I did anyway.  That's because Chrome completely stopped working on this computer.  I tied re-installing twice without success.  I'll also note here that my software also doesn't always work.]

In sports news, church league softball is underway.  The senior members of the TCBC men's team, Matt A. and I, have returned for our 8th year.  Back in year 1, we had zero kids between us (though Clara was on the way).  Now we have 5.  But we're still out manning the left side of the outfield together. 

The squad has started the season off with 2 losses.  Can we pull ourselves together and make a run?  Are we getting too old?  Too complacent?  Did we lose too many players to graduation and free agency?  Or, perhaps we're saving ourselves for the post-season?  Stay tuned...

For the 3rd (4th?) year in a row, I raced the local Joker's Jaunt gravel race.  Neil crushed us all.  I was riding with Larry until I ran out of energy with about 4 miles to go.  I was riding my Boulder Bicycle, which continues to be a fantastic bicycle (and, no, Mike Kone does not sponsor me).  This year, I used Vittoria Hyper-something tires in size 700C by 35mm at about 40 psi.  They're okay.