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How do we exist without more shop shelving? It’s one of my favorite things in this world!

We use a product called ‘Tempo’ on the BEBs and those FAKE Ladybugs. It works well. They congregate on the south side of the house, so we don’t hurt any pollinators.

Beau is on a tear these days to chainsaw down any and all Box Elder trees he sees within a few MILES of the house, LOL! They really have become a problem over the years.

With this warm up I’ve seen three moths coming to the porch light and I squished a wasp, yesterday.

Rainy tonight, but clear again in the morning. We’re back into the high 30’s again. With the warm up, besides the greenhouse re-hab and the 16 garden beds ready to rock, we also got the kennel pens power washed (which we have NEVER been able to do in February - we fit the dogs with ice skates, LOL!) and we continued to trim and haul away all of the over-grown grape vines that needed some serious pruning. They’ll grow right back - they’re weeds.

Of COURSE this weather wasn’t going to last. I buttoned up the greenhouse again late today. Nobody gets THAT lucky. ;)

I squished a wasp in the shop today & had a bunch of flies on the bathroom window. It doesn’t take much for the bugs to reappear!

We’ll be high 50’s low 60’s until Sunday which is predicted to be around 38 with rain/snow in the forecast. We’ll be 30’s until later in the next week when temps start climbing again back towards 50’s. Yo yo weather but better than days/weeks of relentless Arctic cold.

My boxwoods have reappeared out of the snow/ice covering them & they look good. Two of my 4 Lenten Roses are partially visible - they are in a shady spot & melting is slow. Snow is supposed to be insulating so the bushes/plants were probably protected from the frigid temps. My herb garden really took a hit so I’ll have to replant some of it.

Hope you keep getting good weather!

China has several thousand people employed on Weather Modification projects that might be messing our weather up and sending all the bad stuff to California and New England (Unintentionally of course!) Not sure if that is good or not, but its February 17 and here is is 62F and windy, no rain, no snow.

Goodness! (Just for fun here!) Give Beau some buckets and maple taps!!

Box elder trees can be tapped for maple syrup and they grow all over the midwest, Missouri, and Southern Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana! (Trap the bugs and feed them to your chickens!!) :O (I think you know this, but others may not!!)

https://heatherearles.com/making-syrup-from-boxelder/

SNIP.........Legge starts tapping his boxelder trees about the second week in March as freezing temperatures are needed at night and warm temperatures are needed during the day to help the flowing or pumping process of the sap. Then once the buds start to come out, it’s time to leave the tree be.

When drilling into a boxelder tree, use a 5/16 bit and drill 1 1/2 inches deep and about 2 1/2 to 3 feet from the base’s bottom. If you drill into the same tree the previous year, move your tap over 6 inches and continue the same method each year following. Tap into the tree until it bounces. This means you have a good seal. The tap stays in day and night.

Once your tap is in, you need some kind of line where your syrup can go. If you plan on tapping over 50 trees, you may want to set up a system where the taps are connected and flow into one large tank or container. However, if you are tapping less than 50, Legge’s method works ...(see link for entire article!)

If you grow some sorghum in the summer you can use the Maple Syrup cooking pan to reduce your Sorghum Squeezings too!

Ash Wednesday already .... the past year flew by so fast I can hardly believe we are ‘here’ again so fast. Easter is early this year - April 5. I noticed the daffodils are up about 2” so we should have some Easter flowers.

I’m up early, waiting for dawn at 6:55. I try to see both sunrise & sunset because it’s supposed to help with your Circadian rhythm. I’m ‘good’ on sunrise, usually wake up just before. Sunset is still too early for bedtime, but I do have a hard time staying awake in the evening. It takes a while past sunrise for the sun to make it over the mountains & we often have gorgeous clouds in shades of pinks & purples before the sun finally appears.

Big day today - car is in the shop so will it pass inspection without needing something (like brake work). Brakes seem to be fine, not hearing any noises, but you never know. Tires should be ok still.

Next is getting those shelves out of the basement. Also today: our basement entry is from the garage & mom has all the Christmas decorations packed up & taking up most of the garage - I need to get those in the basement & the tree as well (still in the foyer). The steps down into the basement are steep and narrow - we need a handrail, just haven’t gone to the trouble to have one installed. There is a gate at the top of the steps & it will interfere with a handrail so figuring out a workable solution has been the impediment to getting the rail.

After sleeping on the new ‘arrangement’ of the one wall in the shop (moving Army table, etc.), I’m excited because I can see progress! My list of things ‘to do’ is getting longer however ... definitely need a load of mulch because with all of the frost heave around my raised beds, it’s a muddy mess. I’d like to get straw bales stored in the barn for the garden this year, but it will likely be April before I can even think of planting anything. I did buy some cheapie plant/row markers at the Dollar Store yesterday so this year, I don’t have to use rocks! :-)

I have a small space heater in the shop bathroom to keep the pipes from freezing. The previous owner left the heater. I don’t like it - it has a ‘thermostat’ knob, but I really don’t know when it cuts on/off - no readings on the knob.

Anyway, the shop & barn are on a separate meter & when I got the electric bill, it was twice what it usually is. Of course, we had that Arctic freeze, but still ..... So I was looking for a small heater with a thermostat that had numbers so I could set when the heat comes on. What I found instead was a controller that you plug into the wall set with the temperature range you want & the heater plugs into the controller. It’s cheaper than a new heater & I can set the temp low (like 45) which will keep the pipes from freezing but the electric bill should be less. These type of controllers are good for greenhouses if you want to keep it at a certain temperature above freezing.