Greetings and salutations, everyone; yes, once again it is I, your popular host, Mani the purebred border collie, here to bring you up to date on the news from our garden and its environs. You may remember me from such posts as “Another Cold Front”, among so many, many others.
Here I am in a characteristic pose. 
Rather pensive, don’t you think?
There hasn’t been much to do around here lately, because it’s just been snowing, and snowing, and snowing. It’s snowing right now. The guy I live with wonders out loud if it’s ever going to stop. Next month is the snowiest month of the year here, and April has been a pretty cold and snowy month, this century, so he says, with these constant below-normal temperatures, we’ll have a short window in maybe July when it isn’t snowing.
The guy I live with said it did no good to reminisce about “the old days”, when we had snow and then very warm temperatures to melt the snow, because we’ve only had about four or five days of warmth since, well, whenever. Since a long time. This is the way it is, now.
Anyway, this happened last week.
And now we have less garden:
It was pretty fun to bark at everyone while they were working. The guy I live with is pretending to be nonchalant about this, but I know he’s much more chalant than he lets on. Some of the plants that had to be dug up might live. You never know.
So, that’s pretty much it, except for what went on a few days ago. The guy I live with went over to watch his neighbor work on cars, and he was actually able to help, with some of the stuff.
A socket got dropped down into the engine, the way it always happens, according to the guy I live with, and when they looked down into the engine, there was a rabbit sleeping there. They tried all sorts of ways to get the rabbit to leave, but it wouldn’t leave.
The guy I live with even asked the guy who came to inspect the new asphalt patch in front of his house if he knew how to remove “an engine rabbit”. He didn’t.
Eventually when the car was put up on blocks, the rabbit decided to leave its warm and cozy spot, and raced away, so there was a happy end to this story.
And despite the seeming hopelessness of the weather situation, the guy I live with placed an order with Odyssey Bulbs. If nothing else, he said, the bulbs could go into the frames, where, even now, there are snowdrops and crocuses in flower.
And I do get to hunt for voles, in the snow. 
Until next time, then.
the miserable gardener 
One of my college roommates drove a Volkswagen. It was equipped with a Rabbit Engine.
Lol.
Mani, I too would be tres chalant if that was in my garden.
My sister’s farm truck has housed a few critters over the years. Glad no fur flew. :—/
Well at least it’s done. The guy I live with fretted about it for years.
I actually know about engine rabbits because I saw one once. Now every time we walk by a car I have to look underneath the car, just in case.
Mew mew mew wee wundered what THE fishstickss an ‘engine rabbit’ was Mani!?!? Kewl story. An wee love a happy endin fore THE rabbit!
An you are gettin so much snow…LadyMew sayss this iss how it used to bee here when shee was a youngstur……
That loader shure did a numburr on tHE yard butt it can bee ree-dun inn Spring…..whenefurr Spring comess ’round to youss’ there… 😉
Have fun huntin voless mee frend….
**purrsss** BellaDharma an LadyMew too!
Thanks; I think that since a lot of people park cars in their driveways or on the street (ours is in the garage) they probably have engine rabbits from time to time, too. There are a lot of rabbits here.
I’m not sure what’s going to be done in the front yard. The big cactus that are in pots are going to go back, but some things are just gone and can’t be replaced. The guy I live with said that was the way of things.
Wee have had ‘engine catss’ up here Mani!! So peepell have to bang on engine hood to startle catss out of enginess!
Yore ‘guy’ is furry wise. Sumtimess thingss can not go back to THE same an maybee sumthin mew (new) will bee put inn yore garden. Aftur all, yore ‘guy’ iss furry clevurr with gardenin stuff!
It may be hard to find new things to plant, but we’ll see.
It’s really cold and windy here today so I wonder if there are engine bunnies all over the neighborhood. Of course they have cozy burrows, too.
Mee thinkss there cuud bee quite a few ‘engine’ bunniess there….
Guess what?? Iss startin to snow here an wee apposta have snow fore next 3 dayss…Winter not dun with any of us yet Mani!!!
The guy I live with says the next few days are predicted to be nice. But you never can tellâ¦
Iss Furiday an iss still snowin like crazey here Mani!!! EEKKK!! 3 feet of snow….LadyMew furinallee managed to shovel a path aftur 5 triess. It iss still furry much Winter here!
**purrss** BellaDharma
Oh, that sounds icky. It’s still winter here, but today is a nice day. About 55 here, right now, and sunny.
Though we’re supposed to get more snow next week.
Mew mew mew Monday it was 45 an wee thott wee were havin a heet wave Mani!! Weerd winter fore all of us rite!!!!
It really is. Almost like Spring here, today. That will change.
Guud luck when THE snow arrivess Mani an yore ‘guy’. Mee hopess that will bee last storm fore youss’ there!!
Thanks. Though it snows here a lot on March, April, and even (this century) in May. Then we get scary thunderstorms, pretty much every day, for four monthsâ¦..
Guud Greef Mani with all THE snow an then all THE rain when do you ackshullee have Summer there????
We do have summer, actually. Not much rain then, but a lot of storms. The guy I live with says things were different back in âthe old daysâ. Of course.
Mew mew mew mee heerss ’bout THE ‘old dayss’ from LadyMew all THE time….it iss innterestin to heer her storiess. Our Summer here startss inn July an lastss til Seppytemburr. Sumtimess it getss so hue-mid it feelss like THE Deep South! Furry oppysite to what our Winteress are like! 😉
At least it never gets humid here. The guy I live with has told me stories about humidity. Right now, at 5:54 p.m., itâs 60 degrees F and 8 percent humidity. I like this weather pretty well, but the guy I live with hurt his leg on one of my walks (he went to the doctor yesterday and then again today) and so has to put ice on it for a week. He explained to me about no walksâ¦I guess it will be okay.
Oh no’ss Mani!! Mee iss sendin POTP to yore ‘guy’ to feel bettur soon an his leg to bee OKay!! At leest you have a nice yard to wander inn while hee reecovurrss!
An only 8 fore humiditee?? WOW! Wee get humiditee an it will feel like 100 deegreess an wee all sweaty an feel like not doin anythin…LadyMew does NOT ‘do’ Summer well mee can tell you….
He says thanks. At least we can lie on the bed at night, with him and his ice bag, and watch Q.I. I learn a lot from watching that show.
Mee-you what iss THE Show “Q I” Mani??
Wee watched “Morse” from U Kay last nite; wee watch efurry Fursday nite. THE man who was Innspecktur Morse died inn 2002 long beefore mee was born. LadyMew has watched THE entire seerees an ree-watchess eppysodess an mee REELLY likess THE show!
LadyMew blew out her back again; bad this time. Shee can not walk without her cane. Mee has to keep an eye on her!
**purrss** BellaDharma
The guy I live with has watched Morse a bunch of times.
Q.I. is Quite Interesting. A panel show from the U.K. Very informative. The guy I live with says it’s the funniest show he’s ever seen. Lots of seasons.
Mee-yow that “Quite Innterestin” soundss well, quite inn-terestin Mani!! Mee will see iff wee can find it here….mee reelly likess Inn-spectur Morse…hee iss gruff an stuff butt hee has a deep soul…
Thanx fre understandin ’bout LadyMew’ss back. It has settelled down sumwhat today. Mee not let LadyMew do anythin xcept dishess!
You’re welcome; hurt backs are really unpleasant.
Q.I. is either on Acorn or BritBox. Forget which. Some of the earlier seasons are on Tubi, one of those free “apps” you get with a “smart TV”.
The guy I live with gets frustrated because there’s so little worth watching on TV with him being laid up. But Q.I. is great.
Wee know Brit Box with LadyMew’ss faverite show “VERA”!!! Thanx fore THE inn-fo Mani!
The latest seasons of Q.I. are on BritBox. The show can sometimes be naughty. But always funny.
Oh, p.s. Sorry about the back. The guy I live with knows what that’s like.
I think you were quite brave to bark at the big digger. We too have carpets of snow drops and the pale tiny lavender crocus, as well as aconites. And lots of other bulbs coming up, but I suspect no snow at all this year. That means it will be a bad year for mosquitos!
ceci
Oh, I don’t like mosquitoes.
There are a couple of snowdrops in flower out in the garden, but nothing else. There are things flowering in the frames, but the guy I live with has to take off the sheets of plastic in order to see flowers, so mostly the plastic just stays on the frames.
I hear that next month is supposed to be cold, too, so maybe the snow will be here for a very long time.
Brrrr it sounds cold there Mani. It has been crazy warm here lately. 70ish. I have had to mow the lawn and do some pruning. Things are starting to grow like crazy. No snow or rain for that matter in sight. We are hoping for some rain soon. I hope the yard recovers from the operation. I hate when things get messed up. Hope you have a great week!
Thanks; same to you. It’s supposed to snow again here on Tuesday. The guy I live with says this has been completely insane. I mean it snows a lot here, from autumn until spring, but the snow usually melts within a few days, instead of just hanging around like an unwanted house guest.
I’m not sure what’s going to happen in the front yard. The guy I live with decided we shouldn’t show a picture of the old manzanita that was ripped up; pretty depressing.
And now, after so many years, the soil has been turned over so now it’s the really gross subsoil that was trucked in to the development when the native soil, decomposed sandstone, was removed when the house was built. Really awful stuff. You can see it in the picture.
It’s distressing when plants get trashed. Here in the UK we are having a lot of rain and high winds. My neighbours have men with large feet currently repairing their fence. In the battle between workmen with large feet and delicate plants, the plants invariably come off worse
There are no small plants in the front garden; really. Just shrubs and grasses. So that part was okay, except for the fact that some of the shrubs and little trees, which are in pots in the garage, may not survive. The guy I live with said it would take a while, like a couple of years, to see if they made it through all of this.
Sampson, the doberman, here – the people I live with had some extreme terracing done after they moved in and have always been happy that the excavator “Dr. Dirt” managed to save an azalea that blooms like crazy every year. I’m sorry to hear you’re so cold and snowy – It’s been rainy, rainy, rainy here. It froze twice, but not enough to even empty the fountain (my water bowl). I’m going to get to poop on flowers all spring if this weather keeps up. That is my favorite thing to do, in case you didn’t know. Ferns and blackberry bushes are also really good targets.
Thanks; today is another cold, gray, windy, snowy day. It’s about 25F; the average for this date is about 50F. The guy I live with has complained about the lack of wind here, but he meant warm wind, like chinooks, say, not freezing cold wind.
I have a Private Lawn for doing my business. It used to be Slipper’s, a purebred border collie who lived here before me, and now it’s mine. It’s the buffalo grass lawn out in the “way back”. This winter it’s nothing but snow and ice.
Interesting behavioral study here for purebred border collies and the folks they live with: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-59837-z
Lol; we purebred border collies do like staring, and snapping at flies. Flies are pretty good.
I’m not too afraid of strangers once they come in the house, but I let them know who’s who when they come up the front walk, for sure.