We are patiently waiting for spring ( and hopefully summer) to arrive someday. We had a snowy, cold winter that just won't leave. In March we had a warm spell, temps in the forties. I started to think we would have an early spring. A friend of mine told me not to be fooled, it was just teasing us. Man was he right! May 31st we had snow flurries! This morning it is a beautiful day, I plan to go fishing, but when I looked in my boat the bit of water in it was now ice.

Anyway, enough about the weather. If we didn't like it we wouldn't live here. I thought about titling this entry "squirrels are smart too". The latest project is putting a roof on and screening in the deck. The project is nearly done now, just a bit of screening to be done. I did need some help with the roof, I am just not as stable as I used to be and didn't feel comfortable trying it alone. Good neighbors took care of the problem. But on to the squirrels. As part of the project I decided to "squirrel proof" a bird feeder we hang from the deck rail. Thus I joined the legion of people that think they are smarter than squirrels. It has been like a chess match. As soon as I put another barrier to the feeder in the way, a few minutes later the little devils come back and find a new way to the feeder. It is now a standoff. I have made it difficult enough for them that they don't come nearly as often, and when they do they are not always successful. It was my pleasure to watch yesterday as they missed two jumps and fell (unharmed) about 12 feet to the ground. They ran up the nearest pine tree and chattered fiercely at me.

The up side of all of this has been a tremendous increase in bird activity. We are seeing types we rarely see around here, and having a lot of fun watching all of this. Hopefully I have it hung high enough to be out of the bears reach. Time will tell.

Anyway, we are now selling bread and assorted goodies at the local farmer's market again. Lesley's name is spreading in the local area, and new opportunities to sell and display her wares come often now. We have tinkered with the bread lineup this year, dropping the slow selling whole wheat and adding a Cinnamon raisin breakfast bread and fresh fruit pies, all fast sellers so far. I have taste tested all of course. Lesley has not had much luck with the garden this year, frost keeps killing her plants. Looks like a slim produce harvest this year.

A note on stroke recovery, I now wear the new ultra lite AFO I got last summer when I carry my canoe, or walk in the woods. It really helps keep the foot from tripping (and me falling).

Lesley's mum is coming from New Zealand in a month or so, her help baking will be appreciated. She is amazing, 87 this year and still going strong. A real blessing to all of us.

Well, my coffee cup is empty, got to go fill it.