It’s unseasonably warm here in Michigan. At this time in March, we usually still have some snow on the ground, but it was so warm out yesterday, I was outside in a t-shirt and capris. It’s been REALLY muggy and humid out for this time of year. It makes it hard to breathe when it’s this damp out, like the air is too thick. The animals seem to be enjoying the weather. My goldfish survived the winter in their little pond. YAY!!! A first! The frogs have been extra LOUD this year, trilling away, night and day. It’s nice, but strange. I’m not used to the spring weather matching up to the calendar dates. We often get a dusting of snow all the way into April. 😉
I’ve been trying to get a little yard work done while the weather had been cooperating. I haven’t been feeling well, fighting a cold/flu bug or something, but I need to reclaim my yard before everything wakes up and turns back into a jungle. Last year, I got a late start and it got too hot and humid outside to work on it. Nature won the battle over the yard. All of my beds became completely overgrown. My apple trees grew wild. The strawberries have been invasive. They’re taking over EVERYTHING. I’ve got heirloom garlic popping up everywhere the strawberries aren’t. I could go on and on, but trust me, it’s a MESS!!!
Anyways, I pruned back my apple trees on Wednesday, and started working on my main strawberry bed yesterday. It’s a little late to prune the trees, but they’re young. I’m not concerned about losing blossoms or fruit production. Up until now, I’ve been more concerned with root growth. They’re dwarf trees, but they’ll grow to be monsters if I don’t keep them trimmed back.
Sooo…yesterday morning/early afternoon, I’m digging away in the yard. It’s a beautiful day. The birds are singing. Blah, blah, blah. I got out my camera and took pictures. By five o’clock, we’re watching for tornadoes and listening for reports of where they had touched down. Yes. Tornadoes. We had tornadoes tear through Michigan last night, about 20 miles west of us. Over 100 homes were damaged. So scary! The sky got dark and green. Thankfully, all we got at yonder Hoffman Haus was rain. We were fortunate. So far, I haven’t heard any reports of deaths in this area. Another Blessing. You just never know what’s going to happen. Nothing is “safe” or “sure.” Everyday is filled with unknowns.
I am a certified pessimist. I ALWAYS expect the worst. Yesterday could have been a LOT worse.
Take care and have a great day! Give someone a hug!!!!!!!!!! 😉
Juli
JULI HOFFMAN 
I’m glad you’re ok! We had some tornadoes on March 2, and they did some damage, but nothing like the devastation we had last April. Everyone around here is scared now every time there’s a tornado watch.
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Yeah, last year was really bad for tornadoes. All this crazy weather seems to stir them up.
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Well I’d give you a hug – but my arms don’t stretch across the border… Yeah same weather here – going up right away and put n shorts. Usually get a snow storm on st paddy day – not this year I guess. We had the tornando warns too but not even rain on this side of town. My hair dresser got the hail
I love Steve….
I can’t show you our equivilant as can’t post pics here
at this rate we’ll do our planting early too
or maybe get snow in July….
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Back at ya, Sue! 🙂 I’m a little worried that everything will wake up, then get smacked by a good frost.
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I’m glad you’re okay! That’s so scary about the tornado. I fear those things.
It was fun to see those pictures, esp. the one of Steve. You have a lot more motivation than I do. I rake out the flower bed and pay my kids to weed it during the summer.
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My son tries to help out, but he doesn’t know the difference between “plants” and “weeds.” Then again, neither does the hubby! LOL
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Holy crap! Glad you’re all okay. Madness! Also, I am ridiculously jealous of your apple trees and strawberries. 😀
And the new theme looked fine to me.
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Thanks Claire! The strawberries just “do their own thing.” I don’t usually even water them, but we get a lot of rain.
I changed my theme…AGAIN. I think it’s cleaner looking. It’s the SAME theme I had a year ago! LOL Maybe that’s appropriate for a one year blog anniversary! LOL
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Love the photos! You have a lot more energy than i do – i am happy living surrounded by blacktop for a reason (no lawn maintenance) though we have yard and trees beyond that but it’s not our responsibility to deal with it 😉
I do miss fresh strawberries, though….
Glad the tornadoes missed you! those things scare the *&^%$ outta me. I spend a lot of spring/summer/fall/winter… never mind. I spend a lot of time cowering in my brother’s bedroom (it’s in the center of the building). have recently discovered that if I take the laptop with me I can watch the live feed from KY3 on it (so long as we have internet, LOL!) which is nice since there is no TV in there – I don;t think he even has a digital box, actually, so he doesn’t get any local channels…
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I don’t know if I have more energy…I’m used to working away like a little mule! Us mules are SOOO stubborn. 🙂
Strawberry plants are super easy to grow. You’d think they’d be delicate, but they’re not I think it’s easier to kill a dandelion than a strawberry runner. Once they’re established, you can’t kill them. I usually don’t even water them, but we get a LOT of rain. I don’t bother spraying them with anything. No pesticides. Sure, a few of the berries get eaten by slugs, but not that many. We started out with 4 plants, and they took over EVERYTHING. They choke out the grass, the weeds, they’re an invasive plant. I had no idea what I was getting myself into when I bought them!!! They’re actually a type of ground cover. The hardest part about strawberries is trying to stop them from spreading, but the berries are SOOOO much sweeter than the ones from the grocery store, that it’s worth it. Hubby HATES gardening. As far as he’s concerned, the strawberries can invade the entire lawn, then he’d have nothing to mow! LOL
I don’t like tornado weather! We have a lot of forests and trees in Michigan so the tornadoes don’t get quite as big as they do in your area, but still…
We follow the storms on the laptop, too! 🙂 We have a digital box, but our town is in a low lying area. We only get one channel, a kids channel out of Ann Arbor. We don’t have a big enough antenna to get any of the stations out of Detroit. We’re too cheep to get cable, etc. He! He!
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