Steps forward, steps back...

I really really very much dislike raccoons! This was only part of the mess they left at our rental cottage, the rest was all over the yard. They have been served notice. Further criminal acts will result in deportation.
Spring is very very slowly unfolding with its many chores like

making slip covers for the ratty deck chairs. Painting new signs, and re painting old ones to delete the B&B info. We've had some nice sunny days, altho way colder than I'd like. Warm enough to get out my little red sports car....
The conversation went like this: She, (lusting after the garden stuff in the Veseys Seed Catalog) "Ooooh, look , a non tippy big wheeled , 2 wheel barrow. I couln't tip this, and it would be easier on my back, and I could mix cement in it and yada yada ya..."










He, (sensing an opportunity in the inevitable) "If I got you that now for mother's day would I be off the hook then?"
I love my new wheelbarrow, bless his heart. What a treat after the last two battered single wheelers rescued from the side of the road. I call it Little Red as the 1978 troy tiller is Big Red.

More projects are started, to finish after the ground thaws out. Here's a big flower bed going in the front lawn. I need more space for edible flowers like nasturtiums and johnny jump ups to put into my restaurant salad mixes. They add a lovely splash of color against the greens.
And here's all the fencing to go around the garden where the high tunnel greenhouse will be built. I wish that last aggravating patch of snow would go!

And here's Mother Nature's April Fool's joke today, heavy snowfall warning! (sigh...)



Gotcha!

Finally after trying for over a week to catch the mama of this family of five, here she is. What an intelligent and wily critter!
Every morning I would find the bait gone and the trap sprung, and upended as her signature. I tried tying the peanut butter sandwich in place with multiple wraps of baler twine, only to be foiled repeatedly. She got every last crumb without ever stepping on the incline plate that would drop the door. Finally she was caught with a McGyver contraption consisting of a plastic container of peanut butter tied to a string that went up through a pulley and connected to the door dropping device. I dont feel all that smart since I was outwitted by a rodent for 10 days.

Bye -bye bandits

What a cute little face! But not so cute when they are ransacking my corn patch. This is captive number three from a family of four (that I know of) Three raccoons in five nights, they will go anywhere for peanut butter sandwiches. From here they go for a trip to an uninhabited wooded area with a stream, so I hope they are re-uniting and happy in their new surroundings. One more adult to catch, the push is on, with the corn a week or two from mature. Really hoping another family doesnt move in til the season is over.