Puffy clouds, lizards and birds oh my!

 Blustery still with large drifting clouds. The horizon to the east was very dark this morning but I think it just went north and we didn't get anymore rain. Looks like it's going to be a rainy Easter weekend with mostly sun between now and then. Good enough for me, need to start some cucumber and squash. 

Wonderful spring skies and trees as always. That liquidambar is the one I take pictures of the most because of the position to the north east. Wide open sky and shows off the new leaves and flower clusters busting out.

Soil is drying out well but still very wet below. Dolores was on her way to the garden as I was going also so we had a nice chat about our plants. She's been busy getting her apartment settled still so I told her I was keeping an eye on things. She said she had cherry tomatoes from her plant that she doesn't know what to do, I told her I could use them. She asked the difference between green onions and chives, also said she remembered a green onion type that would multiply and I told her those were true 'bunching onions' you can get from seed. Pointed out the cilantro in the corner for her to use and then pulled up one of the plants that was starting to bolt and pulled the leaves off for her. Her plants are getting a little more sun now that the seasons are changing so that's good.

Meester Leezard aka 'Charlie' was hanging out as much as possible. I tried to not move around too much but he would zip in one direction away from me and then I would need to go that direction and he'd zip behind the logs in the other direction. Dolores mentioned to 'Mike' about moving the logs for the summer and I cringed a little knowing this guy and a few others were likely using it as a home.

I kept hearing a Phoebe chirp nearby and looked over to see this one on the wall, then it would flit up and around and come back again. Then I remembered, they're gnat (fly) catchers! There's a buffet of flies hanging around the compost buckets and it was taking advantage of it! I stirred up the buckets as much as possible, scattering the flies just for them. Who knew being a lazy gardener would have such a benefit for wildlife? Phoebes will also raid spider webs for the spiders and any prey that are caught in the webs.

I filled a small spray bottle with white vinegar in the hopes of cleaning the hose nozzle, didn't work so well but then I decided to spray some of the weeds that were coming up. Worked like a charm as the picture on the right shows. Will have to reload and spray a bit more. Someone said to use a little soap as well with the vinegar and at first that sounds odd but hear me out to the science.

Soap is a surfactant, it breaks the surface tension of the water so the water gets to the surface of the leaf easier. Remember the water droplet on the pea leaf? Water tension due to minute hairs or a waxy surface on the leaf. Vinegar and soap does a much better job killing weeds together than just vinegar alone. These weeds aren't part of a larger ecosystem, I'm not worried about taking away food or shelter. Just don't want them taking over by summer.

Mourning doves are calling in the trees outside, Bewick's Wrens and Pheobes as well, ah the sound of spring.