We've got perhaps another 45 minutes of daylight. It was a productive afternoon, and a really good day for spring cleaning in the garden, and just general errand running. We:

• got the honeysuckle hacked way, way back, and freed the summersweet
• did a lot of weeding
• cut a lot of dead stuff out, such as the remains of last year's obedience plant, hydrangeas, bee balm, catnip, and daylilies
  
• stopped by the butcher (yes, we actually have one) and picked up a lovely aged t-bone, a couple of cornish hens, and a couple of beautiful pork chops
• gathered a bunch of firewood for the patio fireplace
• stopped by the plant nursery to pick up a few pansies (a mix of dark velvety red ones, white ones, and pale blue ones), some oregano, some rosemary, and some strawberries
• planted the strawberries in my strawberry pot
• re-potted a Ginko biloba seedling that finally germinated after all winter indoors, or ginko-stinkos, as we call them (the female ones really stink when they bloom)
  
• tanked up for $2.55/gal. since I hate to let the car go below 1/4 of a tank
• did a Sunday-type "drive-through" Harding to see what houses are for sale--it's almost all farmland on back-country roads that often become dirt roads toward the end, but we want to move there, anyway

I can trim back the Vinca major in the garden tomorrow; it could use a haircut. As far as what's blooming now, it's limited to snowdrops and Siberean squill, but the forsythia looks like it's starting to turn yellow. The daylilies, catnip, sedum, Spanish bluebells, hydrangeas, and grape hyacinths are pushing their way up with a vengeance. My OGR bourbon rose really isn't doing well, but it survived another winter.

My wonderful elderly next door neighbor died a few months ago and her kids have the place on the market. I talked to another neighbor of mine today, who said that her dog-walker also happens to be the realtor who has the listing for the place. The reason for my talking to my neighbor was that I found some wind chimes on my patio today that I really think belong to our mutual neighbor.

They're really nice unglazed terra cotta with little pieces of polished turquoise for accents. While I'd be perfectly willing to keep them, they do not belong to me. I believe the contractor who recently painted our patio railings forgot which house owned the wind chimes, and hung them back up at my place.

My neighbor's dog-walker also happens to be the realtor who has the listing on our deceased neighbor's house. The upshot of our conversation is that I will stop by during tomorrow's open house to talk to the realtor about it, so that she can leave a note for the son and daughter to ask whether they want the wind chimes. If they do, they can just come by to take them from my patio if nobody's home at the time. If they don't care about them, I'll keep them; they're not expensive, but they are tasteful, and rather pretty.

Today's treat for what's blooming indoors is a hybrid Cymbidium, Cym. Nancy Brown 'Elizabeth'. The flowers will last for another couple of months. That's what's in the picture accompanying this entry.