Spring has sprong!!

This week has been kinda crazy but actually very typical of this time of year here--warm sunny weather one day, wind the next (I'm not talking a little breeze here) and snow the next! After nights of little or no frost, last night was 7 degrees! The daffodils had been so pretty and perky and now have droopy little heads down on the ground. I picked a bouquet of them and put them in a tall vase to prop them up--a quick salvage to enjoy them indoors for a few days.

The last week or so I've dug 22 holes in my garden to plant grape vines, raspberry bushes and yes, even blueberries in this high altitude alkaline environment. This meant modifying the soil with lots of amendments--peat moss, vinegar water, elemental sulfer, water crystals, pine needles, dead leaves and anything else I could think of, all to help acidify the soil for the blueberries especially, which require a ph of under 5. Our soil as I tested it was 7.0, very alkaline. No surprise there. The day I finished adding all these things to the holes and watering them good, it tested at about 6 so I am making progress. With the lovely rain that came all night Wednesday and then the rain and snow on Saturday, I'm thinking it will be lower still, especially as the mulch breaks down. I collected pure rainwater and it tested at about 5. Keep the rain coming! I am still waiting on the plants to arrive ( I have a notice of a package at the P.O. so maybe they're here). I'll test the soil again before I plant them to see if the ph has improved. I ordered the most cold hardy varieties of each so hopefully we'll be able to enjoy the fruits of our labor eventually.

Frank had his second dose of chemo last Tuesday and the reaction was totally different from the week before. While the first round caused extreme tiredness and some fever for a few days, this week the stuff (Velcade and dexamethasone) made him jittery, sleepless and he had two scarey bouts of nosebleed (one and a half hours non-stop each time). His platelet count (measure for blood clotting) was better than the week before so don't know what the deal is. He'll go in for blood tests tomorrow and then get the third dose Tuesday in Show Low.

We were able to attend the wedding of his brother Paul in Mesa on Friday evening, which was lovely, and the weather decided to cooperate at the last hour. He had the ceremony outside in his back yard by the pool but it was so windy all day that the decorating couldn't be finished until the last. His bride told him she had been praying for the wind to stop all day. There were many friends and family in attendance and lots of well-wishes for their happiness. They seem a perfect couple. She's a welcome addition to our family.