For a couple of nights this week, the forecasters are warning of a possible frost. This has no scientific backing, and I may be making it up, but for several years I’ve noticed the end of April/beginning of May at the time of the full moon we get very chilly. One year I lost baby peppers so I’m hesitant to put out any tender annuals until, at least, mid-May. Not to worry since I don’t have any seedings that are warm-lovers even ready.

How a person gets so behind is beyond me. The spirit is really willing but, oh, that weak flesh!

In a week’s time the trees are beginning to leaf out in various shades and colors and the early ornamental trees (mostly cherries) are breathtaking. My friend, Shirley, sent me over to check out the two at the P.A. Club. Wow, worth the trip folks.

Last week I mentioned the still available and edible plants in the vegetable garden. Marie brought me a few wintered-over cabbages from her garden. They had not formed heads but the leaves were perfect and delicious. Athena and Zappa, the great-grandchildren, ate them raw. Good for them but I did sautee a bunch with lentils.

I’m sad to report the removal of my first tick of the season. It was the dreaded deer variety. There are so many deer on-Island now, they carry the parasite and deposit them willy-nilly. Now, with all the businesses spraying for ticks (and honeybees by the way), folks are becoming less inclined to check their bodies daily. Constant vigilance is the key.

Two more spring plants have bloomed in my garden — one is the Virginia bluebell (mertensia verginica). They have spread like crazy from a single transplant decades ago. Oddly, the flower starts pink and gradually changes to purple and finally to sky blue. No critter seems to bother them and they are lovely along with equally spreading helebores.

Two years ago in the fall I gathered some “money” (the seed heads of Lunaria annua commonly known as money plant). The “money” is a silver dollar shaped head loved for its use in dried ornamental arrangements.

The baby plants grew and were nice in last summer’s garden. This spring they have a purple flower similar in appearance to phlox. It will produce its own “money” this fall from that flower.

I had a call this weekend from my friend, Randy. She has raspberries running all over the vegetable garden. These are fall red and heritage varieties she planted awhile ago. She is willing to pot some up for anyone who might be interested. The only suggestion we both have is to never plant them except in their own bed. That way one can keep some sort of control. If planted soon they will produce a nice fall crop.

Give me a ring if you would like some. I’m in the phone book.

Another never-do is planting blackberries. You will end up with a tangled mess and few berries for the trouble.

I remember picking them with my Gramma Kate on the side of the mountain in rural Pennsylvania. We would get enough for several of her famous blackberry pies (they were mentioned at her funeral). She lived long enough that my children remember her. My Dad didn’t become orphaned until age 75.

Credit to Mike Johnson for the right thing in regards to foreign aid. I disagree with him on practically everything, but his willingness to commit political suicide for the good of the country is admirable. Do not forget that Joe Biden and Hakeem Jeffries patiently and quietly brought him along with intelligence briefings and Democratic votes in Congress. It seems easy to forget the good that Joe Biden does since he is not an ego-maniacal braggart who boasts endlessly how great he is.

His commitment to bi-partisanship and well-being for all Americans is his strong suit.

It seems many of us prefer loud and mean. Such a pity.