If you’ve been keeping track, you’ll remember that we had a freaking monster blizzard come through a while ago. 28 inches of snow in the first two rounds, plus more after that over the course of a week. I live on 6.5 acres out in the boonies southeast of Seattle, out just past the first ridge of the Cascades. As in, I can drive to a certain spot, turn left onto the main road, and cross a weather ridge about a hundred yards in or so. Watch the temperature gauge go up or down. Watch rain or snow just stop.

It was bad enough that when the snow stopped on Monday night that I couldn’t get down my driveway in a 4×4 pickup truck until Friday, and that still involved digging my self out a few times because I high-centered on the axles. Nasty stuff. Couldn’t get my Mini Cooper out for another week after that.

Now, here’s the funny part. About 2 days before all that crap hit, Fabulous Publisher Babe(tm) and I had gone into the hardware store and bought a couple of plants. I found a five-flavor Asian Pear grafted tree. They advertise 4-flavors, and that’s the price I pay, but the arborist does this frequently enough that I know to pay attention. Plus, we got her a Jasmine vine.

But it started raining when we got home. And it got worse the next day, so I left them both in the back of the truck.

And then it started snowing. Whoops.

So I pulled both into the house and have had them both next to the sliding glass door waiting for the snow to melt and the ground to thaw out since then.

That finally happened YESTERDAY. Mind you, I still have a few inches of crusty snow in the front yard and back patches where the trees are so tall that the sun won’t hit them. And it’s sixty-five in the sun and fifty-two in the shade (just checked), so they are at least melting.

But I now have a new pear tree in the box, to go with the other two espaliers. Plus the jasmine for when the bees wake up and get to work. (Mostly Mason and a few I can’t identify, but ground dwellers, rather than hive builders.) Won’t get fruit from them this year, or the five-flavor plum that went in last fall, but I plant 3-5 years out with this stuff. At a minimum.

Kinda nice to have my interior space back, although the cat’s not sure what to make of all this. Can’t say I blame her. With all the snow everywhere, I had been putting out lots of seed for the birds, so she would sneak up and hide in the shadow of the pear tree bucket and watch the best television in the world.

But the first little bits of spring have finally awakened out here. Buds are starting to expand. Fabulous Publisher Babe(tm) took roses that I got her when she got home, ones that had sprouted still in the vase, and put them in potatoes and dirt yesterday. Hopefully, they’ll go feral.

I’ve got a dozen downer trees I have to deal with at some point (No today, thank you.) and work to do with the machete to clear trails. Most of the latter the deer and elk have kept up for me, so mostly I’m going to be replacing fencing and expanding coverage areas for things I don’t want my critters to gnosh on.

Past that, I have had a quiet week. She was in Vegas for the Anthology Workshop until last Thursday, and it took last weekend to mostly recover. This week was just getting back on keel. Wrote a whole new novel from nothing to done in thirteen days. As in: had the idea Sunday. Wrote what I thought was a short story Monday. Writer brain laughed, and it turned into novel #28 on Tuesday. Finished it at 48,000 words the following Friday. Sent it off to Dorn to read on a plane since he need entertainment.

Back to short fiction yesterday and today. Probably tomorrow as well, since I’m only about half done on today’s story and goofing off instead of writing more. (These words still count.)

Got major books and projects slowly coming out all this year, including two short stories that got published this last week. (Hint: if you don’t read my newsletter, you missed them.)

What are y’all doing to celebrate things on this St. Pat’s Day and into your spring?