We have had another glorious spring day. While we haven't had the deep mud we've had to put up with some years, our road is very rough with washboard and potholes.  Evelyn Richer told me this morning she was using their small tractor to move a pile of dirt left from a gardening project a few years ago and she said there was about eight inches of frost still in the pile and it was very hard  to break into it. That tells us there is probably still frost in our roads, and until we get a warm rain, things are not going to improve quickly.  The road crews can't really accomplish much honing the roads until the frost is pretty well gone.  However, our friend, Elizabeth, reminds us the roads are "pretty darned good," not like the soup holes we've had some years and that she got stuck in a couple years ago. She will be forever grateful to our neighbor, Luke Persons, for knowing just how to haul her out without damaging her car.

We went to the Danville Inn to the benefit supper for Garey and Jane Larrabee - it was very nice, and there were a lot of people we knew and a lot more we didn't know, but it was a really good turnout.  It's wonderful that a community can come together like that when needed.  The food was excellent and there was plenty for everyone. 

 
On the way home, we got some pictures of the last of the ice. It  is within hours of being history.  It's so nice to see open water almost everywhere.  There is still some of the slushy stuff crowding into the area by the narrows, but that will probably be gone by morning.  It would be gone now if there had been more wind today. 

I've started raking our lawn, working a little while each day, and surprisingly, it's very dry.  I hope the forecast is right and we get some rain tonight.  That will brighten things up a lot.  I'm a lazy gardener.  I don't do a lot of fertilizing - I just mulch my perennials with leaves or bark mulch and hope for the best.  They seem to do well in spite of me.  Of course, there are always weeds to contend with, and I'll work at those throughout the summer, a little at a time.  That way I never have to worry about everything looking great at once - I always have a section of flowers that need attention, so I feel needed - and  it lasts all summer.  Sometimes not everything gets "put to bed" in the fall.  Every fall I have that debate with myself whether to clip and mulch then or let everything fall victim to the snow and clean up the mess in the spring.  I hedged my bets last fall and cleared some and left some.  Either way, it's hard work. 

My once very pretty and thriving holly bush took a severe hit last year and looks like it's about finished off this year.  I'm going to have Fred dig it for me and we'll find a protected spot to transplant to.  The side that gets the north wind's blast has really suffered.  I'll try to wrap it better next year, if it survives.  One thing that's flourishing is my rhubarb.  I transplanted it last year and it looks very healthy this spring.  There are also some sprouts coming in the bed I transplanted it from, and that's probably going to do well, too.  Lots of rhubarb sauce for the freezer!