My mom arrived at 3:30PM on Thursday afternoon and we visited with her until my brother left to get Chinese food and ice cream and a hyacinth. I hid the hyacinth when he got back.
Once supper was done we visited a little more until it was time to get ready for bed. We went early as we were all tired.
On Friday morning I woke at 4AM and got my post up and worked on my plant notes until 8AM when my mom woke up. I made her a breakfast of French toast and scrambled eggs and had my breakfast.
Once she was ready for the day, I set her up in front of my computer with the slide show and the hyacinth to provide scent. She went through the slide show of flowers twice.
She was quite taken with my desktop picture of Edith Holden’s March painting so I got out the Edith Holden books and we looked through one. At lunch time she had a pork sandwich she had brought and I had salmon and salad.
New West crocus before and after weeding
I set her up in the sun on the front porch as it was a beautiful day. I collected all my equipment and set to work weeding the New West garden next to her.
East of Steps garden weeded
After an hour or so she went back inside and I set her up on the couch. I went out and finished the weeding, spread amendment, wrote my notes and got my photos.
There were buds on the daffodils, the columbine had survived the winter, and the dianthus was hanging on by a thread. The pink primroses had come back and 2 wallflowers had made it. Now I can plant pansies if I ever manage to get some.
It’s to rain on Saturday night into Sunday but by Tuesday and Wednesday it’s to be nice again and I’m hoping I can get this South garden cleaned out.
East Shed garden – snow crocus
South Herb garden – chives up
I’d noticed when I went up to check the mail that these pansies had survived the winter. There had been 3 of them in the box under the farm sign but the other 2 had died. This survivor now had buds on it.
My brother had wanted to make parsnip chowder for my mom. I’d warned him that if he didn’t dig the parsnips in early December there probably wouldn’t be any by early spring, the voles would have eaten them.
Well, he didn’t dig them and when we went out to see if there were any left, there wasn’t anything at all, just holes. I bet next year he will dig them in December…
So we made 
We visited some more and then another early night. I had a bad night, up several times, and never finally got up until 7AM. My mom was up shortly after and once she was ready for the day, I made her breakfast of French toast and sausages.
We talked for a while and then we watched a video of my son when he had just turned one. It was a coincidence that it had been made exactly 32 years before.
Soon it was time for her to start packing and eat lunch. My brother got home late and they never left until 2:30PM to go back to Connecticut. I got the bed taken apart and my son got it back upstairs. I put the office back together and sat down to rest. I was wiped out.
On Sunday my friend is taking me back to Mt Holyoke Bulb Show and it’s the time change. We are hoping the time change will mess up enough people so it won’t be crowded if we get there when it opens.