The long frigid NC winter took a toll on our bodies this year.  The two of us are a hysterical sight when we first get up in the morning and start moving.  I still have inflammation in knees, wrists, fingers, sometimes a hip and a shoulder, so my gait is slow and creepy until I pop more Motrin and circulate the heating pad around the body.  Cliff shuffles from room to room waiting for his turn to apply the heating pad on his hip area.  The person who agreed to complete the garden tilling couldn't do it after all so yesterday while I was at the gym, Cliff decided to give it a try again.  This time he let the tiller do the work instead of using it like a lawn mower and the garden is now ready for peas, carrots, beets, lettuce, chard, bok choy, potatoes, and more.  I'm a couple of weeks later than last year starting the garden so I'll see how the cool weather vegetables do.  This week our weather was glorious.  We've been 70-80 degrees each day.  The dogwood blossoms are popping open and all the other trees have tiny new growth.  Hummingbirds have been reported all around us but I've yet to see one.  Checked the "Journey North" site this morning.  More sightings were reported yesterday close to us in all directions.  Have fresh nectar at the kitchen window and a small tube feeder in one hanging plant.  Removed my birdbath heater, washed it, dried it, and have packed it away until next winter.  The winter curtains will be coming down this week and the lightweight spring/summer ones will go up.  Need to climb a ladder and remove the old window alert decals, wash the windows, and apply the new decals to keep the birds from flying into the big windows.  This is a renewing time of year that I enjoy so much.  Winter sweaters and fleeced-lined boots are tucked away in the back of the closet and I'm in capris and t-shirts again, barefoot and free.  Enjoyed my coffee on the porch this morning while being serenaded by birds in the forest.  We'll still have a couple of quick cold snaps and maybe a fast moving snow shower during April, a blackberry winter, but spring is finally here in western NC.

Just a few minutes after posting this, I was at the kitchen sink and saw something small fly by the window.  Cliff and I stood watching and he appeared!  Our first male ruby-throated hummingbird arrived!!!  9:15 am   We are so psyched!!!  More feeders will go out now.  He is about 8 days earlier than other years.  The earliest sighting for us.