First the bad news....................
My cute little wide-eyed mouse is dead.  After months of attempting to scare it away with verbal mouse trap threats, spraying peppermint everywhere, keeping his supply of birdseed out of reach, plugging all known openings with peppermint-laced steel wool, I finally conceded to allow Cliff one trap in the kitchen and two in the crawl space.  My conditions were that he not inform me if or when it happened or any description of the deceased rodent. Cliff was convinced the little guy was still in the house.  He was correct.

The good news is.....................
Yesterday was the first morning (50 degrees) that I was able to sit out on the porch at 7 with my coffee and a light wrap over my shoulders watching the morning sky change from azalea pink to cadmium orange.  The Carolina wren sat high on Cliff's tower rung with his head to the sky belting out his morning wake-up call.  He's my rooster.  On Wednesday, Journey North had a hummingbird sighting reported in Cleveland, TN, about 40 minutes due west of Murphy.  Cliff said it was time to put one feeder out at the kitchen window just in case.  Citizen observers who have posted so far state the hummingbirds are arriving as much as two weeks earlier than previous years.

Garden update.

 Rhubarb with new mushroom compost.

 Garlic that was set last October, also with new compost.

 This morning I dug and worked in mushroom compost in the raised bed to the left.  Carrots, kale, Asian greens, and lettuce seeds planted earlier this week in the right raised bed.  It's very warm and windy so I'm checking the soil each morning and evening.  Waiting for Cliff to till the rest of the garden. 

This year I'm trying the snow peas teepee style instead of running them along a wire fence.  I have more string to add and in theory, the peas should send their little tendrils up the string.  Have been growing cucumbers this way for a few years now and the cukes know the plan.  They grow vertical with a little help in the beginning.  Just located my bag of sweet onions so will head down to the garden and put in a dozen or so onions.  Cliff hooked up the rain barrel pipe so we can start collecting rain again.  There's a 100% chance for rain Sunday.