Normal in the Abby...Normal

Welcome to Tuesday. Much like Monday.

The title of my blog is a little shout out to Young Frankenstein, for any fans out there.

Had a late breakfast, which I suppose I could have called lunch. I had eaten almost all of it before I thought, take a picture. Maybe it will be as exciting as yesterday's fried egg sandwich!

Pancakes, fake maple syrup, orange juice. They were made from a just-add-water mix. Still mighty good.

It's amazing what a difference a day can make. Most of yesterday's snow was melted by the time I went outside, opened up the shed and retrieved a rake and some big plastic garden totes. In the fall, I had raked a lot of leaves and spread them on the vegetable garden, added them to the compost, and dumped a ton into the chicken run, but there were still several piles remaining on the "lawn". I took my time and raked up a couple, and took them to the chicken run.

Here are some ecstatic chickens scratching their way through months-old leaves.

They are finding all sorts of treasures in there - little worms, grubs, snail eggs?, little newly sprouted grass and weeds that got yanked out with my raking, decomposed leaves... I'm expecting some good eggs in the next couple of days!

As I was sitting on "the chicken bench" watching them, I saw a chipmunk running away into the pile of split rails beside the chicken run. I do adore chipmunks. I also saw what I think is an odd thing, but maybe you have them too, a black squirrel with a reddish brown tail. We have a bunch of them (or I keep seeing the same one over and over). Do you have these squirrels? I joked with son that they were him - he has very dark hair but his beard comes in quite red, as did my brother's.

I heard the red-winged blackbirds with their unique raspy call which takes me right back to my childhood and really signals the beginning of Spring for me.

I took it easy with the raking. I'm terrible for overdoing yard work and then paying the price later. I raked a pile or two, then sat and chicken-watched. I only did a few piles today. The rest will still be there for me tomorrow, or the next day, or the next...

Here's another reminder that when "those all about you are losing their heads", nature carries on, oblivious of fear / chaos / economic strife.

These will be lovely blush pink tulips in the weeks to come, unless the black red-tailed squirrels have done some landscaping.

And for those of you on the edges of your seats...

the next in the exciting series of puzzle progress pictures!!

It looks like a place I'd like to live.

Take care everyone and enjoy your own personal bunkers. There might be muffin baking in my future!