===== 2025-04-26 =====

 ===== Overgrown Garden =====

Haven't journaled for several days, largely because it seems like 
the local gopher/gemini servers have been so intermittent. I have 
no complaints as it's being provided for free, and it's been 
hugely fun and educational to get into, but the long and frequent 
downtimes are admittedly a little discouraging. 

My "garden" is already overrun with weeds. That's probably what I 
get for planting in some random spot with who knows what built up 
under there and without looking up any proper preparation 
procedures, but it did look nice and clean when I first attempted 
to clear out and prepare it. On the plus side, a lot of the stuff 
is dandelions, and I can't get mad at those. They're great for the 
bees according to what I see and hear everywhere, and I was 
surprised to find information claiming that every part of them is 
edible. That was really neat, so while I don't plan to try and eat 
all of them by any means, it may be fun to try some things out 
with some of them. Just have to be careful about cleaning them, 
and harvesting at the right time. 

I also finally got around to cleaning up a bunch of dirt piles 
that the burrowing critters have piled up. Our cat Delilah has her 
work cut out for her. (Zeus is a purely indoor cat so at best 
he'll look on with mild envy at the hunting adventures Lilah is 
going on.) Yes, I know, cats can have an awful impact on the local 
wildlife. We keep Delilah contained to our yard, and the wildlife 
she's taking out is the stuff we'd be trying to get rid of anyway 
(mice, voles etc). 

On the subject of local wildlife, I keep finding owl pellets under 
the trees, especially one in our backyard. Looks like the noises 
I've heard occasionally are indeed owl hooting, and based on the 
appearance of these pellets it's a barn owl. So, I'm sure they're 
helping keep the burrowing critters under control, too. I've seen 
it gliding around at twilight a few times but never clearly enough 
to positively identify it, so thanks, owl pellets. I'm also pretty 
sure I've seen it circling and sizing up Lilah a time or two when 
she was out later than she was supposed to be, so I'm extra 
careful to make sure everyone knows she needs to be in well before 
dusk. Don't get me wrong, Delilah is a ferocious beast imbued with 
the spirit of a Viking berserker, but she's also a smaller cat, 
and I'm never one to underestimate owls. According to what I've 
read, owls won't hunt cats for sustenance (with the occasional 
exception for small kittens) but they may still occasionally 
tangle with cats for other reasons - maybe to try and establish 
dominance over a hunting area? So, yeah. I don't know who would 
win in a fight, but I imagine there's at least a decent chance 
Delilah could get seriously hurt if she and an owl got into it. 
Best to err on the side of caution. 

Aubri has been excited at the weather being warm enough to set up 
our little above-ground pool again, and I have to agree, it'll be 
nice. I guess I know what I'm doing tomorrow. Not looking forward 
to getting the pump and all that working, though. It's interesting 
how complicated it can be just to keep a large basin of water 
human-usable. Makes me miss our old apartment that was next to a 
tiny creek. Sure, you couldn't swim in it, but it was great for 
wading and splashing and whatnot, and being running water, there 
wasn't any maintenance that had to be done on it. More dangerous 
to play in, though, I guess. 

All in all, I'm glad winter is over. It does make me miss living 
in southern California where seasons weren't really a thing beyond 
"mildly cooler" and "mildly warmer". Fall out here is great, 
though. 

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