Rainy days

The words of a song from 1921 (my mother would have been nine years old), originally sung by Al Jolson, has been going through my mind since yesterday.  I shouldn't even be familiar with it, but I used to watch Captain Kangaroo as an eleven-year-old on our very first television; he and Mr. Greenjeans often introduced some of the old standard songs and broadway musical tunes that young people could relate to.  So maybe that's where I learned it.

Life is not a highway strewn with flowers,
Still it holds a goodly share of bliss,
When the sun gives way to April showers,
Here is the point you should never miss.

Though April showers may come your way,
They bring the flowers that bloom in May.
So if it's raining, have no regrets,
Because it isn't raining rain, you know, (It's raining violets,)
And where you see clouds upon the hills,
You soon will see crowds of daffodils,
So keep on looking for a blue bird, And list'ning for his song,
Whenever April showers come along.

And where you see clouds upon the hills,
You soon will see crowds of daffodils,
So keep on looking for a blue bird, And list'ning for his song,
Whenever April showers come along.

After three years of drought, we are getting rain; two inches so far.  As I look at the fourteen day forecast, rain and storms are predicted for seven of those days.  I'm not complaining, though.  Better too much than too little.  We are in an area that often floods, but we're on a hilltop.  I may have to get some tall boots in order to wade into the garden to pick spinach and lettuce, though.   

By the way, I just went to Youtube, did a search, and guess what?  

Oh, the memories!

               

Good things are happening around here

My garden is going places now!  We've been eating leaf lettuce, and I cooked spinach from the garden, too.  The taste of canned spinach can't compare with cooked fresh spinach.  My first green beans are breaking though the top crust of soil in my garden, and out of ten asparagus roots, nine are now up.  I'm wondering if that one that hasn't showed up yet is even going to appear; I can handle losing one out of ten, though.

Strawberries have been blooming for awhile, and there are some green strawberries on many of the plants.  All the potatoes are up, and have been for awhile.  We've had some close calls with frost warnings, but those all came to nothing.

About that junky old Ford three-cylinder he bought, let me tell you the MAJOR things he did to get it running... not in the proper order:

1. The #2 rod was frozen to the crankshaft.

2.  He totally overhauled the engine.

3.  He soldered the radiator

4.  The intake had a crack in it from someone using starting fluid.  He took a cracked intake to a welding shop because he didn't trust his welding skills.  Next time he says he'd do it himself because of the expense.

5.  The rear end was full of water, so he had to change all the fluids.

But listen to that tractor purr now.