Spring Rain

Last night we had our first nice spring rain.  A warm light misting that soaked the gardens.  The smell of the damp rich black earth reminded me of some of the things I miss about the farm growing up. Tanya was glad she  planted carrots yesterday and I am sure all the neighbours were happy for the long hours they put in this week. There are little sticks everywhere marking rows or patches of something that will appear in a few weeks.  The garlic rows are already showing green.  Garlic goes in to the ground in early fall and gets a start before winter.

Tanya will have daffodils shortly.  The lilies are growing a few cm every day.  You can almost watch them.  Tulips are coming up everywhere, including places Tanya had dug them up and moved them last year.  Obviously she missed a few bulbs here and there. The petunias and asters seem to have survived their soaking of last Saturday.  The phlox seedlings got moved yesterday into boxes that give them more space.  I think there is over a hundred or something.

On Monday a package came from a seed company - all flower seeds - several different colours of petunias and I don't know what else..  Some will have to wait for next year as they need to be started indoors.  Tanya figures there is no sense starting them now.

When we got married I promised to keep her in chocolate, roses and champagne and she promised, under those circumstances, to keep me broke.  So far so good.  Her flower garden is my way of keeping her in roses.  Tonight at 5:30 we picked up a $200 dollar order of bulbs.  That is a lot of bulbs.  Tanya won't get much sleep tonight as she is going over them very carefully. She has already planted lilies and something else.  More will go in tomorrow but the gladiolas will wait until just before we leave for Siberia.

I head out at 11:00 tonight on the night train to go to Kyiv and pick up my visa from the Russian Consulate.  I hope.  There is no knowing in advance if I filled out the forms not quite right or they decided for some other reason not to issue it.  Immigration works the same in every country.  Totally arbitrary.  Answerable to no one.  Unchallengeable.  Ask people who try to get a Canadian visa.

I get in at 6:00 am and wait until 12:00 to pick up my visa.  Hours to pick up visas are from 12:00 to 1:00 on Fridays.  The morning express gets into Kyiv at 12:30.  I MIGHT make it to the Consulate in under 30 minutes or it might take 35 at which point I am screwed. So I sit in McDonalds and enjoy good coffee and free WiFi for 6 hours.  Pick up my visa (or not|) and head back to the train station to catch the 5:45 express.  Home by 11:00 pm Friday night.

I used to like going to Kyiv but the thrill is gone.  Now I like to stay home. Neither of us want to go anywhere.  We must be getting old.  At least traveling "somewhere" is still fun.  I can hardly wait to see the family in Siberia.