Last week, the weather was fantastic. The trees started blooming and the daffodils emerged. It was wonderful. My kids begged and pleaded to clean up the pool so they could swim. The high was in the 80’s with no rain in sight. This week, it’s raining, and has been raining for 3 days. The high has been around 46, and suddenly everyone is sick with a cold.

Our weather people call this a Dogwood Winter. It really messes up the creative juices, and has changed my behavior from planting things, painting rooms and building shelves to doing more repetitive tasks, such as laundry, cleaning, and walking the dogs.

We’ve long since discovered that the Lowe’s in our area is the one to watch for when it is ok to begin planting flowers. The Home Depot always seems to jump the gun, and their stuff invariably gets frostbite. Then they have big sales, but who wants irretrievably translucent green stems with no flowers?

This year, we have tried to start plants from seeds (Strawberries), but it hasn’t worked so well. Maybe they aren’t getting enough sun. They are certainly getting enough water, thanks to the kids’ enthusiasm.

My mom is fostering 2 dogs in her home, so now she has 5 total. The new arrivals are: a chocolate brown cross between a bassett hound and a dachshund - so think dachshund face, long body, bassett size. Her name is Mollie and she’s very cute and even-tempered. Haven’t heard her bark yet, but I’m sure it will be entertaining. The second is a black and tan dachshund named Toby. He’s so round that his belly drags on the grass. Again, he’s very mild-tempered and loves laps when he can make it into one. He’s lucky Mom has a house with no stairs, or he’d be in trouble. He makes me laugh. I think, if I didn’t have 4 dogs of my own, I would take him in. Little roly poly dog. Mollie’s great, too, but she’s not as round. They are also both older dogs - the big one is 6 while the rotund one (I have been calling him Toblerone instead of Toby) is 9. When I left them, they were both getting used to my mom’s living room, and trying out the dog door. Luckily, they both fit.

So, while the Dogwood winter pushed all the nice weather to the south, and left us with dreary wet days, it also brought 2 weird little dogs into my life. I hope they get nice homes.