The signs of spring are all around us now, even though the calendar says that the last expected spring frost date should be about two weeks from now. Even the weatherman pointed that out this morning, cheerfully announcing that we had just about turned the corner for winter weather so that the severe storm forecast to arrive in the next few days is considered a spring thunderstorm. We're at the start of the severe weather season for the year, it seems. He is earnestly ready to do his duty interrupting the scheduled broadcasts if hail and lightning erupt in Biblical proportions.

This entry is somewhat delayed by my slow recovery from the flu crowned by a fire ant attack. I've been lucky the past few years in not catching anything serious, but this year the whole family came down with the flu. I was just getting over it when the onion plants arrived last Saturday. Onion plants can't wait forever, so I bundled up and took my hoe out to a soft corner of the yard where I had been composting extra leaves for the past few years. I got the first rows planted when the itching and burning started. I rushed to finish, hoping that it wasn't what I thought it might be.

Unfortunately, it was. I started the leftover pills from the last fire ant attack and washed the areas well. At least it wasn't as bad as the last time, but I'm going to have to clean up that area well to evict the little monsters. At least they don't eat onions, but they do like the soft soil that the onions do. I must have only encountered a few roaming foragers, so I'll have to look for the nest.

I just hope that none of the seeds I put out fed them. I've seen a few spinach plants coming up but not much else. The squirrels and birds worked over those first sections pretty diligently during that hard freeze. It is annoying to have them devour my plantings, but it would be an abomination if the fire ants shared in the largess.

The hardy fig tree arrived today and got planted in another nice, soft spot near a pink rose. The bed had had some compost and mulch added earlier, so it was in pretty good shape already. Fortunately, the fire ants were foraging elsewhere so this enthusiastic plumbing of the earth to open a suitably regal hole for the new arrival went smoothly. It got a sack of potting soil and a good dose of time-release fertilizer added to give it a nice rich home.

The robins have begun claiming their spring homes, too. The cats are diligently stalking them, so far safe from the dive-bombing mockingbirds who will later fill the air with shrieking indignation and feathered blurs arcing over the cats. The squirrels are chasing rivals among the trees, spiraling along the trunks and lunging from branch to branch. The cats watch hopefully for a slip and fall to the ground, but so far the amorous warriors have managed to avoid the destruction of anything but the lesser squirrel's pride.

Crafting pretty much came to a halt for a while. I've resumed progress on the third sweater, now past the body and working on the sleeves and chest section of its second half. I'm fuming over the delays a bit, watching lot after lot of beautiful fabric being snapped up at fabric.com. I really need to get those sweaters finished and mailed as well as knitting the ones for my own wardrobe.

However, gardening only waits for rain delays, and I've started the main batch of tomato seedlings and am watching for them to sprout in their flat. It is nearly at the end of the cabbage planting season here to get them in the ground to mature before hot weather saps their sweetness and tenderness. Broccoli planting season goes on a little longer, bridging the gap between the early crops and the first warm weather crops.

I'm watching the night temperatures to determine when to gamble on putting out the cool weather seedlings now crowded in their pots while getting ready to sow the warm weather seeds for the next rush of spring planting. The temperatures are drifting upwards with only the occasional dip near freezing, and the soil is warming and nicely soft and inviting. Those flowering bulbs were right about the arrival of early spring, and their buds are now pushing upward to the top of the leaves.