March Out like a Lamb?

We have had a couple of weeks of stormy weather this March. Usually March represents the tail end of the February storms. Not this year. February and the first weeks of March were storm free. Weather was saving itself for the end of March. The snow pack was less than 30 percent prior to the storms in the last part of March. We are still significantly lower than average for water in the hills. I think that we may get as much as 76 percent of our average. Last year we were at 150 percent of our average.

As for the front yard flower garden, the violas are doing just fine. The snapdragons are toast.. and have been removed. In their place I planted a half a flat of petunias that were not yet ready to bloom yet. It is rare to find flats that are not totally in bloom. I think that Color Spot of Salinas and used to be Albany/Richmond have trained us to go for the plants that are already in bloom for our flower displays. The inherent problem with this is that the plants do not have a chance to acclimate to the surroundings before having to produce big beautiful blooms. The consumer will know exactly which blossoms will come from that plant in exchange. When planting those specimens it may be noted that the roots are often bound and have to be spread out to have any success.  

I met with the retired HS teachers today. A couple of them were living dangerously and ordered biscuits and gravy along with their eggs and hash browns. I am sure that if their wives were there the order would have been changed.... aw  male independence.

I have been sketching along in Merced and Modesto recently. You may enjoy some of these "people" sketches in my new blog People in Sketch. Its fun to have something creative to do as you wait for things to happen ie Dr. appointments or someone to get out of the dollar store. My Starbucks has an interesting group of people that come by too.  Some of them will be highlighted in future renditions.
Have a great day!
: ) Pat