While digging in the dirt today....

.... I saw this little guy hopping around.  At first I thought it was a grasshopper and I was about to be totally disgusted that a grasshopper should be out chowing down this early in the spring.  But upon closer inspection, I found him to be a tiny Leopard Frog, the same frog family that sings me to sleep.  I caught him and put him in a jar for awhile until I could take more time to study him.  He is one of the common frogs we have here on the northern plains and it's probably the ONLY frog we have in our area.    

 Here he is in the jar looking out with sad eyes that begged me to release him, which I did.  

I wonder what I looked like to him through the glass?  

See how tiny he is?  About two fingernails in length.

It was a glorious day here at my house -- 70 degrees, partly cloudy with a light breeze.  Perfect weather for working outdoors.  I spent from 9:00 to 3:00 out working in my yard -- smoothing out some patches for grass seed, planting grass, laying down some weed and feed over the lawn, and carrying shovels full of rotted sheep manure to plants and garden beds.   I got a really good workout, one which I know I will "feel" tomorrow.   Raking, digging, shoveling, and carrying all take a toll on my out-of-shape winter body.

When you garden and turn over the soil, do you ever find things?  I do.  All the time.  Mostly I find toys and things that my children were playing with when they were little.  In the past have dug up those green army guys, a yo-yo, multiple Hot Wheels cars, spoons and forks.  When we bring up the manure compost from the old sheep shed, sometimes I find interesting things did not come from my own family.  Old coffee cans and cool-looking bottles or docking tools.  Here's what came up from my diggings today........

An old hand trowel (I wondered where that went!), a jaw bone of a sheep, a pliers rusted wide open which I'll soak in some oil, and a golf divot mender that says it was from Lake Oahe, a place we golfed quite a few years ago.  Funny how these things surface.

I am so, so pleased with my accomplishments today!   I even got the sheets washed and hung on the clothesline to dry.  You know that Monday is Wash Day and I hate to mess up the weekly program.  The only thing I didn't complete was spading  two of the four raised beds.  I just decided it could wait another day.  My arms and my digging foot had had enough for one day.  Now all I need to do is wait for the rain which is promised for tonight and tomorrow and maybe even Wednesday.  That would be just lovely on my newly sown grass and my fertilized lawn.  

Hubs and J. worked on their "tee box" today and over-seeded the grass there.  Our family is a golfing family (everyone but me) and so we have a nice spot close to our house where they like to practice.  They drive  their balls out into a large pasture to the south of our house.  It's kind of a "Willie Nelson Golf Range" but it's pretty darn nice in the spring and early summer.  The guys try hard to keep their tee box in good repair and I do the most of the mowing.  I'm not a golfer, but I like to watch them play while I walk the courses admiring the pretty flowers, the trees and the lush grass.  My kids say I could be good if I'd  "get serious" but I just can't.  I'd rather look for birds and not worry about making eagle, birdie, par or a snowman.  A snowman is what we call an 8 which is something you don't want on a single hole.  Nope.  Just give me my Birks, some sunscreen, my camera and let me walk the course.

Speaking of Birks and walking, I have an excellent product to share with you as you move from your clogs and heavy boots to your sandals and flip-flops.  It's called Corona Ointment (aka:  udder butter).  I buy this product at the local farm and ranch supply store.  We mainly use it when the cows have chapped teats and on horse hooves, but it makes an excellent cream for dry, cracked heels and chapped, hard-working hands.  It's made of 50% lanolin (from sheep wool) and so it's an excellent, protective balm for the skin.  I've even used it on my chapped, red nose when I have a cold.   I don't like the Udder Butter in the green tin that you sometimes find in department stores; Corona is much, much better.  Good stuff.  Get-ya-some.