A Hint of Spring...

I got my tomato starts this week. I decided to go ahead and put them in the ground, mostly because I'm lazy and I didn't really want to transplant them twice. I did some reading, and there seems to be some disagreement regarding how much cold a tomato can tolerate. Since it's still getting down into the high 30's at night, I went ahead and threw a cover over the tomatoes. Better safe than sorry.
The seeds I planted seem to be struggling a bit... some of them came up, but I think the chilly nights are probably slowing their growth. The peas are doing ok, 4 are up so far. At least the problems I'm having are just weather related, and not wildlife. Getting the bird netting over the garden straight away seems to have stopped any critters digging there.
I started thinking about the wild blackberries that invade our yard from the neighbors every year... I really hate them, but my kids do like the berries. Since I decided I didn't really want to fiddle with a cane berry, I didn't get any blackberry plants from the CSA last year. So I put a tomato cage over where the wild blackberry is coming up in the back of the yard, and I'll see if I can keep it confined to that area and at least get some berries for the kids. I mean, they're free, right?
My tree peony is leafing out nicely, which is a huge relief. I didn't know how it would feel about being moved, but it seems to have settled in ok.

Things are getting weird in my mom's situation... they had a disagreement with my aunt, so she left in a huff. My mom is starting to withdraw, so my dad has taken that and sprinted with it. He now says they don't need anyone around, they don't want anyone around, and they don't care what anyone else thinks. I have not tried yet to tell my dad that withdrawal from family and friends is part of the dying process, and that its not fair to cut themselves off from other people who love them. I believe completely that their heads hear what the doctors and the statistics say, but their hearts do not accept. It's a strange thing... not outright denial, but they have not reached a point of acceptance yet. There's really no right answer, I can't say for sure that I wouldn't do the same thing. One thing is for sure, I am *not* going to take sides, and I am *not* getting involved in the drama.