Working and snapping

Working the earth, that is. It's that time of year, and the weather has been cooperative. Some rain is supposed to move in this afternoon and overnight, so today is when I need to get as much done as possible. Snapping photos too. Both jobs are easier when the weather is sunny.

It's supposed to be clear and dry next week too, so no worries — I will have time to finish preparing the ground for our annual vegetable garden. It's hard work hauling the rototiller around, especially since we've decided to make one big garden plot out of the four smaller ones we've grown vegetables in for more than ten years now.

Those sections of ground that have never been tilled before are very hard to work. Without a gas-powered tiller, I wouldn't be able to do it at all. We can start planting a few hardy crops now, but there is a danger of frost until May 15 in this climate, so we have to wait before putting in tomatoes or other delicate species.

Can you tell what this funny thing is?

This is the ornamental cherry tree just off our front deck. It flowers in March and April.

By the way, my new camera arrived yesterday. I know, same old song. But this time I'm much happier, and I will keep this model. It's a Canon, and it's only slightly larger and heavier that the Panasonic cameras I tried over the last few weeks. I'll write more about all these cameras when I can find the time.

And what's this?

Leaves on my plum tree, which I hope will produce a good crop this year

The Canon has a 30x zoom (25 to 750 mm equivalent) and good wide-angle and macro capabilities too. I like the sharpness of the images it produces and I like that the camera doesn't have a touch screen or other (for me) superfluous features. The photos here are just a few examples of my efforts and the camera's yesterday afternoon, between bouts with the tiller and washing windows. Yes, it's spring-cleaning time at La Renaudière.