It's been chilly and rainy and overcast and very windy for most of the past ten days. Most nights the momcat has been happy with a comforter thrown over her in the dark after she rams her rump into my hip while the heat is down low.

Today the outside temperature was 55 by my house with the sun shining. I had the windows open upstairs in the man cave and had some cats perching to catch the fresh air and sunshine. I was still wearing a good heavy sweatshirt while I diddled the ponies at Aqueduct.

The forecast going into the weekend calls for more uninterrupted sunshine and temperatures going into 60s and then the 70s for Sunday and Monday.

Hey, the winter wasn't bad with the snow and it only got below zero for one night but early April is my favorite time of the year to see tree buds popping and bulbs pushing up new life in the flower beds. We're in mid-April now and I'm still dressed for February when I go out early in the morning for my newspapers, groceries and sometimes a warm muffin.

I want to get the gazebo up on the back deck and sit outside to get my old carcass warmed. I want to blow the cultivator through some dirt and get the backyard farm set up for early May. I want to repair the winter damage to the deck and sweat a little bit.