We go above 55 degrees F

Yes! We are at 57 degrees outside! It feels really warm--I mowed the lawn yesterday, or rather 1/4 acre of the lawn before I got tired, and I started out mowing with a coat on. I have a 18 inch wide push mower, which sounds stupid for this much lawn, but I can always start it and it runs on cereal and coffee. All the stuff that has been put off because of the cold weather, now needs to be done--I have to paint the inside of the house, the deck, the places on the outside that were worn off by snow, and what seems like 50 doll heads and parts. I also want to re-landscape the back, since several plants did not make it over the winter...like the papyrus.

I do wonder who sold the previous owner the papyrus, a tropical plant best known for gracing the banks of the Nile. The Chicago river, on the other hand, is not known for it's papyrus groves. I also wonder if the previous owner dug it up and brought it in every winter, which would make more sense. I just wish she had left a note or something about it, and many other things. Like what controls the giant pole light down by the street. (I still have no idea).