Colors in Spring

Bulbs have been sprouting all over the yard. They are yellow, light orange and white. Some daffodils, tulips and crocus.  Other plants that are making their appearance are the delicious yet wild, Ramps.  Chives are growing fast and so is the garlic that we planted last fall. 

One morning we noticed two garter snakes together and by looking at their different sizes, we could tell that they were a couple.  Also, we have seen golden finches, woodpeckers and the resident phoebes flapping their wings, calling, eating at the feeders and hunting insects.  

Finally a snow day

I checked out the smaller of the two cameras that we own and to my surprise, I found these photos from last year's winter.  It made me happy to see all the snow in these photos, I miss getting extremely dressed up and going out for a walk in the deep snow.  I could only ponder about the day when we would have a snow day. So, in memory of last year I wanted to still post these.  As you can see we are hard at work clipping the hooves of our does.  The front hooves seem to get longer quicker compared to the back hooves.  Asa and Che Che also seem to have a very thick winter coat, something that they lack this winter.  Perhaps because we have had a mild winter so far in terms of snow.  It will remain a mystery...

Mother's day projects and bee hive

 These are the last few days before The Shires Marathon in Bennington, VT.  I feel ready and I am excited that I finally trained for it. I hope to finish it between 4 and 5 hours. In the past weeks, I have seen a bat during one of my runs and a broad-wing hawk carrying some prey (I think it was a frog) in the wetland near the road we live on the other day. 

This past weekend was really exciting, since Saturday was Green Up Day and Sunday was Mother's Day. Also, Saturday was the first outdoor farmers market of the season and we missed it because I decided to volunteer us for Green Up in Springfield. A small student group showed up to clean around the school.  We picked bicycle tires, diapers, bottles, cigarette butts, candy and food wrappers and even shows and clothes.  Later in the morning, we had a picnic.  I brought almond butter and apple cider jelly for sandwiches.  Some kids tried it and liked the combination. A student brought a huge fruit salad! Overall, it was nice to share time with the students outside of the classroom setting.

On Sunday, Lindo's parents came up to visit and help us around our house. The various projects included gardening and woodshed work. The boys took care of the woodshed by cleaning all the old bark and mulch that was and has been at the bottom of the wood pile for years.  They also organized and split more wood for kindling and stacked wood and logs from the yard.  It was a huge project and now the space looks neat and free of wood.

The girls set out to work on transplanting pansies from various locations around the garden to a permanent bed by the front of the house.  They are blooming and some even started out from seed, which is really exciting because I hope to always have pansies in spring.  Also, the strawberry bed by the rock wall got was weeded! The plants are growing very nicely and hope to see flowers on them soon.  The wild strawberry crop promises to be huge this year.  The plants are growing everywhere and when they are done producing I will just tilled them over in the beds and grow other crops there.

While in the yard, I noticed that phoebes are nesting underneath the alcove in our cabin. We hope this time they don't have any trouble raising their young.  Last year they attempted to nest 3 times in different places around our cabin with no luck. 

Lindo has started to build a Top Bar Hive design used in Kenya. The design is simple and the bees do all the work. 

Mother's day projects and bee hive

These are the last few days before The Shires Marathon in Bennington, VT.  I feel ready and I am excited that I finally trained for it. I hope to finish it between 4 and 5 hours. In the past weeks, I have seen a bat during one of my runs and a broad-wing hawk carrying some prey (I think it was a frog) in the wetland near the road we live on the other day. 

This past weekend was really exciting, since Saturday was Green Up Day and Sunday was Mother's Day. Also, Saturday was the first outdoor farmers market of the season and we missed it because I decided to volunteer us for Green Up in Springfield. A small student group showed up to clean around the school.  We picked bicycle tires, diapers, bottles, cigarette butts, candy and food wrappers and even shows and clothes.  Later in the morning, we had a picnic.  I brought almond butter and apple cider jelly for sandwiches.  Some kids tried it and liked the combination. A student brought a huge fruit salad! Overall, it was nice to share time with the students outside of the classroom setting.

On Sunday, Lindo's parents came up to visit and help us around our house. The various projects included gardening and woodshed work. The boys took care of the woodshed by cleaning all the old bark and mulch that was and has been at the bottom of the wood pile for years.  They also organized and split more wood for kindling and stacked wood and logs from the yard.  It was a huge project and now the space looks neat and free of wood.

The girls set out to work on transplanting pansies from various locations around the garden to a permanent bed by the front of the house.  They are blooming and some even started out from seed, which is really exciting because I hope to always have pansies in spring.  Also, the strawberry bed by the rock wall got was weeded! The plants are growing very nicely and hope to see flowers on them soon.  The wild strawberry crop promises to be huge this year.  The plants are growing everywhere and when they are done producing I will just tilled them over in the beds and grow other crops there.

While in the yard, I noticed that phoebes are nesting underneath the alcove in our cabin. We hope this time they don't have any trouble raising their young.  Last year they attempted to nest 3 times in different places around our cabin with no luck. 

Lindo has started to build a Top Bar Hive design used in Kenya. The design is simple and the bees do all the work. 

Sprouting and singing

Officially spring is here but not in full swing. The days up here are still cold and the snow is keeping a strong hold on the landscape. I have notes from last year and at this time we were driving our car down the driveway and working outside doing miscellaneous projects. Not this weekend. We are happy relaxing with Fugee under a sunny and cloud free day. 

I checked on our seeds from last weekend and they are happily coming to life. Since I am growing them in a window sill I have to rotate the trays so that the seedlings grown somewhat straight up rather than tilted sideways. 

I have heard Red Winged Black Birds in the swampy field by our house and at night we are starting to hear the territory hoots of Barred Owls. I have also seen Turkey vultures and chipping sparrows. Soon we will hear more birds move in this area. Can't wait. 

I recommend this quarterly issue of Mother Earth News. It has an article on tips to increase the yields of produce in the garden. For example; 1) Growing perennials like asparagus, rhubarb, sorrel and mint. 2) Growing variety crops rather than quantity of one type of crop. 3) Growing vertical gardens like cucumbers, squash and beans to maximize space among others.

We had pancakes this morning. Here is the recipe from King Arthur.

Simple Perfect Pancakes  2 large eggs 1 1/4 cups milk 3 tablespoons melted butter or vegetable oil 1 1/2 cups All purpose flour  3/4 teaspoon salt 2 teaspoons baking powder 2 tablespoons sugar OR 2 Tablespoons of Malt Barley  chocolate chips and/or shredded coconut Directions 1. Beat the eggs and milk until light and foamy, about 3 minutes at high speed of a stand or hand mixer. Stir in the butter or vegetable oil. 2. Whisk the dry ingredients together to evenly distribute the salt, baking powder and sweetener. 3. Gently and quickly mix into the egg and milk mixture. Let the batter rest for at least 15 minutes, while the griddle is heating; it"ll thicken slightly. 4. Heat a heavy frying pan over medium heat, or set an electric griddle to 350°F. Lightly grease frying pan or griddle. The pan or griddle is ready if a drop of water will skitter across the surface, evaporating immediately. 5. Drop 1/4 cupfuls of batter onto the lightly greased griddle. Bake on one side until bubbles begin to form and break, then turn the pancakes and cook the other side till brown. Turn over only once. Serve immediately.