Chickens, Compost and Asparagus

Our chickens seem thrilled to be outside and able to roam their yard and pasture in this good weather.  They're already finding bugs, worms and the first of the green grass.

 

While Mr. Rooster watches his happy flock, several hens gleefully take a communal dust bath. (I'd be gleeful, too, if I hadn't had a bath in months.)

 

Papa Pea is spreading beautiful black compost on the field garden.

 

While he was doing that, I worked on prepping the asparagus patch for the season.  Old dead ferns removed, the first of the early weeds dug out by their roots, compost applied to the top of each ridge and mulch laid down between the rows.  All set for the first little green spears to appear.  Asparagus has many beneficial qualities.  It's loaded with antioxidants that promote detoxification (no wonder some people feel it's a spring tonic) and is great for your gut health.  And we all know good gut health is instrumental in promoting health throughout our whole body.  So bring it on! 

First Day In Garden of 2024

One day this past week I went out into the nearly barren garden and started to do some clean-up.  (Thanks to my daughter for all the pictures.)

 

This was taken from a second story window.  I was able to till up three of the raised beds before the tines of the tiller got bogged down by wet soil.  We had had some rain the night before and we were thankful for every drop of it. 

 

I raked up straw I used for mulch in the pie pumpkin patch last year.  Back to the main mulch pile it went and will be used again.

 

Our little crocuses have started to pop.

 

How do their delicate blossoms survive 

in this cold weather?

 

A bunch of lovely lavender

and white ones.

 

What a welcome sign of spring, even though our temp has been dropping down to freezing at night.

 

A Job Well Done

Yesterday Papa Pea asked our daughter to re-glue a couple of spots on the kitchen floor where the self-stick tiles had come loose.  (Only 23 years on the floor that gets an incredible amount of traffic and they're failing us.  Geesh.)

 

I thought it was interesting to note the particular objects she chose to put pressure on the repaired spots while the glue dried.  What does that say about us?  Hmmm, a vise that isn't fastened to a work bench, bar bells and a couple cases of beer. 

Not Much of a Post . . . But It's Something

Have you noticed one thing leads to another?

 

~ You're dicing onions, and you're reminded your knives desperately need sharpening.

 

~ You take some burger buns out of the freezer and notice those two buns are the last so you need to make more.

 

~ A pencil is dropped on the floor and you spy what looks like two months of debris under the kitchen table.

 

~ You move houseplants off a shelf to dust and realize the soil in the pots resembles the Sahara Desert.

 

~ You fill the kindling basket with the last sticks from the kindling bin which means . . . you need to split more kindling.

 

Well, no wonder The List never gets done!

 

* * * * * * * *

 

I've spent part of the past two days on some clean-up from winter in my garden areas.  It gave me some wonderful fresh air and exercise.  And also the realization that certain muscles in my body evidently haven't been used since putting the garden to bed last fall.

 

I tilled up three of the raised beds to help get the compost spread last fall incorporated thoroughly before planting.

 

Planting?  Ha.  That won't happen around here for quite a while yet.  We've had a couple of days that reached the 50° mark but mostly the days have been in the 40s and going down into the 30s at night.

 

* * * * * * * *

 

About my blog posts lately . . . or lack thereof.  I actually have notes of ideas to write about scattered on my desk, but have been unable to pull them together into any semblance of order.  I took a look a day or so ago at some of my posts from the past and was impressed with the writing.  (Hope I didn't strain anything patting myself on the back.)  But currently, the words won't come.  What's happened?

Perhaps with gardening season soon beginning I'll gain inspiration.  (Come on, inspiration.  Get behind me and . . . inspire!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Playing with Fabric - Using Up Scraps

Knowing busy spring time may come early this year for us up here where winter never arrived (no snow on the ground when normally we would still have at least a couple of feet), I've been making time to play in my quilt room.

 

I knew I had a bunch of half-square triangles left over from a previous project and wanted to use them if possible.

 

I'm pretty sure they reproduced in storage.

 

End result?  I'm pleased, but all those pointy points to try to match!

 

Somehow, I still have 4,776 more triangles left.  Any ideas? 

Handwork Weekend

I spent a good share of this past weekend in my quilt room.  (Hooray!)  Two unfinished projects were worked on.

 

One piece was completed.  (Hooray, again!)  For now, it's hanging in our bathroom.  The design is from one of Kim Diehl's books.  She's my very favoritest professional quilter.  Love her work. 

 

The other UFO is a counted x-stitch piece started last year, but alas and alack, I didn't finish it before the Easter season.  Will I accomplish that this year?  I have a whole month and a half so there's a possibility I will.  The design ends up in a round shape, and I have a round wooden frame that I'm hoping might work for the final finishing.

 

Now, can I squeak out more time hiding in my quilt room today?  I may just try for that. 

Yin and Yang

The yin and yang symbol shows a balance between two opposites with a portion of the opposite element in each section.

 

~  I have a list of creative/fun projects I want to do these winter

     months.

*   I'm lacking the impetus to do any of them. 

 

~  The unseasonably warm weather and melting of the scant

     amount of snow we've gotten these past couple of months

     makes it easy to get around outside.

*  The perpetual dampness has gone straight to my bones.

 

~  My enthusiasm for planning this year's garden and ordering

     seeds has burst forth.

*   Have you noticed how much the price of seeds and postage

     has gone up?!

 

~  We had a wonderful visit with our California family during

     the middle of the month.

*   I have yet to get back to any semblance of my regular routine.

 

~   I've had plenty of time to shop, research, compare prices

      and purchase products online which we've needed for some

      time.

*    I hate shopping, researching, comparing prices and

      purchasing products online.

 

~   All in all, everything is fine and dandy.

*   There's a distinct chance I don't know what I'm talking

     about.  

Snow Slushies

What does your family call this winter treat for the kiddies (and sometimes big people, too)?  Snow cones or snow ice cream?  Or snow slushies as we do?

 

When our daughter was at our quasi-grandson's home yesterday, she introduced him to the snow slushies she remembers from her childhood.

 

She told him you go out and gather some clean snow in a container, bring it in and drizzle some fruit juice (apple, orange, grape or that of your choice . . . even maple syrup is yummy) over it, grab a spoon and enjoy.

 

When the two of them came here for a visit in the afternoon, after telling me about making slushies earlier in the day, they decided they should sample one with our snow.  The little squirt got a kick out of explaining it was okay to have the snow turn yellow if you used orange juice, but you had to stay away from snow that was yellow outside.  Big grin.

 

The only juice I had was grape so tongues ended up looking a bit questionable.

 

Too bad we can't make snow slushies in the hot summer time when they would be all the more appreciated. 

Finally!

The weather prediction was for us to get 4-6" of snow (Snow!?  What's that?) Thursday night to Friday morning.  Hubby said he thought we were really going to finally get our first, long-awaited snowfall of the season.  I've been tired of waiting for it and, having turned into a real bah-humbug, proclaimed it wouldn't happen.

 

What a pleasant surprise to see about 3" of (very, heavy, wet) snow yesterday morning.  It was beautiful with ground and trees coated.

 

The temperature read above 32° from the get-go and stayed at about 35° all day.  But for some reason, the snow didn't melt (as my continued bah-humbugging self insisted it would), and we felt almost giddy all day doing our various outside chores while trudging through the beautiful white stuff.

 

I snapped the above picture from our back entry at 4:30 this morning when I got up.  So, so glad to have the snow.  Especially since temperatures for this coming next week are supposed to plummet and folks were beginning to talk about frozen septic lines and such if we went into real winter temperatures without any ground cover.

 

Yep, happy, happy.  We love snow.  We missed having it for the holidays just past, but are pleased as punch to have it now.