happy happy toy toy

 Green green green!

Things are really popping now.

apple tree budding

garden spearmint

lilacs

garden euphorbia

We're going to have to take animal predation a little more seriously this year, though.  Once again, I have lots of beautiful columbine mounds...

...whose flowers get eaten by rabbits as soon as they send up a stalk.

Last year was the first year that we didn't get a single flower from the garden...in prior years, there were so many!  Ugh...rabbits.

Unusual - especially in the spring! - the deer are getting into our front beds for the daylilies.

Todd has caught deer in our front bird feeders several times...they must have noticed the daylilies while passing through.  

Daffodils are still going strong, and other bulbs that I've planted...scilla, muscari, and hyacinth...are in bloom now too!  I love my little spring bouquets.

 

My indoor seed test went well, too.  About a third of the seeds tested sprouted.

Nice to be able to eliminate old seeds and add seeds to my planting pile.  

Claudia is not ready to give up on winter, though.  She loves sleeping in the heated barn when it gets really cold, and I frequently find her sitting on the doorstep out there, hoping to sneak in for a nap!  

Otherwise...Todd and I were at a toy show all weekend.  Now, you can imagine how I feel about toy shows, as someone who hates noise, crowds, germs, and deviations from my routine.  My energy drains out by about 9 a.m. on the first (of three) days and I feel a lot like this kid I saw:  

It's always kind of fun to see adults in costumes...

...but with my arm in a sling because of terrible tendonitis and my knee wonky from three days on concrete, you can imagine how thrilled I am to be home and now potentially YEARS away from the next toy show!  Recovery from a toy show is really tough...they're so tiring.  Even TODD day-naps for a couple of days after a show!

So glad to be home with my cats.

Hoping for a quick recovery so that I can be back on the trails in a couple of days...have a great week!

speed seeds

A busy spring week!  Daffodils are blooming everywhere and I love my first spring bouquets.

I realized, belatedly, that it was mid-March and I still hasn't gotten my winter sowing started.  Many winter-sown seeds require a good freeze to help loosen the seed coat, and our weather has been so contradictory.  A few 70 degree days will get things really popping in a greenhouse, so I needed to time my sowing for a chilly stretch.  After several too-warm days, I lucked into a really cold week - 20s overnight, 40s during the day.  Perfect!  I've worked for hours in the barn to get these greenhouses out.

Each mini greenhouse holds at least 4 varieties of seed.  There's quite a bit here!  I've been really hampered by my shoulder tendonitis - I can barely lift my arm - so Todd has had to drill air/water holes in the containers and heft water jugs and soil for me, which he has done cheerfully.  He also found another bag of seeds in the barn, so I'm going to be really busy this year!  

Besides the winter sowing outside, I've got seed tests going on inside.  I've got at least 50 of tiny baggies of old seed.  I don't want to waste time/supplies by planting it if it isn't any good, so I put a few samples of each questionable seed in a damp paper towel, which I inserted into a plastic baggie and arranged on a heat mat. In about a week, I'll check and see if any seeds are sprouting.  If so, they'll be planted.  Bum seeds will be tossed - finally!  I'm especially curious about the zinnias.  How did I end up with over twenty varieties?!?

Barnabas loves to sit on the sorting table while I work.  I have to watch him - he's very interested in everything gardening-related.  Last year, we had to run him to the vet after he ate some sweet pea seedlings!  He was fine, and his vet experience didn't deter him a bit.  He's always looking to sneak a nibble!   

Yesterday was St. Patrick's Day.  I love holidays and our traditions, so as usual I made our slice-and-bake rainbow sugar cookies.  This year, though, I gave myself a little challenge.  Did we really need 30 cookies sitting around the house?  Probably not.  I reduced the recipe to 1/4 of the original, which made a tidy 5 cookies.

Perfect...and delicious!

I also made Irish soda bread and a cabbage, sausage, pepper, and potato dish.  Hooray for holidays!!

Otherwise, we've been taking our short walks and longer hikes...somewhat less pleasant when the temperatures dip into the thirties!  Noting new growth...

American Elm

Ornamental Pear

...and enjoying the fresh air.  The kittens, too, are enjoying having the windows open when weather permits, and when not, at least taking advantage of the sunbeams.

Awwww...they love each other!

A very comfortable nap

Looking forward to slightly warmer days ahead.

Have a great week! 

and I dream I'm an eagle

 More signs of spring!  First, the GREEN.

Cursed Crowfoot

Ceratodon Purpureus

Cinquefoil

Hairy Bittercress

And the most exciting...the first spring ephemeral!!!

Cut-Leaf Toothwort

Lots of trees starting to bud...

Redbud

Green in the garden, with no help from me.

Shasta Daisies

Parsley

And insect life!!

Sawfly

Millipede

Aquatic life...

Gastropods (freshwater snails)

Our porch possum is more active too!

Lots of beautiful birds, including this grackle...

...and even an eagle!  I'm convinced one is nesting in our woods...I saw several flyovers last year but never seemed to have my camera.  This time I had it, but the wrong lens.  Still, his identity could be made.

Wood ducks have returned to our front pond, too.  A nesting pair!

I love doing daily checks for new signs of spring.  Our morning walk is still fairly brown...

...but it won't be long now.  The mantle is decorated with flowers from the yard...

...and soon we'll celebrate the first official day of spring!  Claudia is loving the warmer temperatures.  She's great company when I poke around in the yard.

The indoor cats are loving those rays of sunshine, too!

This is such an exciting time of year.  Last week I started sweet peas indoors...next week I'll fire up the grow lights and start agrostemma, sugar snap peas, radishes, bachelor buttons, and a few other cool-loving annuals!  Big plans for the garden this year.

Have a great week!