It seems all I do these days is wait. In the mornings I wait for the sun to come up. Most days I work on sign orders which means I spend a lot of time waiting for paint to dry. All week long I wait for the weekend so I can work on projects. And this time of year I’m waiting for seeds to sprout. I’m waiting for the snow to melt. I’m waiting for warm weather. Wait, wait, wait. I’m pretty good at keeping myself occupied while I wait. I always have a book at hand for when a slow moment presents itself. Right now I’m reading Bill O’Reilly’s Killing the Rising Sun, a gritty but fascinating look at what it took for us to defeat Japan and end the Second World War. Books help me wait. Music also helps me wait. On the days when I’m not in school and I’m home painting, I queue up my favorite music and it helps me cope with the wait time between coats of paint. Right now I’m making my way through the orchestral suits of J. S. Bach, music I know well and never tire of re-exploring. And when I have time, I work on family history as much as I can. That’s what I do while I wait.
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| Crocuses emerging from the snow - at last. |
Yesterday, at last, I didn’t have to wait anymore. On Friday the weather finally turned warmer. The temperature rose into the 60's. On Saturday morning, I went outside, took a deep breath, and came back into the house and said to Stacey, “It’s lovely outside. It’s just like a spring morning!” And then I laughed because I realized it was a spring morning. I didn’t waste any time. I grabbed a rake and started cleaning out flower beds. I raked out piles and piles of winter debris. When I was done with that, I (finally) took down the Christmas lights on the front porch. Then I tidied the back porch.
From there, I went down and worked in the barn. I threw down a new bale of straw for the chickens and cleaned out their nesting boxes and filled them with fresh straw. Then I tidied the upper part of the barn. The chickens are happy for the lengthening days and they show their happiness by giving me two dozen eggs a day now, sometimes more. We only have a few people who buy our eggs and the supply is far greater than the demand right now. I sell them for $1.50 a dozen, which is a good price for farm fresh fertile eggs, but I still don’t have customers lining up to buy them. I’ve considered reducing the price to $1.00 a dozen. Meanwhile, when the refrigerator gets too full of egg cartons, we take them all to church and give them away.
From there, I went down and worked in the barn. I threw down a new bale of straw for the chickens and cleaned out their nesting boxes and filled them with fresh straw. Then I tidied the upper part of the barn. The chickens are happy for the lengthening days and they show their happiness by giving me two dozen eggs a day now, sometimes more. We only have a few people who buy our eggs and the supply is far greater than the demand right now. I sell them for $1.50 a dozen, which is a good price for farm fresh fertile eggs, but I still don’t have customers lining up to buy them. I’ve considered reducing the price to $1.00 a dozen. Meanwhile, when the refrigerator gets too full of egg cartons, we take them all to church and give them away.
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| An abundance of eggs. |
After I finished in the barn, I worked in the orchard raking up all the branches on the ground from my pruning last month. While I was in the orchard I heard and then saw the first bluebird of the year. It was singing in the hazel hedge and then it flew to one of my birdhouses and inspected it for a moment. I hope it nests there. I watched it until it flew away and then went back to raking. My hands are winter soft and all that raking wore a blister on my right hand, but I didn’t mind. It felt so good to be working outdoors again.
Then in the afternoon it started to rain and, reluctantly, I went indoors. Being outside inspired me so much that I sat right down and made my list of Spring Projects. One of my first projects will be to build some raised beds for my salad garden. I have eight different kinds of lettuce seeds waiting to go in the ground. I also have a construction project planned for down at the barn. I’m going to raise the level of some of the rafters so I’m not always ducking (or hitting my head when I forget to duck). And my favorite Spring Project – spring cleaning in the house. Soon, on a fine warm, and sunny day, we will begin gutting each room in the house and cleaning it from top to bottom. We’ll wipe down walls and wash windows. We’ll empty closets and cupboards and sort and sift and throw away or give away all that we can. I love spring cleaning.
Last week my walking iris plants finally began to bloom. I have two pots of them, gifts that two different friends gave me last year. I keep them on the lower plant shelf in the music room where they seem to thrive. Two weeks ago, blossom stems began to emerge and I’ve been waiting for the flowers to open. I have to watch them carefully because each flower only stays open for a day and the last time they bloomed I wasn’t paying attention and missed them. The flowers are lovely and their fragrance is wonderful.
Then in the afternoon it started to rain and, reluctantly, I went indoors. Being outside inspired me so much that I sat right down and made my list of Spring Projects. One of my first projects will be to build some raised beds for my salad garden. I have eight different kinds of lettuce seeds waiting to go in the ground. I also have a construction project planned for down at the barn. I’m going to raise the level of some of the rafters so I’m not always ducking (or hitting my head when I forget to duck). And my favorite Spring Project – spring cleaning in the house. Soon, on a fine warm, and sunny day, we will begin gutting each room in the house and cleaning it from top to bottom. We’ll wipe down walls and wash windows. We’ll empty closets and cupboards and sort and sift and throw away or give away all that we can. I love spring cleaning.
Last week my walking iris plants finally began to bloom. I have two pots of them, gifts that two different friends gave me last year. I keep them on the lower plant shelf in the music room where they seem to thrive. Two weeks ago, blossom stems began to emerge and I’ve been waiting for the flowers to open. I have to watch them carefully because each flower only stays open for a day and the last time they bloomed I wasn’t paying attention and missed them. The flowers are lovely and their fragrance is wonderful.
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| My walking irises. |
Besides the first bluebird, we had two other good bird sightings last week. On Friday Stacey called to say there was a pair of tundra swans on the pond at the house where she works. I drove down to look at them and take some photos. Then on our way home from church today we saw a bald eagle. We’re pretty sure it is the immature eagle we saw in that area last year. Now he is grown up and has his beautiful white feathered head. I had the camera with me, but not my telephoto lens, so the photo isn’t too good.
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| The tundra swans. |
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| The bald eagle (you have to look closely). |
It is overcast and rainy again today and looks like the rain will be with us through the middle of the week. That’s a little bit frustrating, but it’s better than snow. So I’ll be waiting for the fine weather to return. I’m used to waiting.
