Our week began under a blanket of white. It was snowing on Monday afternoon when we got home from our weekend in Toledo, but it had just barely begun sticking. By the time I got up on Tuesday morning, there was three inches of it on the ground. I had to go out and clean the cars off before anyone could leave for work. It was not a happy way to start the week. But then, it is not uncommon for us to have snow in mid-April. Or in May for that matter. Uncommon or not, it makes me grumble. The snow left my flowerbeds a shambles. Any flower that was brave enough to be blooming got plastered. Most of them revived, but this snow finished off the last of the crocuses.
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| Tuesday morning. |
On Wednesday it warmed enough to melt most of the snow and as soon as it was gone, we went outside to work. Miriam was my helper all day. We planted asparagus – 20 new plants in a row out in the big garden. We mulched the new fruit trees in the orchard. We worked on dismantling the old peacock pen in preparation for building the new pen. We helped Kurt shovel loads of mushroom soil onto one of the long rows in the big garden which he tilled in to prepare for planting peas. It felt great to be out in the sunshine working.
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| Wednesday. |
After such a nice day, Thursday was a bit dismal. It was cooler and rainy. Sometimes the best thing I can say about the weather is “at least it didn’t snow.” Thursday did have some excitement. We ordered some fencing for the new peacock pen from Tractor Supply and they notified us on Thursday that it had arrived at the store. Miriam and Hannah are taking a sign language class in Wellsville on Thursday evenings, so a trip to Wellsville was already planned. I went along with them and while they were in class, I went to Tractor Supply and got the fence, our biweekly supply of chicken feed and, while I was at it, a dozen chicks. They didn’t have the breed I wanted, but they had older pullets of other breeds on sale, so I bought six Black Australorp and six Silver Laced Wyandotte chicks. So we have chicks in the house, and that’s always exciting.
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| Our new chicks. |
Friday was a nice day, sunny and warmer. As soon as we got home from school, Miriam and I went out to work on the new peacock pen. But while we were working, Kurt wanted to plant peas, so we stopped and helped him. When Stacey got home she joined us. We planted a 100' long row of peas and put up a 100' of support fence. By then it was time for dinner. Hannah made our traditional Friday night pizza. After dinner Hannah, Miriam, and I went back out and worked on the peacock pen until it started to get dark. We finished putting in the posts and setting up the perimeter fence. I love looking out at the end of the day and seeing all the things we’ve accomplished.
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| The pea row. |
Saturday we got to go to the temple. It had been a while since we had last gone. Our temple was closed for a long time and when it finally reopened, it was difficult to schedule a time to go. The drive across Western New York to and from Palmyra was beautiful. The trees are starting to bud out and the hills are growing greener. We saw flowers blooming in the yards of houses in the towns we drove through. We had a great experience at the temple and the temple grounds were lovely with beds of daffodils and hyacinths. I always feel renewed in spirit after going to the temple.
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| The Palmyra Temple. |
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| Daffodils at the temple. |
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| The temple. |
When we got back from the temple in the afternoon, we worked in the yard. I mowed the lawn for the first time this year. Miriam, Hannah, and I worked some more on the peacock pen. I think we will finish it tomorrow and then move the peacocks in. They are anxious to get out of the cramped quarters of their pen inside the barn. Posey, the male, is trying to court Petunia, the female, and there isn’t room in the barn for him to display his beautiful tail to full effect. While we worked on our projects, Kurt was busy hauling fertilizer to his newly dug garden rows and tilling it in. We now have beds ready to plant beans, potatoes and corn (not for a few more weeks) and strawberries (as soon the mulch I ordered arrives). We are also going to try growing a patch of wheat. I’ve never grown a grain crop like wheat before, so it will be a new experience. This week I will plant spinach and lettuce out in my raised beds. It’s going to be a big garden year this year.
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| Rhubarb is up. |
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| Hyacinths in the long border. |
With a bit of warmer weather, the world is greening rapidly, and the animal kingdom is busy too. The female robins have arrived and for a few days there was some drama as the males battled for territory. They were contending for the nesting shelf under the eaves of the back porch. Apparently it is a coveted spot. One pair finally won and they are busy building a nest there and making a mess on that side of the house in the process. The deer are also more interested in my garden as the new plants emerge. They have managed to eat the tops off of all my tulips. I bought some deer repellent, but too late to save the tulips. Now that the water in our little pond has warmed up, the frog eggs have hatched and there are thousands of tiny tadpoles. In the evenings and through most of the night, the peepers in the beaver pond across the road are in full voice. They make an impressive amount of happy noise.
Speaking of happy noises. This morning before church I took a walk around the yard. It was a beautiful, sunny morning. The grass was wet with dew (a nice change from the usual frost). I walked over to look at the big garden and was delighted to hear a brown thrasher singing in one of the big pine trees. We don’t have mockingbirds here, we are a bit too far north for them, but we have brown thrashers and they are almost as good. Their song isn’t as melodic as a mockingbirds, but I love the crazy mix of buzzing, trilling, and fluting in their song. As I walked across the yard, the thrasher flew from the pine tree to the hazel hedge where it began singing again. I hope it nests there. I could listen to its singing all day long.
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| Brown Thrasher (not my photo). |
We’re home from church now. It’s beautiful outside – the nicest day we’ve had in such a long time. It’s sunny and 75° with fluffy clouds in a bright blue sky. The world is so lovely on fine spring days like this. After we eat lunch, I plan to go out and enjoy this gorgeous spring Sabbath day.
