We finally had some nice weather last week. Most of the snow is gone at last. There are just two stubborn patches left in our yard, one over by the compost pile and one on the west side of the house where the pine trees make deep shade. The first of the crocuses, the yellow ones, are in bloom and the purple and white ones are in bud. All the spring bulbs are bursting through the ground.
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| Yellow crocuses. |
On Monday I finally opened my beehive. My fears were correct. The hive was dead. Stacey helped me take it apart. There was plenty of honey in the frames, so I know they did not starve. After doing some research, I think the winter weather was just too much for them. They weren’t as protected from the wind as they should have been. We had too many sub-zero days. The honey in the hive is still good and we are in the process of harvesting it. Now I’m preparing for my new bees. They will arrive later this month. Josiah and I moved the hive platform to a more protected area. I hope that will prevent such a thing from happening again.
On Tuesday and Thursday I finally got to do some work outside. I raked out all the flower beds. We gathered all the fallen branches and twigs that had accumulated over the winter and all the prunings from the orchard and added them to last year’s Christmas tree out in the fire pit and we had our first fire of the year. I received notice early in the week that my fruit tree order was being shipped to me, so on Wednesday after school Josiah and I dug the holes for them out in the orchard extension.
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| Josiah swinging while he tends the fire. |
Unfortunately with all the raking, weeding, and digging, I overdid it. By Thursday afternoon I’d thrown my back out. I didn’t realize I was in trouble until I came in the house and sat down and couldn’t get out of the chair again. I had to hobble around school on Friday, which was embarrassing. Now, three days later, I still can’t stand up straight, but I’m recovering bit by bit. I’ll have to take it easy for a while. It’s a good thing I have Josiah to help me.
On Friday my tree order arrived. With my back out, I got to act as supervisor while Stacey and Josiah did all the work of planting the trees. We planted ten trees – six apple, two pear, and two plum. We also had four blueberry bushes to plant, but the ground where they are to grow was covered with a layer of sawdust mulch which insulated the ground and it was still frozen solid. We moved the sawdust so the ground can thaw and will plant the bushes tomorrow. On Saturday my strawberry plants arrived. The bed where they are to be planted is not ready, so they are on the back porch waiting. I have a lot of work to do this week.
There are lots of things happening in the beaver pond across the road. The beavers have been busy. There are two lodges in the pond now and they have extended the dam and enlarged the pond. It now has an upper and lower level. The pond is filled with wildlife – ducks, geese, herons, all sorts of songbirds, and soon there will be frogs. In the past I’ve seen a few wood ducks now and then on other ponds around here, but the last few weeks the beaver pond has been full of them. One day I counted seven drakes and one hen cavorting on the water engaged in their spring courtship, chasing each other, splashing, and turning in tight circles on the water. I hope they settle in and nest there. Wood ducks are beautiful. I think that a pair of hooded mergansers have also taken up residence at the west end of the pond among the willow brush. And there’s a pair of Canada geese building a nest on the far side of the pond in the weedy brush. I’ve set a chair on the edge of my meadow at the top of the bank that overlooks the pond. I sit there when I can and try to take pictures of all the activity across the road. I love to sit and watch it all.
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| My chair overlooking the beaver pond. |
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| Wood ducks on the beaver pond. |
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| A pair of hooded mergansers on the beaver pond. |
This is General Conference weekend. Yesterday we watched both general sessions over at Shillig’s house. They were wonderful sessions. In between the sessions Kurt and Julie provided lunch – sandwiches and chips, one of my favorite meals. Then in the evening, Josiah and I watched the Priesthood Session on the computer at home. Today we will watch the last two sessions at Shillig’s again. I love General Conference weekend. The messages are so inspiring and timely. I love the music. And I love that we can watch all the sessions at home on the computer (or even better, at the Shillig’s home on a big screen TV). I remember when I was a child it was not like this. When I was very small we were lucky if we could watch just one session via our local television station. Then when I was a teenager the church started broadcasting audio transmissions to the stake centers and we could sit and listen to the sessions. Then satellite technology arrived and we could watch the sessions at the church. Now cable, satellite, and the internet allow us to watch it all in our own homes. Technology is such a great blessing.
