I suddenly realized last week that we’ve arrived at that time of year when it’s already getting light when I get up at 6:00 a.m. I don’t have to turn a light on to dress in the mornings anymore. I love these long days – and they’re still getting longer.
We finally had some nice spring weather last week and we took full advantage of it. On Tuesday after school Josiah and I planted onions, strawberries, pawpaw trees, and kiwi vines. On Wednesday we planted raspberries. The weather was still a bit on the chilly side most of the week, but as the weekend approached it grew warmer – into the 70's by Saturday! Of course at night it still gets cold enough to give us frost every morning. That’s normal for us here in the Allegany Highlands. But it looks like spring is here again after a brief relapse into winter. The peepers are singing in the evening again. The flowers that were stalled by the cold have resumed growing. The goldfinches are gold again. A pair of chickadees have moved into one of the birdhouses and are busy making a nest. And the tree swallows returned on Thursday.
We finally had some nice spring weather last week and we took full advantage of it. On Tuesday after school Josiah and I planted onions, strawberries, pawpaw trees, and kiwi vines. On Wednesday we planted raspberries. The weather was still a bit on the chilly side most of the week, but as the weekend approached it grew warmer – into the 70's by Saturday! Of course at night it still gets cold enough to give us frost every morning. That’s normal for us here in the Allegany Highlands. But it looks like spring is here again after a brief relapse into winter. The peepers are singing in the evening again. The flowers that were stalled by the cold have resumed growing. The goldfinches are gold again. A pair of chickadees have moved into one of the birdhouses and are busy making a nest. And the tree swallows returned on Thursday.
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| Hyacinths finally. |
I mowed the lawn for the first time yesterday. The grass is just starting to grow so my mowing was mostly grinding up pine cones and twigs. But the lawn looked nice and tidy when I was done. I love the smell of cut grass. I’m mowing even less lawn this year. I stopped mowing the orchard last year and this year I’ve stopped mowing under the big maple trees in the front yard. Although I like to mow, I’m not a fan of large expanses of lawn. The area I mow gets smaller every year and I like it that way. I started more seeds last week – zinnias and marigolds, bright, high summer flowers. The seeds I started previously are doing well. It feels so good to have the garden underway.
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| The front yard after the first mowing of the year. |
This weekend was a Regional Priest/Laurel Conference in Albany, New York. Because we live so far out in the boondocks, our children have never participated much in stake or regional youth events. Stacey decided that Josiah needed to attend this one just so he could spend some time with other LDS youth. She made arrangements so we wouldn’t have to drive him all the way to Albany. On Friday we drove up to Canandaigua, New York, (a two hour drive for us as opposed to five hours to Albany) to drop Josiah off at our friends, the Yoder’s, house. Since we were so close to the temple, we decided to go there first and do some family file baptisms. On our way to the temple, we saw that our new Bishop’s Storehouse was having its open house, so we stopped there to check it out. It’s a wonderful facility. It’s right across the road from the Hill Cumorah. After that we went on to the temple. That was a great experience.
From the temple we drove back to Canandaigua and dropped Josiah off at the Yoder’s where he spent the night with a bunch of other priests from the Canandaigua Ward. Early Saturday morning Jacob Yoder drove the boys over to Albany. They were there all day. They arrived back at Yoder’s very late last night. Josiah spent the night with them again and will go to church with them today. Stacey and I are driving up after church to pick him up. We’ll be interested to hear his report on the conference. We’ll have dinner with the Yoder family and then drive home. That means we won’t get home until later this evening, which is why I’m sending this journal early before we leave for church.
The weather was beautiful yesterday. I was outdoors working all day and I loved it. My son Daniel sent me a camping hammock as a gift and it arrived on Thursday. Yesterday afternoon, after I’d finished all my work and was ready to relax, I set the hammock up in the woodland garden to try it out. I know where I will be spending a lot of time this summer.
From the temple we drove back to Canandaigua and dropped Josiah off at the Yoder’s where he spent the night with a bunch of other priests from the Canandaigua Ward. Early Saturday morning Jacob Yoder drove the boys over to Albany. They were there all day. They arrived back at Yoder’s very late last night. Josiah spent the night with them again and will go to church with them today. Stacey and I are driving up after church to pick him up. We’ll be interested to hear his report on the conference. We’ll have dinner with the Yoder family and then drive home. That means we won’t get home until later this evening, which is why I’m sending this journal early before we leave for church.
The weather was beautiful yesterday. I was outdoors working all day and I loved it. My son Daniel sent me a camping hammock as a gift and it arrived on Thursday. Yesterday afternoon, after I’d finished all my work and was ready to relax, I set the hammock up in the woodland garden to try it out. I know where I will be spending a lot of time this summer.
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| My new hammock. |
We don’t have school tomorrow. Josiah and I will be working all day on accomplishing some of the things on The List. The weather looks like it will be perfect again. I’m hoping we’ll be able to clean the back porch and the woodshed and do some work down at the barn. We need to work on straightening the fence around the chicken yard. It’s sagging in some places. We also will work on the chick pen. We’ve set aside a part of the barn for new chicks and it needs a lot of work. We’ve got to patch holes in the fence, clean out the old litter, put down fresh straw, and generally get it ready for new chicks that will be here on May 4th.
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| The garden on Saturday. |
It’s a beautiful Sabbath morning here. The sun is up over the hill just now and the world is glowing with golden sunlight. The birds are busy at the feeders. I just saw a robin carry a piece of string into one of spruce trees, so nesting has begun for them too. There was just a light frost last night and it’s already gone except in the shade. We’ve got fresh sourdough bread for toast for breakfast. And then we’re off to church and beyond. Welcome, welcome, Sabbath morning!
