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Hi Everyone,
I have always preferred to change out my seasonal décor around the first of the month, not willing to wait until the official dates of the Spring Equinox, the Summer Solstice, the Autumn Equinox, or the Winter Solstice. It always felt like spring the beginning of March, like summer the beginning of June, like autumn the beginning of September, and like winter the beginning of December. Then the other day I was reading in a magazine and I learned about meteorological seasons, where the seasons begin on the first day of the months that include equinoxes and solstices. So, meteorologically speaking, spring is from March 1st to May 31st. I knew that I didn’t have to wait until the 19 to start celebrating spring!
All around us there are signs of spring:
Flowers
When the days are cold and dreary, working outside in the flower beds is honestly the last thing on your agenda. Once the days begin to warm up a little and the sun comes out to shine bright and cheerily, it is a torturous day if you cannot get outside and get your hands in the dirt. There are those things that you dream about doing for ever and ever—and then one day you wake up and say, “Today is the day that I make my dream come true!” A few years ago we began to dream about turning the area around our sidewalk into a little courtyard filled with flowers, rocks, and small trees. We already had a Meyer’s lemon tree, and two large Louis Philippe Roses. Last year we planted some irises along the porch, and I bought Mom a rose and clematis for Mother’s Day. A few weeks ago Mom decided that it was time to expand the beds. We have removed sod, and replaced it with flowers that we transplanted form the garden. I originally thought that we would map out our designs on paper, but in the end Mom used a hose—you know a winding snake like garden hose! Since it bends easily, she could use it to make the shape of the bed, and then she would use a shovel and dig out the edges to shape the bed. Those edges were then outlined in rock—of which we have scoured woods and barns for all that we can find. Once the beds are designed, weeded, trimmed with rock and planted with flowers, Mom then mulches the bed so that the weeds do not see the light of day and decide to grow. Last week we weeded one side of the steps where some irises were growing. Next we bought a large black tub to collect the rain water that is digging holes in the dirt. Where the water overflows, we designed a little river rock path. We are now working on getting rock to go all the way around the lemon tree. We have half of it rocked, fertilized, and mulched. Mom says that we need about 10 more rocks to finish that section. We also got under the roses all weeded, rock outlines and mulched. We have enjoyed getting a chance to make another section of our life—pretty.
Bird nests
We are not the only ones making our surroundings pretty though. The bluebirds and the mockingbirds are busy building their nests. The bluebirds have a bluebird house in the backyard, but the mockingbirds usually make nests in the holly tree. A common sight is watching the “love birds” chase each other all over the place—through the trees, around the clothesline, on the fences, and in the rose bushes. The other morning I saw one of the mockingbirds take off with a rose from the back arbor. I guess she was adding some feminine touches to her nest—or was it the male bringing his loved one a rose?
Rain!
One thing that has definitely arrived is the spring rains. Last Tuesday and Wednesday we got close to 3 inches of rain total. When it was all done raining, the grasses and trees were very green. The Tete-a-Tete daffodils are bursting open all over the place. Tuesday was a perfect day to spend inside—and we had plenty of things to do to occupy our time. Of course we had to get our outside chores done first—and thankfully the rain wasn’t too heavy. To help us “pass the time away” we had an egg packaging party which lasted most of the day. Then after lunch Papa and I headed to the butcher to pick up the latest steer we had taken in. I do not think that the butcher thought too kindly of us showing up in the pouring down rain to pick up 7 heavy boxes of meat. He would have probably preferred that we had come on Monday when the weather was nice—but that was the problem, the weather was too nice to be working inside on Monday. Anyway, when we got home with the meat we then had to get it organized in the freezer. When that was done we went ahead and packed the meat orders for the Jacksonville and Gainesville orders. Since we had been out of most cuts of meat for so long, when people found out that new beef was arriving, they ordered big—and some cuts were sold out in the first hour.
Fresh Veggies
The rain was still falling from the sky on Wednesday, but our garden buddies Sue and Leo were just anxious to come over and garden. Since it was raining, Leo helped us get ready for our Jacksonville delivery, and later helped Steve gather the daily supply of eggs. Sue on the other hand was getting her hands dirty in the greenhouse. She planted seeds for the spring garden, and then she transplanted some cauliflower and broccoli. She didn’t get to finish before it was time to go home, so she came back Thursday—when the weather was much sunnier, though pretty cold. When she was done playing in the greenhouse, then we headed to the garden to harvest some of the fresh produce—lettuce, carrots, beets, onions, kale, Swiss chard, thyme, parsley, oregano and sage. Yes, the garden is bursting with fresh veggies to tempt anyone’s palate, for there is also spinach, collards, broccoli, cabbage, and strawberries (if the roaches don’t get to them first). We thought that rats were eating our strawberries, so we made wire cages to go over them—to only find out that the culprit was not rats, but roaches.
Décor
All week Mom and I looked forward to exchanging the winter décor with the spring décor. At the same time, we hated to take down the winter décor because we had really enjoyed its beauty, and were not tired of the pretty lights that graced our door ways. We knew that Saturday was the day to change the décor, and we didn’t exactly know how we wanted to decorate for the spring. So, Friday afternoon Mom and I headed to Hobby Lobby to see what we could find. For years we have wanted some spring garland. We have summer garland, fall garland, and winter garland, but the doorways remained barren all spring. This year we were able to actually find some pretty garland—well, we actually had to buy two kinds and remove the leaves from one and wind the two together to make some pretty garland. We were also able to pick up a few cute rabbits—the normal décor in our dining room is rabbits, and spring is a great time to add in a few more. Come Saturday afternoon we set out to take down the winter décor and replace it with spring décor. Our hardest part was trying to figure out which tablecloth to use. I do not know how many tablecloths we unfolded, and folded back up. In the end we settled with a pink tablecloth with a white antique fancily decorated little tablecloth in the middle. This year we were blessed to be able to buy enough glass to cover the whole table—this way we can decorate the table with all our fancy linens, put the glass over it, and then we can wash off the crumbs instead of having to take the whole table apart to clean the linens.
We didn’t get to finish all our spring decorating, or even winter removing—because decorating was not the only thing that we had to do on Saturday. Every day of the week starts out with the cows needing to be milked. Right now we are also working at halter breaking three new heifers. Getting the halters on them was the easy part, but training them to come in and be lead around by the halter is a different story. America will come in by herself, and then we can pet her all over—but to be lead around on a rope, NO WAY! When the cows were all done, then we had to bottle the milk and pack the Gainesville order. After the packing was done, then I headed to the garden to harvest the produce for the orders. We had lots of company too. We had multiple sets of customers, a crew arrived to seal all the seams on the outside of the Poultry kitchen, and the Crane Crew arrived to start working on our water lines in the house. Last week my bathroom sprung two leaks in the copper piping—one to my shower and one beside my toilet that brings the hot water to the bathroom. So now the whole house needs to have the water lines replaced. Rome was not built in a day, and while we can think faster than we can act, I know that the water pipes will not be replaced in a day. Did you ever hear about the man who was visiting some friends, and when they went to eat he noticed that the plate was dirty? The hostess told him that the plates were as clean as “Coldwater” could get them. He understood, and they ate their dinner. When the meal was all over the friend called for “Coldwater,” and a dog came running to lick the platters clean. We have laughed over this story many a time last week, as we rinse our dishes in cold water, or try to wash the grease off of our hands. I am thankful that we still have hot water in two bathrooms—for that allows us to get hot showers, and to collect hot water to wash our dishes with. It is amazing that you do not realize how dependent you are of something until it is gone. Mom and I laugh back and forth as neither one of us can remember—that we have no hot water in the kitchen sink. We are always turning the hot water on—but nothing comes out. Habits die hard! We are really surviving quite well, and we get more family time working together because of it. Mom washes the dishes, I rinse them, and Papa dries them. Yes, dishes are a family affair lately.
I hope that you enjoy this first week of spring. The weather looks like it will be real nice, so get outside, listen to the birds sing, find a bird nest, get dirt under your finger nails, and work at bringing some of your dreams to reality.
Serving you with Gladness,
Tiare