First Day of Spring

I went out last night, when the light was just right to catch a few pictures of how spring in going around Rainy Day Farm. I hope you enjoy the progress.

We have been having an very warm winter this year thanks to El Nino and it has been wonderful. Plants are blooming and birds are singing. It has been wonderful. So the first day of spring here is going to be wonderful. The weather forecast is for 65 and sunny. We are going to celebrate by tilling the garden and getting started. I am excited to improve this year and produce and store even more food.

My Hawthorne Tree is just beginning to bud.

This is a little out of focus, but there is a bee gathering nectar on my weeping cherry tree. The bees have been enjoying this tree all week as it is in full bloom.

The raspberries are growing their leaves.

The chickens are laying more wonderful eggs.

I was so excited to open the blinds and see the Swallows have returned just in time for the first day of Spring. Now I need to repair the bird house and get it ready for the returning pair that raise their young on my front porch. So much fun in spring. Have a wonderful start to spring!

Campfire Hypnosis

What is it about a campfire that is so mesmerizing? Is it the flames licking at the wood, the light dancing around the shadows, or the warmth that radiates from the wood that cannot be duplicated?
I love sitting around with fire with family and talking. With no electronic interference, but really having a good time as humans have for millions of years. A campfire just makes you want to round up a stick and roast something. This hot dog would not taste the same boiled on the stove (YUK!!), or nuked in the microwave (double yuk). Roasted over and open fire is the finest way to roast a hot dog.
And who can forget the smore. It is a camping staple in our family. You can't resist that oooy goooy yumminess. It is messy and oh so rich. One is usually all it takes for me.

For some reason I love fire, as in warm comfort, not burning things down. I grew up with a wood stove as the main source of heat and loved standing next to the stove on cold days. Our wood stove was in the corner of the living room and there was the perfect spot to stand next to it and warm our chilled bodies. Of course it was the favorite spot and all 4 of us kids would fight over it, as kids do. I always enjoyed the warm cozy feeling that was in our home from that old wood stove. I don't care for the forced air swirling around me now. It always feels a little cold, unless you crank it and also crank your electric bill.

Don't you just want to have a cup of cocoa and read a good book in that chair with a blanket over your legs. As it is drizzling and gray outside today, I long for a fire to warm me through. So here is to cozy warmth, whether it be around the campfire or a pot bellied stove, enjoy! Now I am off to fold 150 loads of laundry and dream of the campfire!

Sunday Beauty

Ok, I am here in blogland denying that I have 4 loads of laundry sitting on the floor behind me staring at me. It is boring into my back, and I can feel every shirt, sock and towel calling out to me to be folded, but I am stronger than that and I am going to ignore their pleas. I have been wanting to do this post for a couple days and laundry be darned!
The kids and I had so much fun on Sunday. We have been cooped up in the house for two weeks with a nasty flu bug and I was going a little buggy from being in the house for so long. So we decided to take a drive and get out of the house. Somehow we ended up at a near by park and I thought it would be fun to get out and stretch our legs and enjoy nature a bit. I plopped Landon in the backpack and set out to try and keep up with the kids.
Soley thought that she had died and gone to heaven because we decided to take her along, and she never gets to go anywhere with us, so this was quite the treat. Of course the first thing she does is POOP right along the path where all the people are. All that space and she hast to poop right where someone will most likely step in it! Since I already had a kid on my back and a camera around my neck, I had not thought to bring a poop baggy. Hey, I come from the country, your dog goes as it pleases, no picking up hot poop with your hand. Yuck! I did feel quilty and couldn't just leave it there for all the other people to cuss me as I left. So, I found a piece of bark and flicked it into the nearest bush. Let me tell you my hand was wwwwaaaayyyy to close to that poop. I could feel a dry heave coming for sure. Needless to say I flicked and bolted.
So off we went. It was lovely and peaceful. I could not have asked for a nicer moment with my kids. I also took the opportunity to share my Woodsy the Owl knowledge (give a hoot, don't pollute) and taught the kids to identify a few of the plants that I know.
The trail sign said it was only 3/4 of a mile loop. Well, I have been spending too much time on this stool, blogging, all winter and am a bit soft, that 3/4 of mile felt more like 40 by the time we got back to the car. Plus I was carrying an extra 25lbs on my back. I even managed to break the kids. They spent the first half running up the trail and the second half with me prodding them with a stick down the trail to the car. I must have looked a little wiped because several people said I looked tired and they were worried about me! That was such a confidence builder! I think we need to hit the trails a little more often. I should at least play the Wii a few times a week.
We did have a lot of fun and there was only one crying session, when Addison tripped on a tree root and went down a bit hard. There was no blood, thank goodness. We plan to get out and stretch our legs more frequently this summer. Happy Hiking!