Spring Fun

This is our driveway with a rather large puddle.

 One of the things that I have always loved about spring is the mud puddles.  Even up here in sand country with the spring rains and the melting snow we occasionally have puddles.  I still find it fun to make channels for the water to drain from one puddle to another and then off to where ever it will be absorbed into the earth faster.

Here is my channel.

Us adults can play in muddles too, as my son has called them.  This is how I spent my 5 minutes while I was waiting for my kids to get home on the bus yesterday.

How do you enjoy the spring?

Dirty Hands are Here

I have been waiting for this weekend for a really long time.  The snow is gone from the garden and the soil is no longer frozen in the raised beds.  Things have dried out a bit and my hand were able to get dirty.  It was a complete rush to be able to get in there and dig, to feel the soil between my fingers, to smell that sweet smell of freshly worked earth.  So relaxing and stress relieving.  Oh how I missed that.  No longer.  I have a good number of my beds cleaned up and weed free.  The kids were out there digging in the soil also.  I'm not sure that they actually pull out any weeds, but they had fun. 


Our over wintered carrots, just as crisp as last summer.





We harvested the remaining carrots from last year, about 8 lbs worth.  The kids couldn't wait until we got them in the house to wash them and munch.  I was amazed at how wonderful they are.  We did find some carrot mush out there also.  That was nasty grabbing hold of those carrots.  Yuck feeling.  I am going to keep some whole just for snacking, slice some for blanching and freezing and shred/freeze some for muffins.  I am excited to use my new food processor.  Oh and maybe I'll make some carrot juice also.  The possibilities are endless.  Can you tell I'm a tad bit excited to be back in the garden?  I know....I am obsessed.  Forgive me.

My compost barrel is looking snazzy in it's new spring style.  Isn't a fresh coat of black paint a wonderful thing?  Now I just have to get my other barrel (newly acquired) added to the system.  It has been painted and is awaiting holes and a longer pole to be threaded.  Once things dry out even more I will be painting the posts the same dark brown as the garden fence so it all looks nice together.  I think I might even add flower pot post toppers to beautify the compost system. 

This weekend I also starting ripping up my lily bed next to the west deck.  We used to have a split rail fence there, but it was a tad bit rotted out so I took it down.  I think it took me maybe 2 minutes to take it down.  Now it really looks strange there, but I'm expanding the bed also so that will hopefully help.  I left two of the fence posts, because they house bird houses and until I find other places to put them, I'm leaving them. 

Scott and I set up a temporary kennel for Freya for during the day.  That pup just doesn't get life in the house.  I know that she is a puppy and I know that she does know right & wrong, she is just choosing to not behave, much like our 3 year old twins girls.  Funny.  She will get to come in at night, so it isn't all bad.  Scott did some moving of cut up wood and some turkey scouting.  His turkey season starts this Wednesday and mine is next Wednesday.  So here starts the season of "Turkey Reports" between our house and Steve's.  (Steve is Scott's best friend and Adin's God Father.)  Scott, Steve and I are all going out on Wednesday.  My lovely friend Rebekah is coming over before 5 am to watch the kids so Scott and I can hunt together.  I am getting very excited to here that gobble getting closer and closer and to see that Tom all fluffed out and strutting.  Way cool.  I LOVE SPRING!

Spring Has Sprung

This morning I walked out the door into 40 degree bliss and it smelled delightful.  I could hear the water running down our drain spout, spring is really here.  Finally!  Our driveway is a mess, I am glad that I have my Muck boots, I practically live in them these days.  The kids are loving jumping in the mud puddles or "Muddles" as Adin still calls them.  It sure doesn't take them long to be completely soaked, but I don't mind.  I was the same way as a kid, you couldn't keep me out of those silly muddles.  The snow in the garden is even starting to disappear, although it still has a long way to go.  We do have some spots of nice green grass though.  They can be found in a nice line from the house to the barn, directly over the buried wood stove line.  Pretty interesting! 

Tomorrow Scott and Adin are taking the long drive to Merrill to pick up a bunch of insulated sliding glass door panels that we are going to use to build our greenhouse.  I am so excited.  Yeah for Craig's List.  The girls and I will be at day care for the day, playing and working respectively.  I guess I get to play some too.  :)  This kind of weather just makes me smile and puts me in the best mood.  Such a great day.

The Perfect Weekend

The best part of this weekend was celebrating Adin's 4th Birthday. He was so excited to finally be 4. It is hard to imagine that it has been that long and to think back to these days 4 years ago, the weather was much different. Instead of almost 60 degree weather we were having a snow storm with severely icy roads. Not fun. But this weekend was beautiful. Adin, Lizzy and Elle played outside almost all day yesterday with their cousins Tristan and Dylan.

There was lots of dirt digging and throwing by the kids and fence taking down by Scott and I with the help of Greta and Nico. Our once fully fenced backyard is no longer which will help Scott (who is now the proud owner of a new chainsaw) start cutting down the trees that we need to have removed. We also discovered that the little valley behind our house is full of Maple trees that next year we are going to tap and make syrup. We missed the flowing tap by a week or so this year.

We are still contemplating where to put the garden and how to go about the actual landscaping, but we are getting closer. Greta and I sat down and figured out exactly what we are going to put in our gardens and what seed packs we can split. She is going to do the ordering and then we'll get things started that need that bit of head start in the house and go from there. It was just so great to actually be outside yesterday and doing some physical work towards our projects and not just the planning. Maybe spring has actually started. Keep the beautiful weather coming.