Dear Friends,
After experiencing a short "summer" in the first two weeks of March, now we are having more "winter" when the calendar says "spring!" It hasn't been cold enough to snow, but it has been cool enough to make us grateful that we can wear layers for a little while longer, instead of perspiring in the coolest things we can find. :)
The little apple tree out back is leafing out,
Violets are so pretty all over the yard,
Love is in the air (and lots of squabbling birds and squirrels),
The comfrey successfully overwintered in the big pot outside,
And all is right with the world!
AnnaMarie and I chopped down a superfluous elm trunk in the backyard, the old-fashioned way,
And AnnaMarie has been using the mucilagenous bark and twigs to make rustic baskets (we'll have to get pictures of those). Elm bark, no matter what the variety, is a good medicine for dry situations when the body seems to cry out for moisture, no matter how much you drink. The medicinal part is the inner bark, which is easily obtained by peeling it from small branches and saplings.
Some of the pansies in our front yard are showing their pretty faces,
And we've been constructing teepees for all the peas that we bought too many seeds for, and had to find creative places for planting them all around!
Today we thought we'd have some sunshine to plant garlic and more potatoes in, but it's clouded up, so we're going to go stitch and apron and a few diapers, instead. Busy hands, happy hearts, they say! In our case, this is mostly true (there is no saying about "overwhelmed hands," you know), as we go about doing all the domestic things that hold our family together.
We are in the book of Psalms in the Old Testament, and are reading a stack of gardening books that we borrowed from the library. If we can keep all that we read in our minds, we'll be real professionals before you know it!
A happy, blessed, and safe weekend to you,
Love,
Marqueta
p.s. Don't forget to enter our spring-cleaning giveaway, if you enjoy collecting vintage sewing patterns!
Aren't we just having the craziest weather this year? Freezing rain, frost and snow dustings here, but I noticed my cabbage seedlings are poking up today out in the greenhouse! Yay! I'm so happy they didn't freeze!
ReplyDeleteMy comfrey is coming up in the garden, too. Glad yours survived the winter.
You and AnnaMarie brought visions of Paul Bunyan to my mind with your lumberjack abilities! :~P
Oh, I do hope you show the elm baskets. That sounds like fun to me. I am waiting for the bullrushes to grow again ~ thinking of trying to make something with them. I've got an idea to try to make an old fashioned bee skep if I can figure out the braiding!
Those pansies are beautiful ~ such bright, glorious colors!
I haven't got my peas in the ground, yet. Tommorrow, I hope.
You and your family amaze me with your knowledge and inventiveness!
Happy Spring!
What a pefectly wonderful way to spend spring! And ooo the Pansy face!!
ReplyDeleteYou gals look so happy with your tree acheivment and the picture of the dripping bark looks so quenching!! Happy Spring ;-D
Love and Hugs Linnie
Hi Marqueta - Love the pic of you and AnnaMarie, so sweet! Who says hard labour cannot be done in a dress / skirt.!!
ReplyDeleteMost interesting about the properties of elm. over here we have an old fashioned food supplement called 'slippery elm' to soothe a delicate stomach..after seeing all that goo, it would make sense LOL!
Spring can be crazy busy in the garden, you must be a star(bursting with incandescent energy - no?) to do all you have done so far.
Get a little (tiny) rest for yourself this w/e, eh? ;)
xxx H
I love the Violets in the yard! I look at my green yard and thank the Lord for the green it's so pretty, and I love the little flowers that pop up among the green in the yard. Sometimes I giggle when I wonder what my neighbos think about my yard (the neighbors who have plush, thick St. Augustine grass). My yard is not 'grass', but a mixture of green weeds, little clover looking weeds, little lily pad looking weeds, and pretty little white and purple baby flowers. Though it isn't the typical 'grass' I've fallen in love with my green front yard nonetheless :))) I don't think I could trade for the 'grass on the other side, hehe'.
ReplyDeleteI would like to plant/grow garlic. It's something I've been wanting to do for a long time, but just haven't yet. I'm new to the garden (veggies), maybe if it isn't trouble -can you share what you know about the garlic growing and harvesting?
.... I know you & your daughter were hard at work sawing through that branch, but I bet the work was very rewarding. My husband & son once did the very same thing when we had a tree that needed to come down -the chain saw sat still, and they both worked at it the old fashioned way and they loved it!
Blessings:)
Oh Marqueta, what joy to see you and your daughter smiling and enjoying the beauty of warmer days.
ReplyDeleteOur garden is just blooming. Temps have stayed steadily in the 60's, everything seems to want to wake up right away :D
be blessed!
m.
http://amomentinmyday.com/
Happy spring to you Marqueta! We had our first meal of asparagus today. Incredible! Thanks for the information about elm trees. Hope I remember it this winter. You gals look so happy. Which you should be after conquering that tree. Congratulations on a job well done!
ReplyDeleteYour violets and pansies are beautiful!
ReplyDeleteIsn't Spring so wonderful!?! We are finally having it here and the trees are blooming! We've had our share of snow spring showers already though - but it hasn't dampened the spirits! :) Blessings to you! Have a lovely Conference weekend.
ReplyDelete