Spring is definitely in the air!

As usual, pretty much overnight, the wild Cherry Plums (Prunus Cerasifera) have popped their flower buds and they are a beautiful sight against the bright blue sky!
They're the first to flower every year and of course I couldn't resist stealing a few branches for the house!

Together with the daffodils and the sun peaking through the back window the house looks rather cheerful.
I'm spending many hours in my comfy chair there, just reading the day away!

                                          

Now the weather is starting to look like we're heading into Spring, I've worked on trying to protect my raised beds against future squirrel attacks, which I'm sure are going to happen as soon as I'll start to grow something.
Since these beds are temporarily, until we'll have a place of our own where I can set up some proper beds, I went with another repurposing 'hack'.
I picked up a large three tier rabbit-cage from Marketplace and cut and dismantled it in 3 roughly shaped cages:



I have just enough left over to make covers for all of them as well!
No squirrels, or deer or birds, will have access to a free vegetable 'smôrɡəsˌbôrd' anymore!
Famous last words right?

But these beds are not the only one's that need protection. Look what's poking up through the soil already, and apparently survived the winter!

                                        

                             Rhubarb! 

I think I have to bite the bullet and buy (Gasp!) a roll of hardware cloth and wrap several other plant-boxes as well if I want to either eat or enjoy them.
Last year the deer kept snatching the new leaves of my roses and lupines every time they put some new ones out!

In anticipation for Spring we've also re-hung the bat-box.
It turned out that last year's position, in a tree with low hanging branches, was not the best one.
Apparently the bats, despite their excellent echolocation abilities, don't like branches in their flight-approach. Point in case .. we didn't have any takers for the box!
But, after much deliberation, we found them the perfect spot!

    

This is a dead tree-trunk at the far end of the pond, so close to water, with trees behind the box but not in front, facing south-east which is perfect, and away from too much 'traffic'.

                                  

Fingers crossed this year we will see some.
Since a single bat can eat up to 3000 mosquitos a day, they'll be a welcome addition to our outdoor space!

With the warmer weather, the mice and voles in the meadows are stirring and the hawks are on high alert patrolling over the fields.
This Northern Harrier got lucky and caught himself some dinner!

                                                                

Talking about food .. my sourdough starter is turning more reliable every week, a sure sign of 'maturing':



... which makes my breads looking better and better:

                                                                                           

                                                   

I'm baking a (small) loaf almost every week, alternating sandwich bread with the more rustic 'boules'. After slicing I freeze them and with this routine I pretty much always have bread available. Cool beans, as Judy would say.                                                                  

Oh, I almost forgot, we're already on daylight savings time!
It always makes for a confusing couple of weeks when I call my family in Europe since they don't 'change' until the 30th!
So instead of the 9 hours difference we're now only 8 hours 'behind'!
Every year I hope they'll stop this practice, it really doesn't serve any purpose any more and most people seem in favor to abolish it, but here we go again.