This gorgeous Azalea is starting to flower in Doug's garden.
Spring flowers never fail to catch me by surprise, one moment there's nothing and the next .. splash!

                        

The same goes for this Big Leaf Maple .. nothing, nothing .. and than .. pop!

          

      

The tulips are out and are adding some serious color!

 

And although the first daffodils are already fading, lots of later and different varieties are now coming up ..

   

We finally cut back the Raspberries, a little late but it should still be fine, and set up a simple trellis to contain them a little better.

When we arrived here last year we didn't have time, and didn't pay much attention, to what was growing in the yard, and the long canes got all tangled up and were a pain (literary) to deal with when it came to picking the fruit.

 

We already pruned the Blueberries back a little a couple of weeks ago and they are starting to leaf out:



The first flowers are appearing as well .. we might have a good crop again!

                                                    

At the end of the orchard grows a clump of Bamboo. Not much to look at, but it dawned on me that I could actually make good use of those long, sturdy and bendable stalks!

                  

I'd been searching for something to make 'hoops' for my vegetable beds to drape bird-netting over. Many people use PVC pipe for this but I really don't like those stark white un-natural looking things. So .. have bamboo .. make hoops!

Perfect!

We also added a third bed, and I planted a few more cold-weather seedlings like Romain lettuce, Cauliflower, Swiss Chard, Kale and Brussels Sprouts.
Unfortunately, the seedlings I buy at the garden center all come in 6-packs and I really don't have room for all of those.
I'm actually thinking of taking some to Farmer John (him of the real happy chicken) and trade them for eggs? I know he has a huge vegetable garden, he might be up for it.

Talking about blueberries to come, I better start emptying the freezer of last year's batch, so I made another Blueberry buckle:

Since I'm terrible about remembering which recipe I used when and why, I always end up using yet another one. This one came out a little denser and a little wet at the bottom but tasted as great as any other .. delicious!



Oh, and look at this .. (already a couple of weeks ago) I started another hobby. 

I know, like I needed another, but I blame Beverly from Bee Haven Acres, who got me inspired once again.
She recommended following this lady on Youtube, Harriet de Winton, and so I did ..

I got me some paint and brushes and paper, I like hobbies that don't cost a lot, and I was in business!

You start with a lot of  exercises to get used to the medium and what you can do with different brushes, more or less water and mixing your colors, but fairly quickly she has you paint something more 'real', like all kind of different leaves ..

Like Beverly, I'm most interested in learning how to paint 'nature', as in birds or plants and maybe the occasional landscape.
Lord knows I have hundreds of pictures I could use as a reference.

The neglected Cherry trees that are bordering the orchard are starting to bloom.
We didn't get many actual cherries last year and they were very small, but the blossoms are at least very beautiful and so .. 'Spring-y'.

As are the catkins of the weeping Birch tree in Doug's yard:

Inspired by nature and the spring-like weather of last weekend, we worked on setting up two raised beds with the old pallets I showed in last post.



I'd started pulling of boards with a crowbar and a hammer, which was a pain, so we tried a saw to cut them out, but the best way to do it was of course also the most simple, and the most 'Paul Bunyan', just slam them to smithereens with a hammer!
We (James) did have to pry some off the hard way though, because we had to close of the gaps on the front and the back to keep the soil in.

                                   

After filling them up with soil, I laid out a drip-hose in each of them. I'd bought a 50' hose, which was exactly enough for 2 beds (cut in half). They're not hooked up yet (probably the coming weekend's project), but I can now plant in exactly the right spots and avoid damaging the tender seedlings by having to finagle the hose in later.

I also mickey moused a (cheap) trellis together from bamboo stakes. I think I'll add a few more cross-stakes but it's a start ..
Hopefully the Snow Peas I planted there in the back will start climbing up the trellis and in a few weeks I'll add Pole Beans and Tomatoes.
I also planted Broccoli and strawberries and the two pots hold carrots and leek.

The strawberries came from the strawberry-pot I bought last year at Walmart which I re-planted with herbs this time. It's standing right outside my door on the porch, which I think is the best place for herbs, right next to the kitchen.

       

 

I'm so excited! I can see the beds from my window and keep walking over to look at them, I'm so proud of growing (some of) my own food!

Of course I had also hoped to get my own chickens this year but since that plan has been put on the back-burner for now (too much traveling still going on), I made an effort to buy at least the best eggs I could afford, from, even more import, the best treated chickens!
So, I bought me some 'Happy Eggs' which I found at my local Freddy's ...

Cage free/free ranged, Pasture raised and they came in such a fun colorful carton! What could be wrong?
Well .. I googled them (of course I did) and guess what:

Happy Egg Co. is currently the subject of a lawsuit. The Organic Consumers Association is suing Happy Egg Co. for false, deceptive and misleading advertising claims related to the use of the term “pasture raised.” Interested consumers can access the legal complaint to learn more about the allegations.
I also found an article from PETA, with pictures, which made me cry ... where did we go so wrong? Who do we think we are?

Any-who. Happy Eggs are out.
Finally it dawned on me that, duhhh, why not find a local farmer who's selling eggs?
Wait a minute, I know one, even better, I used to walk by one every other week or so, when I was still walking. Farmer John!



This is the hen house and the vegetable garden ..

These lucky chickens have free roam around the house and gardens.

Yes! These are the REAL Happy Eggs! All different sizes and colors and fresh as can be!

Now THIS makes ME happy!

Talking about happy, a miracle has happened .. knock on wood .. but overnight, yes, literary over-night .. my heel was healed!
I still can't believe it and I'm still holding my breath, but I woke up last Saturday, got out of bed .. and didn't have any pain at all!
Beats me what happened! There's a few things that might have (happened), one of which is that I aggravated said heel so badly the day before (by just walking on it), to the extent that it was so painful I wanted to chop it off ..  but maybe, just maybe something got actually re-aligned or un-tangled (Baxter's nerve?) and snapped back into place?

                                                                 

Or maybe my in-soles, which felt like they did more bad than good, actually finally did work, maybe I just had to get used to them? Or maybe the massaging and electrocuting worked their magic?
Whatever it was, I'm (practically) pain-free for a whole week now! Yahoo!!
There's a little sensitivity every now and than, but I haven't walked normal on that foot for 5(!) months so yeah, my whole foot has to get used to 'normal' again, but so far so good ...

                   

Talking about happy! Funny thing is I'm now almost more careful to walk on it than when it was hurting .. thinking please, please let it not come back!
I'll give it a little more time but I hope that soon I'll be picking up my daily walks again!

Since the weather was so nice (74F!!) and we now have an hour longer light in the evening, we decided it was the perfect time to start our BBQ season!

                                    

                                    We dusted off the Barbie and threw on a huge T-bone.

Accompanied by a Baked Potato and a fresh spring salad we ate like Kings once again, and it was delicious!
Only thing missing .. our boy ...

  

                                                                  

Always right there when we fired up that BBQ  .. We miss him so!

Least Chipmunk

Isn't he the cutest? She? And those bulging cheeks? Just precious!
I didn't see one all summer last year, and certainly not this winter, but all of a sudden one appeared from under the wood-pile (I think) behind the RV and a little later I saw two (and you know what that means).



He actually managed to dive completely into the big boy squirrel feeder, the one I set up for his cousins, the Eastern Grey Squirrels who, when that feeder is empty, will raid the bird feeders as you can see ..

The cheeky buggers even go for the suet. Like this:

And if you think that isn't enough cuteness yet, a couple of days ago another (distant) family member showed up:

        

It's a (California) Ground Squirrel, they live in underground burrows, can form large colonies and will emerge in Spring from hibernation.
They're considered pests by most farmers since females have large litters ( 6-8) and with so many mouths to feed they can be quite destructive in the fields.
Come to think of that, I'll better protect those raised beds I'm planning to have!

Also there was this ..

  

And this ..

And of course I had to bring some of that inside:

                                                            

As usual, we ate a lot .. and nothing too shabby .. Cheese Fondue anyone?! (there's really nothing to it, but it looks, and tastes, great)

I putzt around as usual, as in, a little pu(t)zzling ..

I got myself a new one (fell in my cart at Walmart), it's another Wysocki but a little different than his usual primitives. I love this one!

There also was a little more 'hardcore' putzing :

                                            

I got my hands on some pallets and have started to take out some of the slats ... started indeed .. I gave up quickly because those nails are all rusted and in there good!
Hopefully James will give me hand here or, another brilliant idea, I might take a small saw to them and cut them out!
(Let me think about that some though before I ruin the whole thing ..)

I have to get these things going though because I've been planning and plotting and researching. Like this:

I've even asked for help from one of my favorite blogsters, Beverly from Bee Haven Acres, who is a great inspiration to me, and she honored me with a mention in her blog and a whole lot of info on when and what to sow or plant!
How cool is that?!

OK, 'nough said, pallets to wreck .. until next week!