Spring: the season of hope

It's hard to imagine with all the rain and clouds and chilly temperatures that in a few short months, summer will be in full bloom including 90 degree temperatures and ripe tomatoes off the vine. Right now though, we're betting on that time coming. Yesterday, while the sun shone, and the air was balmy at 60 degrees, Ryan and I planted the earliest of our crops in the garden: potatoes, cabbage, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, kohlrabi, and the long awaited strawberry plants and blueberry bushes we had ordered when there was still snow on the ground. We planted onions a little over a week ago, and they are just beginning to sprout.

Other things we're planting hope in: turkey eggs. Our turkey hen, Esmerelda, has been dutifully laying eggs every other day for a couple of weeks now, and when the mood hits her, she will sit on them for a little while. We've saved some of her eggs back, replacing them with camoflauge plastic easter eggs, so that not all of them will have been possibly exposed to freezing temps. She's not to picky about what eggs in her nest look like as long as there are the right amount of them there.

Otherwise, we're trying to get our living room finished. Ryan has been working hard this week to finish applying brick veneer to our plaster covered chimney, and priming stairway trim. All we have left to do is get the floor installed and finish the woodwork and stair bannister. The furniture store called this week, and said that our couch and loveseat are in, we just have to schedule a time to have them delivered. We are looking forward to getting all of this done in time to spend most of our summer outdoors.

Even though its cold and wet today, our garden and animals are not the only things reminding us of spring. The bizillion irises that prior owners planted on this ground, and lilacs bushes that are finally developing buds after being deer eaten for years are abounding. We think it helps to have a watchdog tom turkey that makes a commotion when he hears any kind of movement or sound in his territory.