Of Spring I Sing!

 Spring has sprung like crazy. So many things I need to write about to catch up on the past month (new intern and gardener, loss of our beloved bovine LaFonda, ReBlossom Festival, broken rib, Rog's beautiful new barn deck, to mention only a few things in the past couple weeks.)  But for now, I will just post  a few pics from my walk around the farm this evening after everyone packed up  and returned home from the ReBlossom festival. What a glorious weekend and evening. We ate our first few spears of asparagus of the year for supper; it grows adjacent to these pretty daffodils.

When I headed out for my walk tonight,  Jitter was standing atop the tall compost pile, staring longingly at the green grass on the other side of the fence, so I decided to let her in for a bit. (It has been so wet and muddy, I had been worried she would destroy the pasture with her hooves, so I made her stay in the sacrifice pasture until now.) She did a happy jig and a few leaps and  pirouettes, and then settled down to noisy, blissful munching.

The Willys looks like it has a load of magnolia blooms in the bed. About every sixth person attending ReBlossom asked me what this glorious, fragrant  little tree was, and then expressed astonishment  that any magnolias grow in Minnesota.

 Happy Moji. I was wearing this same silly grin all weekend.

The honeyberries we planted last year are covered in blossoms.  A few berries coming this year, I hope?

 Lilacs are almost ready to  burst into bloom.

The little pond is encircled by daffodils and has a healthy population of  amorous, melodious toads and frogs.

I cannot  begin to describe how absolutely overjoyed I am by spring. :) My favorite time of year.

The Farm in the Fog

It's been a while since I have had time or motivation to go out and take photos for the blog--it has been so dreary and muddy.  Not that I really have time today, but it was such a beautiful, foggy morning I couldn't resist. Chickens breaking fast.

The garden awaits! Still too wet to do anything in there, but it is supposed to get to 60 degrees today, so it won't be long! Rhubarb, garlic and allium are up a couple inches.

The edges of the little pond have melted. Yesterday the ducks were happily swimming circles around the big iceberg in the center of the pond. This morning when I walked  down to take this photo I scared up a pair of wild mallards swimming. After today's predicted warmth, I bet the ice will be totally gone by tonight.

Daffodils are coming up all around the perimeter of the pond. I don't know how they survive in that heavy clay but  this is their third year and  they keep expanding.

The big rock--I have intentions of  planting so many more wild flowers here this spring.

From the hill of the septic mound. This is the view the big bison sculpture will have when he gets moved here.

A couple more images of the farm buildings in the fog.

Now, off to work!!

March Snowstorm

We had a lovely snowstorm during the night and awoke to the most picturesque winter day we have had all season. Plus, it is warm and not windy, so it is fun to be outside in it.

The heavy, wet snow is a foot deep. Rog made a valiant attempt to snowblow a path to get to work, but the snow is totally slush underneath and our little snowblower could not master it. He is working from home today.

I shoveled out the  door to the coop- snow had  blown high against it - and decided the chickens will stay inside today.I fed the cows, then took a little photography walk with the dogs.

The barn is looking pretty spiffy with the pair of French doors.

Entrance to the pond.

The big rock and the pond. The pond is surrounded by hundreds of daffodils almost ready to bloom. They must be re-thinking that now.

The crabby tree spirit.

Back up to the barns.

I love when the snow blasts the  buildings like this.

Barn door.

The sliding barn door is frozen open, so blowing snow blanketed the chicken feed cans inside.

Moji loves the snow, but it sure is exhausting for a short dog to bound through a foot of heavy snow!

Saturday Morning Blues

Spring has had a little set-back. It was so pretty, watching the snow out the window while we drank our morning coffee, we decided to go for an early morning walk before chores.  Everything is muffled and blue.

Sorry  'Fonda,  you will have top wait a bit for breakfast.

For some reason, three  guineas chose not to go into the  coop last night, so they spent the night in a tree being snowed upon.

The little pond is so pretty when snowy but not iced over.

You can't tell now, but under that snow hundreds of daffodils have emerged around the pond.

An artful vine by the big rock.

Further on, into the prairie.

Branches aiming to drop snow down the back of your neck when you pass beneath.

Dancing in the snow.

Back up the hill to the barns and waiting chores.

Spring Ahead!

It isn't even mid-March yet and we have been having the  craziest weather --70 degrees today!! That makes me feel so far behind, but the  weatherman says cold and a good chance of snow next week, so as much as I love tos springlike weather, I will welcome a bit more time to get ready.
I ma so far behind on  my blog. In an attempt to catch up, I will post a bunch of photos with minimal text. Here are two guineas sunning on a bench. All the poultry love being out of the coop in the warm sun.

Maple sap began running  two weeks ago - the earliest date on record. We are still in cooking mode.

Smoke from the wood-fired oven.  We are now  baking bread every Monday and Friday night for the  co-op. When I say "we" I mean "Rog" but my responsibility is getting the fire going.

'Tis the mud season. I finally couldn't stand the floors and spent hours scrubbing and polishing the entire main floor; the moment I let the dogs in they began to leave pooch tracks.  Aargh. It is hopeless.

 We have been hauling tons of sand (literally tons - each pickup load is one ton)  for the clay and cordwood floor Rog is creating in the greenhouse.

You can't really tell, but thefloor has been raise up about 3 inches so far with a mixture of sand, water, straw and clay. The floor is  partitioned off with bricks; some sections will have  cross sections of  logs embedded, It is going to be beautiful!  The large middle section will make an awesome dance floor.

Building  a fire in the woodstove in the greenhouse  has  helped cure the clay floor--and made it more pleasant to work in there on cold days.

I  got a 5 1/2 foot diameter round window from the ReStore and had a crazy idea to  create an art glass to hang in the peak on the west end of the greenhouse.

Using silica gel, I  have glued vintage glass dishes onto the surface of the window

and  filled in the spaces with flattened clear glass marbles.  It now weighs  several hundred pounds so hanging it is going to be a trick, but I think it will look spectacular with light behind it!

Last night, I noticed crocuses by the house are poking through the soil.

Today I  discovered the  daffodils by the garden she are well up,

and rhubarb is  emerging,

I think the frost is  mostly out of the ground--how soon can I till in all that compost and animal bedding?

 Lilac buds swollen.

 I took the insulating blanket off the fish gazebo pond today and was so  happy to see that the koi and  goldfish all seem to have  survived the winter. I gave them their first little snack of the year.

A few Johnny-jump-ups are magically blooming in the fairy garden! In March--that is crazy!!

 The ice on the pond is totally melted.

While taking this photo of  Zinnie reflected in the pond, there was a big splash--

Moji had fallen in- his first time swimming! (I didn't get a photo of that-too preoccupied with  rescuing him.)

He created some nice ripples.

Self portrait with rock.

Jitter in the sunset.

Spring is so close we can almost taste it. Must remember to turn  clocks to Daylight Savings Time on Saturday night. Spring Ahead!