Spring and the Big Egg

We had a couple of really beautiful days, pictured above, but now it's raining, which I don't entirely mind. It's bringing lots of goodies out of the ground. Like the row of red and green rhubarb pushing itself up out of the ground, and the strawberry patch, perfectly placed just south of it, is going all green lifting itself above its straw blanket. The butterfly bush is leafing out and the forsythia is just now blooming. Tulips, crocus, yarrow, echinacea, sundrops, foxglove, chives, iris, bee balm are all out of the ground. When that happens, I do not mind the rain one drop. I've got seeds on the way from the Hudson Valley Seed Library. I'm just itching to get them! And of course, like every year, I have to reign myself in from getting way more than I can grow. I have a new bed, and two more on the way, and soil to order and manure to spread. Whew. I love spring.

And my new chickens are amazing! Would you look at this egg I got the other day?? It's twice the size of the others. When I held it as I walked back to the house my hand couldn't believe it. My hand was actually perplexed. It's nerve endings were saying: does not compute (say that in robot talk). I haven't eaten it yet. Wonder if its a double yolk?

Shine On, You Crazy Daffodil

Worst. Cold. Ever. I am just surfacing from a devastating and tenacious cold and does it feel good to be on the mend! I won't get into details, as everyone gets colds, and everyone seemed to get this one, but one of the worst parts of it was not wanting to eat. I lost my sense of smell and taste. Any little vestige of joy in life was drained right out in the loss of those two senses. For someone like me it sort of feels horrific. For a while I felt like this:

All sorts of other things happened, like massive amounts of heavy, wet snow paired with power outages. I'm sure many of you know all about it. But now things are back to normal, and the ladybugs are popping out of nowhere to bask in the front windows, and the snow is melting in the soft sunlight and you can hear dripping everywhere. This morning I had to go outside to rescue some evergreens that had been buried under ice. They popped up out of the ice, thankfully it seemed. Even though there is still a good foot of icy snow out there, I see signs of spring everywhere.

Last week I found the forest filled with robins, who at the end of winter I am truly glad to see. I also found a four-point deer antler down by the pond! That was amazing and something I have never found in my life. Which seems rather odd to me, seeing as how the deer population is huge and male deer lose their antlers every spring. Hmm. Nonetheless, I was as glad to find that antler, a truly amazing creation, as I was to see bluebirds flitting about the oaks. They make me so very happy, even if they spurn my bluebird house. (Not their fault, it's those pesky sparrows that push them out. Argh.)

Can you believe this little daffodil? How crazy is it? To be fair, it's right next to the house's foundation and it's a southern exposure. But still. Amazing.

And how about this hardy yarrow who never wanted to go to sleep in the first place? There are so many signs of spring that they are not just keeping me afloat, they have me up out of the water. So, I'm getting things in order. Cleaning up the house. Planning the garden, slowly. And feeling better by nourishment. Fresh baked bread with yogurt cheese and chutney yesterday. And today, Plum Ginger Sour Cream muffins. Time to start using up all those preserves. Because before you know it there will be a new harvest to save.