Last night it was -26 degrees, clear and cold, cold.  But the greenhouse stayed 55 degrees all night and this morning when I went out there for kindling for the wood stove, I noticed a tiny green pair of leaves poking up in the big square pot where two weeks ago I planted several bush cucumber seeds.  After they hadn’t germinated in a week, I planted four in a styrofoam cup, just for added insurance.  Those germinated right away so I figured the greenhouse wasn’t warm enough for the seeds in the pot to germinate and that they’d probably rotted by now.  Not so!  Wow!  Those little round leaves look so nice.  Just like spring in the garden.

 
But because it was still -15, I figured I’d better spend the afternoon making firewood.  The sun was out and it warmed up quickly to 10 degrees.  But with no wind, the sun made it feel even warmer.  So sawing firewood wasn’t such a chore.  Our huge pile is getting steadily smaller as we drag lengths out to cut and split.  When David got home from school, he said his cold was a lot better and he would split for me.  It’s easier to split wood when one person sets the wood up on the chopping block and then throws the pieces into the wheelbarrow.  It goes quicker and is less back strain on the one doing the chopping.  David chopped and I carried and set up. It took no time at all to bring three brimming wheelbarrows full into the house.  One filled the wood box and the other two added to the stack on the porch.
 
I tried a new bread recipe I saw in a farm magazine yesterday.  I’ll have to say it’s one of the worst I’ve ever made!  The poor loaves were so dense.  I figured the recipe should have had more liquid, but followed it anyway.  Big mistake!  Oh well, it tastes okay and I’ll eat it, but it sure wouldn’t win any compliments from anyone at my table.  You win some; you lose some.
 
I just got back from tossing wood into the kitchen range and I took a peek at the cucumber seedling.  The leaves are all the way open now, and another green bump is starting to show in the pot!  Yep, definitely spring!