One day it’s 58 degrees and sunny and the next it’s 8 degrees and cloudy with snow and wind. It’s hard to plan, for sure. But it is letting us get some inside work done, as well as outside on the nice days. Will and I went to bail our ATV out of the shop in Hibbing. One day it just didn’t start, no matter what Will did. Having no heated shop to work in, we hauled it to Mohawk, our favorite fix-it shop for snowmobiles and four wheelers. Yes, we sure missed it! I’ll bet we put 100 miles a week on that old beast of a Yamaha Bruin. And it’s far from new, too! They called and we drove down to pick it up. While Will was paying up, I waited in the truck and what did I see on the edge of the road? A great big bush of pussy willows! I’d seen a few before, while driving. But this one was up close and personal. Happy Spring!
I got my last tomatoes planted yesterday and the first two flats I planted are starting to pop up. Our little greenhouse, in the house, is pretty full now. Tomorrow is the start of a supposedly warm period, with lows in the 20s and above. So, tomorrow I’m going to start transplanting the peppers, which now have two sets of “grown-up” leaves besides the two “baby” seedling leaves. Once transplanted, they’ll go out into the greenhouse. Will’s going to start the propane heater in the morning, so it’ll be nice and toasty when those babies go in. Besides, the daytime temperature is supposed to be quite warm, warming up even more on Sunday.
With the ATV back home, Will took Sarge for a nice long run through the woods yesterday and Hondo, today. They loved getting out and sniffing all the wild scents. I’m sure the exercise helped them too. After all, Sarge now weighs over 200 pounds and has developed some “love handles” as the golf cart spent the winter in the barn.
Our hens are starting to lay well. Now I’m thinking about rhubarb custard pie, lemon meringue pie, quiches, and other egg friendly recipes. Spring sure pops a bounty upon us, which is a nice, fresh change of diet. We are so grateful to be homesteaders! — Jackie
We’ve been cat sitting for a neighbor. Including mine, I’ve been feeding 15-18 cats twice a day. The one stray she feeds was caught off guard when I walked into the barn’s heated cat room one morning (he got smart a few years ago during a cold snap). He did not expect to see me. Her cats are fed in three different areas and 9 litter boxes between the three areas. I get my exercise. Better half keeps an eye on the house for any problems/window left open (not this time of year however). And better half wheels out their garbage which is at least 200 feet from the house and uphill one way. At least the weather is not hot – a couple of previous times I’ve wheeled out/retrieved when it was hot and humid. Tomorrow morning is last day of cat care unless they are delayed getting home.
Other neighbor was out of town for a few days so better half collected eggs – 15 of them of which we’ll share some with my dad.
Glad you have a good mechanic in your circle. We appreciate our vehicle mechanic as well as all our other service people.
I’ll be checking our one wildflower patch tomorrow. I saw a patch was blooming at another house we drive by. The garlic mustard had about overtaken it a couple years ago. I hope better half didn’t spray the garlic mustard in that area last summer – I’ll find out.
A field not far from us caught fire the other day. That next morning, better half thought there was a fire on our lots. It wasn’t – it was pollen haze as the morning was windy.