Spring is unfurling her sleepy,
sun-starved arms as winter exhales (what we can hope to be) some of
her last few breaths; the garlic raises its tiny green fists to the
light, rhubarb and tulips beginning to peak out of the earth to see
what all this sunshine is about. The ducks have laid three eggs this
week, and though I would have been tempted to make a chickweed duck
egg omelette, Thomas snuck the eggs under a particularly broody hen,
who is unknowingly on her way to becoming mother to some forever
confused ducklings. (The ducks themselves were raised by the
chickens, and though they have the run of the place,
they spend a considerable amount of time staring into the fenced in
chicken yard, perhaps reminiscing their days in the chicken coop.)
Things in the greenhouse are coming
alone nicely, the cilantro that I optimistically planted in November
has been a much welcome addition to many a meal thus far (and some
wee lil radishes I had forgotten about were a nice treat to nibble
on.
Big bonfire out here last weekend, had
some friends come out for the night; the next morning was ridiculously
beautiful and spent wandering in the forest then collecting some soil
samples to send back to Truro with them. We had a family hair cut day
out here last weekend as well, though my own was momentarily
postponed when the buzzer gave out. I can't wait to learn to shear
the sheep. . . the ewes are looking bigger and bigger each day. The
first is due to lamb on April 7th, I don't know if I'm
ready to be a sheep mother, hopefully all goes well.
The chicks are starting to figure out
they're chickens, and are looking a little less like awkward
teenagers as their feathers begin to fill out. Soon begins the
unraveling of the mystery as to which are to be our layers, and how
many are males and fated to become one of Teri's delicious stews.
Ideas for a chicken tractor are blowin' around like tumbleweeds these
days. Are there tumbleweeds in Nova Scotia? I think I'm giving away
my prairie heritage here. . .
We got a lot of seeds into the dirt in
the greenhouse this week, we are stacking trays at some unruly
angles, hoping to have the hoop house ready for seeding early next
week. The fields are so muddy a pirate could lose a peg leg in them.
. .hoping for some sunshine next week to dry them out a bit, as we
are all chomping at the bit to get our hands dirty and ready things
for more planting. We continue to feast like cabbages and kings, with more eggs than we can shake a stick at, though speaking
of cabbage I think there's only one left in the root cellar, and
every time something green makes it to the table these days it's
gobbled up pretty quick.
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