Spring Has Arrived, Mostly

 The tulip bulbs I planted in pots last year are ready to bloom, but all the plants I have to put in flower beds and decorative pots are still not planted. We've had below freezing temps overnight the last few days. The water in our fountain was ice, and some tender plants left outside froze. ( It was 22 degrees Monday night.) As you can see, these plants are still waiting to be put into pots.

 I bought these herbs 3 weeks ago on the first warm sunny day. I was so excited to begin planting my herbs. They've been growing quite well in an over-the-sink colander for now.My excitement over warmer spring days was short-lived. Oh well, it has been convenient to snip them off for cooking right here in the kitchen.

 This is my husband's honeybee shelter. The winters here are extremely cold and were not kind to the bees we brought here with us from our previous home. With the deep freeze and the hordes of yellow jackets and bald-faced hornets that reside here, our first hives were devastated. My husband works hard to get our honeybees to thrive here, and that includes not only shelter from scorching sun and freezing weather, but some insulation in the hives and feeding them over the winter. ( You can see this honeybee shelter from our front porch.)

 This planter is made of old hive boxes my husband would have burned if I had not begged him for them to use as planters. He is working to eradicate any disease that compromises our bees and these are old and well-used hive boxes.

 The hive box planter is in front of our aviary which can also be seen from our front porch.

 Here is a picture of the honeybee shelter and the aviary, both in the front yard, in full view of our front porch. Beyond the aviary and honeybee shelter is our front pastures, then the gravel road that runs in front of our home, and beyond the road are hills, mountains, and woods.

 Our front porch. My husband is currently working on the flowerbeds in front of our home. When we bought our home the beds were planted with very hardy roses . The roses grew large and wieldly, and the thorns proved dangerous while pruning the roses and weeding the flower beds. We transplanted the roses to a place they could grow and big and wild as they're able and I am so happy with how my husband has chosen to plant our front flowerbeds. I will post updates soon.

A box of annuals I am waiting to plant. According the the weather forecast I should be able to plant them all next week. ~ " Then God said , "Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed , and fruit trees bearing fruit after their kind , with seed in them, on the earth"; and it was so." Genesis 1:7

My Man is a Super-Gardener !

 Just look at this garden with fruit trees on the side. My husband planted all this since this past March. We had snow and deep freeze until early March, our new veggie garden is now situated and planted on ground that was previously used as parking space and hard as pavement. My husband also prepared the ground and soil for our fruit trees shown here ( right of garden). They were also planted on ground previously hard as pavement.

 This view shows the garden from my sheep pen. Look at what my amazing husband has done with this piece of land ! ( Our house is in the upper right of the picture.)

 You can see my sheep grazing in their pasture on the other side of our new veggie garden, and further away you can see our woods & forest.

 Radishes ready to pluck from the soil.

 Squashes and pumpkins are flourishing and threatening to take over the veggie garden !

 It is hard to believe that only last year this piece of our new land was barren except for weeds and hard-packed soil. My husband has already turned the barren wasteland into an abundant vegetable garden ! Fruit trees are already providing fruit, vegetables enough for us , our family, and to sell at the local market....

 ...pumpkins, squash and corn ready to take over the garden plot,

 harvests covering our counter-tops , filling our fridge and begging to be eaten and preserved.

 Guess what, my husband even decided to can his hard -worked -for produce. He started canning !

Took this picture this morning of my husband standing in his garden. Look at the sweet corn , it's taller than him and the corn will soon be ready to pick.You can see our pasture and woods in the distance. Yes indeed, my man is a super-gardener !

The Waiting Game

Inga stands on a pile of snow that slid off the barn roof blocking the entrance to the stalls, looking out on a snowy day. Inga is due to lamb any time now, as are 14 other ewes.

 Jonas is the sire of my 2017 lambs. He stands out in the weather wearing a thick white blanket of snow over his warm wool coat.

My husband holding a newborn ram lamb. We're just waiting for a dozen or more, enjoying the lamb season's waiting game.

Over The Mountains & Far Away ~ Family Time

 My husband has worked so hard for so many years it is good to see him enjoying time away with our sons and their families .

We journeyed over the mountains and far away to be with our sons and their families. We have a home there where we will re-locate within the next 2 years, but until then we visit when we're able. This past week we were there visiting and we also went fishing. This is a picture of Diamond Lake where we went fishing. We LOVE to fish....

...especially when we're catching fish ! Look at this stringer full of Rainbow trout my husband and youngest son are holding ( it was heavy ).We all limited out and later on the same day we had a fish fry. Enough fried fish for everyone to have a whole fish. So delicious.

Our sons' families ( including 7 of our grandchildren ) enjoyed the fried fish and all the goodies that went along with the meal. We enjoyed the company of our sons and their families.

Yes, over the mountains & far away holds our hearts and God willing, will soon be the place we live until we die. This pic is of a few of our grandchildren watching one of their cousins ride our youngest son's ( their uncle ) horse. So many good times, so many good memories, so many hopes and dreams over the mountains and far away.

Rainy Day Flowers

 After a busy few weeks tending the gardens , poultry, & livestock during the very ( unseasonably )warm sunny days the rain I love has finally returned ! Now instead of endless watering and weeding outdoors I am cultivating indoor flowers . Fanciful flowers I needle-felt onto wool balls I've made using the wool fleece from my sheep.

 I added a few fanciful bees too. None of the flowers or bees are crafted to be realistic, but they are meant to be fun. Some of the balls have jingles inside. My cats love the jingle balls. So do my grandchildren.

I enjoyed spinning up quite a bit of yarn on the porch during the warm days. I can watch my sheep and the birds at our feeder from the porch. I watch my ducks waddle by on their way from the pond to scavenge any birdseed the wild birds scatter under the feeders. Two of my dogs are always at my feet as I spin wool into yarn. Contentment and thankfulness are my constant companions during these times.

Whether cultivating indoor flowers or working hard outdoors , I am always mindful of the blessing it is to be able to do this work in and around a home provided by God through the love and hard work of my husband and family. Thank-you Jim !

My Love

Happy birthday Jim , I love you !

Love Made Visible

 My husband made these dove & scroll adornments for many of the animal homes he has built for me over the years. This one is on the dove cage in the herb garden. He had already built me a large dove-cote, but he did this for me because he loves me.

 This dove scroll is on the goat house he built for me , and he really didn't even want goats.

 The dove cage in the herb garden. The white doves stand out so beautifully when all is green and the vine maples are in leaf. Stunning in the autumn when the vine maples are red and yellow. Now you can hardly see the white doves against the snow. Their cooing is comforting to me. Often they sound like they're laughing . Sometimes the wild doves will land in front of this cage, eat the seed my doves have scattered outside the wire, and they appear to be having a chat with one another.

 

 The white dove & scroll is on the large dove-cote we can see from the house. It is lit up inside so we can see it in the evening too. The brown scroll is part of the kiwi arbor my husband built in front of the dovecote. the kiwi began climbing it this past summer and we hope it will provide a shady arbor to sit under when it gets unbearably hot in July and August. The anticipation of fresh kiwi fruit is exciting too.

 The door to the dove-cote with the grape arbor my husband built in the foreground. The grapes did give us a lot of shade and fruit this past year , and this arbor mirrors the kiwi arbor.

Everywhere I look around our home, around Cedar Pond I see the hard work and love my husband puts into all he does here. I have always believed this saying to be true "Work is love made visible", and know my husband loves me very much !

1,000 Pieces Minus One

 We had 2 of our grandchildren over to spend a few days with us this past week. I discovered they love to put together jigsaw puzzles and are so good at it that we need at least a 1,000 piece puzzle for it to be any fun. My husband loves to put puzzles together too. What a pleasant way to spend a cold & rainy weekend ~ hanging out indoors with grandchildren, eating good food, and assembling a cupcake puzzle.

 Most of Saturday & Sunday ( including the evenings ) was spent gathered around the table putting the cupcake puzzle together. No prompting was necessary, these three were drawn to the puzzle like bees to flowers , bears to honey, or kids to cupcakes !

 Almost finished....

 ...but what's this ? There is a piece missing ! Our 1,000 piece jigsaw puzzle is only a 999 piece puzzle. How could this be ?

The teeth marks on the scattered puzzle pieces we found Sunday morning gave him away. Wonder where he hid the 1,000th piece .

 

Blessings this past week : playing with grandchildren , a warm home with plenty of food, a husband who loves to play with his grandchildren, a husband who loves me , and most of all ~ a husband who loves God !  ( O.K., a magnificent cat who makes himself known & appreciated even if it means to compete with a puzzle for attention he has to steal a piece. )

Laughing Dove Cafe' ~ View from The Porch

 My husband designed and built the grape arbor to the left of the photo. The scroll design reflects the scroll with the dove he crafted for the roof line of my dovecote. These two structures tie in with the kiwi arbor he built which is in front of the dove cote but not shown in this post. This is the view of the arbor and doves from the front porch.

 My husband built this nice big , sturdy table for outdoor gatherings in what we call The Laughing Dove Cafe'. You can see all the way down to Cedar Pond, in the right background of this picture.

 We have a  swing by the pond in front of the fire pit , along with some wood benches. There is a very large bullfrog that sits by the swing and I startle him into leaping into the pond  every time I go down there. You'd think he'd be used to me by now and know I am not going to kiss him to turn him back into the prince I know he must be. I already have my prince!

 Can you see the curved swirls my prince, my bee-keeper , put into this arbor? Can you see the bright yellow goldfinch perched in the grapevines growing around this arbor?

The ducks waddle by the arbor on the way to the pond. Another beautiful day in the Pacific Northwest, enjoying the beauty of spring and the many blessings my husband, my prince, my bee-keeper has given me. Blessings we share together. Thank-you Jim !