Looking For Spring | Slow Living in the Farmhouse

It has been a bit blue this year and I'm looking for any sign of spring. March came in like a lion and it has stayed like a lion. Today we have been blessed with a day that's going to be in the 70s. So I thought I'd take some time and head out into the garden and do a little cleanup. I'm not going to be doing major cleanup today because I do know that there are little things living amongst the leaves that we want to save and give a chance to come back in the spring. Our beneficial insects and things like that. But the wind that we've had in the recent weeks has been in the 50s, 60s, it's 70 miles an hour and it's an east wind. Something that we don't usually have here and you can see this one corner seems to collect a variety of things and I don't even know where most of them came from except those shingles. I know where they came from. They came from the front of the house so that will be another project that we will have to do. This kennel aka chicken hospital. I just sat out here today. I've had a sick roo and fortunately he has gotten better and with the warmer temperatures he's able to return to his coop with his ladies. So I'm going to clean up the hospital and get it ready for the next time that we need a hospital for the chicken. What I've done is I've taken a large box and taken it apart and put it back together so that there's sides so that the bedding doesn't get pushed out. And on the very bottom there's this piece of linoleum to make it easy to wipe clean. I walked over here because I noticed that one of the strong winds had blown the previous duck pond aka pool over to the fence on the other side of the property. But in doing so I noticed these two pieces of screening that I had over the beds to protect them from birds and chickens from eating the seeds. I definitely need those for another project so I'm glad I spotted them. The garden unfortunately did not get put to bed last year properly. Because of my knee replacement a lot of things got pushed behind and that's okay. I'm not going to do a complete clean again because we're just not ready to do that. But just trying to make everything neater and look better is very important right now. After a long cold winter and healing, taking time off and forced relaxation, being able to get outside and get fresh air in the warm sun definitely was great for the mental health. That was the other reason I just wanted to be outside today. Pumpkin but certainly seeds left inside. Yes we'll take those. The fire pit area was another area that seen a lot of wind damage and a lot of things blown all over. A lot of them collected into this corner. So let's take a few minutes and tidy this up. Looks like we have some onions that were left behind and that's really good because we're just going to let them grow. Quite the haul for one day. It's good to have all of these wasteful things out of the garden. This large container was where we keep the Christmas tree in the wintertime. The center of the garden where all the birds fly in. It's really nice. I want to move it because you can see in the background there's a tarp and some horses, workhorses, for a big project. But apparently it's just a little too heavy. Also we're going to be doing a project in the basement. It would be very good to keep the water out of the basement as well. Walking around and making sure those are attached is a full-time job. Our garden is nice and tidy and clean and it looks like we have some rain moving in and I definitely want to get one more thing done. One sign of spring that I have definitely noticed is a lot of birds are coming back. This week alone we've had so many red-winged blackbirds and it's taken a long time for me to see a robin in my own yard. I've seen some in town but now I've seen a robin in our yard. I really enjoy keeping the birds fed especially through the winter but now we have many who have flown long miles to come back to us and I want to make sure that there's good food for their energy. Of course the chickens like it too because they get the leftovers. And here is a dandelion, our first certainly a sign of spring. That rain came in very quickly and it was a beautiful day and then it was a rainy day. I retreated to make some homemade bread. The morning came cloudy and wet. The rain continued all night long. I decided the first thing I wanted to do was go ahead and warm the house and make it smell delightful. So I decided to make the bread. While the bread bakes we have a few minutes and I really want to start some seeds. However, I have the sewing machine to contend with. It was a gift from a friend. It was sitting in her basement and she knew nothing about it. It was very dusty and very old but I decided to give it a try. First I gave it a good cleaning. I wanted to make sure to get any dust as much dust as I could in between the fittings. I myself know very little about sewing. I've taught myself a little bit here and there. I can make several things like pillowcases, pillow covers. I can sew sheets, hems, corners. I once sewed a few little garments for my children when they were younger but that was a real challenge for me. Now I've just gone back to pillowcases, thrown pillow covers and fixing a few things around the house. I was pretty impressed with the job that this machine did. Three different stitches and they all looked great. I think I'll keep it. Now that our bread is ready, I take it from the oven. This is always the hardest part of making warm crusty bread on a chilly rainy day. Not cutting into it the second it's done. Because I was outside all day yesterday and I had a few chores to do this morning, I had neglected the living room. It was such a mess and as you can see in the background, we have lots of pets and pets can be just like a handful of two-year-olds on the loose. So this room really needed some attention but it's not all their fault. As you can see, while I've been through a spell with my knee, I've been using this space for an office. Of course, nothing goes better with crusty bread than soup. Who remembers these blankets that had animals on them? Lions and tigers and horses and moose. So many different things. They are the warmest, most cuddly blankets. I wish they would come in just plain colors but I'm glad that we still have a couple of these old things around because they sure are warm and cozy. I always try to keep the sofas covered because we do have pets and pet hair isn't always everyone's favorite fashion statement. And they go outside and they get dirty feet and dirty tails. I just like the sofas to be clean. So I have several blankets which I alternate each time I wash and clean but keeping the furniture vacuumed regularly does help keep hair and muddy paws off. And being that we're coming into another chilly spell with the ongoing rain, I thought I would bring out the really fuzzy ones for the weekend. Just adding the finishing touches to the soup, cutting the crusty bread, and preparing for a warm delicious meal in a nice cozy room. Thank you so much for being here and we'll see you next week.