Think Spring!

With all of the rain that has made my property pretty much a muddy mess, I am going to go ahead and say spring has arrived here. The temps have still been getting into the 30’s on most nights but the days are staying in the 40’s and 50’s and I hear the forecast is calling for even a day of 60+ which will be great! (almost makes a body want to grab the summer clothes….. (hahahaha)

I got my spring maintenance of my plants done the other day… I re potted my spider plant, it is a new one since the old one was given to a friend before my move here. I also gathered a new start from my Peace Lilly, which has made me a happy person this year by sprouting not one or two but THREE blooms! the first pic shows two of the blooms, and the second one shows the third one as it works on unfolding (my son was wonderful enough to hold the big leaf back so I could get the pic)

The plant was given to me by a friend a few years ago and had never bloomed. Last year I got one bloom from it, this year Three!!! I also re potted a plant who’s name I do not know but it is a beautiful plant that had outgrown it’s pot at Wal-Mart so they had it on sale I picked it up for a couple of bucks and absolutely love it’s colors.

here is a close up of one of the leaves as it aged and fell off of the plant, you can see at the top the leaves first appear straight and green but as it ages they begin to curl and a deep red color begins to vein the plant…it is very pretty!

I also got two window boxes for the windows in the playroom/classroom planted with a few herbs, in one I have planted chives and the other holds sage and cilantro. I have one more window box that will be outside with other herbs but I am going to let my son and granddaughters plant that one outside when the weather is warmer! But I will tell ya, playing in all that dirt got me itching to be outside digging in the garden!!

When I went to the store last week I got some of my vegetable and flower seeds, I was surprised and happy to find organic seeds for most of my veggies, I did however get my blue lake bush beans and silver queen corn! I also got enough wildflower mix to plant two areas around the Shepard's hooks that hold the bird feeders. I also got giant sunflowers for the kids to plant a couple at each feeder and then a few near where we are going to plant the gourds. (the gourds are for the kids to plant also, and have fun with when we dry them)

I can't believe that in just over a month it will be time to put the hummingbird feeders back up so our small friends will have a nice place to stop and maybe stay on their return to the north. I have a short video I will post sometime (after I get the video on my you tube so I can transfer it) of the hummers at my fathers house. He has many, many that stay at his place during the summer as he has been feeding them for over 20 years in the same spot! the day I shot the video I was standing only a few feet away from the feeders and had over a hundred hummers flying all around me, the "humming" of their wings was very loud there were soo many of them!

Oh the things of spring and summer! I can hardly wait.

In other news, with the heartbreak in Japan that is going on I will join many other voices in when I say that we can all learn from this tragedy that we need to be prepared for anything! One of the biggest reasons for me besides the need to live more in tune with the earth than apart from it is this, that we never know when we will need to be able to take care of ourselves, our family by ourselves without relying on others or the government to bail us out if disaster strikes, no matter the form. I have enough, knowledge, skill and basic survival equipment that I know my family will be able to survive. I am working now on getting the food part of the system set up. I have food and water stored but will be so much more secure in knowing I can provide the food we need as well as put some up for later needs. I encourage others to do the same, learn what you need and start putting together a "kit" for your family!

Until next time~
Deb