VSR~Sunday, April 22nd.

[Donna-Z5]

Good Sunday morning everyone. Enjoy your day. For those working outdoors, have fun.

[akajoan]

Happy Earth Day, everyone.

I finally finished planting the last of my seeds this morning - short Marigolds, Pumila Zinnia, and red Cosmo seeds which were from 2011.  The Cosmo seeds are and experiment-found them at the bottom of the fridge seeds box when I was looking for the Zinnias.  I have 3 other Cosmo types planted, up and thriving, so if these old ones don't grow, it'll be OK.

Hope to get more raking done today as more of our snow melts.  Most of the beds are snow free after yesterday, but are very wet, and it seems like the frost is mainly out of the ground.  Uncovered some of my tender plants yesterday, but recovered them as the afternoon wore on. 

It's 25° now and expecting to get up the 57° today.

Joan

[davehhhj]

morning
   wet  here so no dirt  work today
 so  take care
 dave
 ps  may  post a picture
dave

[davehhhj]

ps
 deliverd   two  baby goats
 will post picture
dave

[rancherwiferobyn]

A warm hearted early good morning to all! It is 3:50 am. Bob, coyote, owl and insects remain slumbering away.....the world is still except for the sound of my pecking on the computer keys! It is good to be back!

I want to thank Charlene for her kindness by phone. I was rather weepy and she was more than compassionate.
Very recently, our little rural community lost another of it's members. A farmer/ rancher for his whole life, fell victim to the diagnosis of cancer and went home to heaven within 3 days. This is the second loss in a short space of time. Two of my dear girlfriends/ farming wives are facing life without their loving spouses. The most recent- Sharon has made the decision to sell and move to the city to be near her daughter. She deemed it just too difficult at her age to deal with the farm alone.

I believe that for a few days, I felt numb.
We are all in our mid sixties or a tad older. None of the families experiencing loss have children interested in farming. I do understand. It is a risky financial life- dependent on weather, sure seed supply, the market place and the ever increasing cost of equipment.
These thoughts have been present for me at times as I watch Bob work.

Both families are founded in a faith as we are. We all recognize the hand of God and trust Him for each day...whether blessing or hardship...We do not face it alone.
We remain thankful in all things...looking heavenward as we pass through the gates of friendship loss.

I thank you Charlene for alerting the folks here and I thank all of you for your kind awareness and prayers.
*******

Yep, we were without electrical power! Two owls and one rabbit were electrocuted high above, on top of one of the transmitters. It appeared that one owl had caught his dinner and another owl fought for the right to share the banquet and then....Zap. The electric company come one day to confirm the problem and then the next day 4 huge trucks arrived and the work began. The poles and transmitter were dated 1944! Wow! Three stage power put in at that time by the railroad. Trains are long gone now in our area...how times change. The poles were all removed and new ones installed! We do not have any district water and are therefore completely dependent on wells. So, when the electricity fails...there is not water! We are well stocked with bottled water so no problem other than showering! To my glee.....I was clean and then free from chores....dishes, laundry and painting in the farm shop! All is restored now and we are back in the swing!

Today we will return to work on the vintage trailer. Yesterday we got a ceiling panel and side walls cut and ready for paint. I must finish the kitchen cabinets with paint, then walls, then trim. It remains fun and "hobbyish". Yesterday morning, I had placed a large roast in the slow cooker and we will have yummy leftovers for today!

I hope that this finds all of you well and the weather changing to your delight! It is so time for spring in all your areas! ( I will refrain from sharing our temps!) Suffice it to say, I was in the farm shop wearing jeans and a Lands End long sleeve shirt... a tad toasty!

A warm wave of friendship to each of you! Robyn

[flowerpowerz5]

Good morning. Another bright sunshiny day. I wasn't out in the fresh air to much yesterday but did manage to pick up some sticks and move some earth from the snowplow.

We got a lot of my uncles things packed and will have to go next weekend and get the rest. I'm going to have someone look at the antique furniture and see what kind of prices we can sell them at. Needless to say I was tired last night.

Boy the daffidols respond to a little sun they are blooming all over the place. Nice to see some color around.

I did put out my cold frame and checked the temp inside when I got up and said about 35. I'm thinking a few more days because they are saying 20's still at night.

I need to catch up on laundry and a few things inside then it's outside to get some fresh air and see what muscles don't want to work. :) Have a good day all.

[Kathy_SD]

Good morning.

Going to be 60º today so after work this morning I will be outside doing odds and ends. The rain barrel is full from the snow that melted off the roof so I want to fill a bunch of pails and jugs so it will be emptied and ready to refill again with rain we may get on Tuesday. I also want to see if everything that was coming up are doing okay after the last 2 blizzards.

I need to take all the seedlings outside to start hardening off also. Since I brought them in from the GH they don't look as good as they did. I have many of them blooming including the moon flower vine, yay, so they are all ready to be put into the ground and am hoping that will be in a week to 10 days.

[Tasty]

Good morning all.

Hope your migraine disappears soon, Donna.  Isn't it so nice to see spring finally.  The sun is shining here again this morning 😎.  We're supposed to reach the mid50s later.

Good to see you Joan.  I am hoping to get some clean up done outside later on.  Will need to be careful as perennials are poking thru.  Love this time of year.

Look forward to seeing pictures of the baby goats Dave.  How many goats do you have have?

So sorry for your loss Robyn.  It's hard when death starts hitting our own generation.  I can understand your friend giving up the farm and wanting to be closer to family.

Hubby and I have just got back from a few short days in Niagara on the Lake to celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary.  In some ways it feels like we have been married 'forever' and in others it seems like it was just yesterday.  Where oh where did fifty years go?
NOTL is a lovely little town, full of history, and everything in walking distance.  Our hotel was overlooking the lake and just gorgeous.  The sunrise yesterday morning was glorious.

Hubby parked the car as we arrived and after that we walked everywhere.  The historic area is very small but lots of little stores and restaurants and coffee shops galore!  The golfcourse was not open but we hadn't planned on playing so that was OK.  Such a relaxing time for both of us.  Went to see The Magician's Nephew (C S Lewis) which  was fun.  That night we had dinner in the hotel - no drinking and driving - a small menu but beautiful attention to detail.  Chatting with our waitress, hubby mentioned our anniversary and when she brought our coffee, she brought 2 glasses of ice wine from a local winery!  

All told, a lovely break.  Now, it's back to reality and the pile of laundry that needs some attention 😊

Have a great day.

[nybirder]

Good morning, all. Robyn--so sorry to hear about your loss. I don't know what is worse--being sick for an extended period of time or being diagnosed and gone so suddenly. My heart goes out to his family and all of you who will miss him so much.

That was quite a dramatic way for you to lose your power. Considering the date the power was installed, I'd say that you were overdue for an upgrade. Unfortunately, not a very convenient one. Living in an area where our water is gravity fed, I give thanks every time our power is out and I am still able to draw water. At least that is one thing off my mind.

The sun is shining this morning but it is still nippy out there. By late this afternoon, it may get all the way up to 57! Woohoo! We are overdue for spring by a long shot. Aside from having to go into the Braille Transcriber's office on Tuesday to finish some volunteer spreadsheet work, I don't have any commitments yet for early next week when we are supposed to get into the 60s. Another big woohoo! I do believe that I will go out to play tomorrow--haven't figured out where but it will be to do some birding.

Dave--baby goats again! Oh, boy! Send us pictures, please.

Have a good day folks. Enjoy your warmer weather and plants.

Birdy

[mnwildflowers]

Good morning. 28 is the official temp but my thermometer is reading 38. I left the perennials in the shed last night, which should stay several degrees warmer than that. After the day outside getting some sun and wind they still looked great last night.

The petunia basket I made up will go in and out for the next month. I've never put a basket together in April before, and I'd say I'm 4-5 weeks from being able to put annuals out and leave them out. Hopefully it will do ok. Kind of an experiment to see how full it gets. When the waves were blooming already tho I figured I'd plant them and see what happens. I have my first bud on a marigold now too, so will be seeing blooms soon. Running fans daily now to strengthen everything up. Stuff looks good.

Today is supposed to be gorgeous, so will spend it outside again. Have at least 1 bed I can clean off, maybe 2 or 3. The ice on the pond is melting, but it will be a while. My yard is so saturated its like walking on a sponge. Our driveway is really weird. We have a layer of crushed cement on top of our bad clay soil. The top is thawed and the bottom must be saturated. It moves like jello when you walk on it.

Robyn-Glad to "see" you back. So sorry about your friend. What a weird story involving the owls! Its amazing that those electric poles/lines haven't failed sooner. Looking forward to pictures of the camper when you are done.

Joan-Happy earth day to you! Thanks for the reminder. I usually go for a walk with my kids and pick up trash, so we'll do that this afternoon. I'll take the preschoolers out tomorrow to do that too. I have several seeds that are many years old and they seem to sprout ok. Good luck.

Sandy-I had to laugh at your comment about seeing which muscles don't want to work today. That is totally how I feel after 2 days spent working hard outside. Guess we should follow Donnas meme and remember it all doesn't have to be done in a day.

Dave-Looking forward to seeing those goat pictures.

Kathy-Hopefully you can get your plants out soon. Please share some pics of the moon flower vine.

Karen-Dh has talked about seeing that movie. Glad you liked it. I watched Despicable Me3 with dd last night. It was cute.

Wishing all a great Sunday.

[mnwildflowers]

Tasty-Happy belated anniversary and CONGRATS on 50 years!!! Sounds like a wonderful time!

[nybirder]

Tasty--Happy anniversary. May the next 25 years be as happy!

Birdy

[plantdoctor]

Good morning everyone.  It is a comfortable 37º this morning and supposed to be a nice day.  The coffee tastes exceptionally good today so I hope that means it's going to be an exceptionally nice day'

Yesterday was a fun day but bittersweet just as I thought it would be.  Today I plan on getting outside as soon as it warms up a bit and getting some yard work done and also hope to get the front porch ready for summer.  It needs a good cleaning.

Donna...I am so sorry you still have a migraine.  I only had that type of headache once in my life.  It lasted 6 weeks and was finally corrected by a chiropractor as my neck was severely out of place.  Love this meme as well.

Joan...Happy Earth day to you as well and to all others here.  Your post reminded me that I haven't planted cosmos yet.  Maybe that should be added to my list for today.

Dave...I look forward to seeing the newest baby goats.  How was the tractor show yesterday?

Robyn...welcome back!  So happy to see you joinig us today.  Enjoy the day working on your newest project.

Sandy...glad you got the cold frame up.  I hate to tell you, but around here right now Antique furniture is an an all time low price and demand. 

Kathy....sounds like you and I have the same plans for the day....except I'm not going to a job 1st....lol.

Tasty...I am so glad that you and DH were able to get away for a mini anniversary celebration.  Happy anniversary and many more!

Birdy...we are to have about the same temps as you today and to me that feels like heaven this time of year!  Enjoy tomorrow whatever you decide to do.  My bird feeding is certainly a success so far.  That means the squirrels haven't found the feeders and the birds have....lol.

Melissa...I could fill up a bag of garbage just walking around my yard.  I've got plans of planting up some baskets later in the week since I now have some extra room in the GH to be able to get out my potting table (aka ironing board)

Wishing you all a peaceful Sunday.  Charlene

[luvmyb_b]

Good morning. We are not really sunny to start the day, but I do see signs of the sun wanting to come out. I guess we should be just about like yesterday's weather for today. Tomorrow might have us breaking through to the lower 60s. Keeping my fingers crossed for that! 

No real plans for the day other than attempting church in a little while. When I get home, I guess I will go out and keep working on cleaning out the the debris from the raised beds. We had our nephew come last year to work on ridding the beds of the saplings and other unwanted vegetation. DH was supposed to get that hauled away then, but didn't. Now it has become my mission to get rid of it one stick and branch at a time. If I can cut it, it's going in the garbage can. Things that are too big for me will have to be dealt with in another way, but they are coming out of that bed. In light of that ... 

Donna, your meme is duly noted. Everything does not have to be done all at once. :))  I hope you feel better today!

Happy Earth Day, Joan! It is good seeing you here with us this morning. Best wishes on your seeds/seedlings. Hopefully your day will warm up nicely. Sounds like we are to be about the same here as you are there. 

I'll keep an eye out for your pics, Dave. That shade of green you used to post in today is very nice ... soothing to the eye, and I like it for Earth Day too. 

Robyn, it is good having you back with us. What a rough time you have had lately! May things settle down a bit so you can enjoy working on the vintage trailer again ... and that leftover roast. Sounds delicious!

Best wishes on your day, Sandy. I hope you can get outside a little bit. Fresh air and sunshine does wonders for folks, even if our muscles are not cooperative at first. Isn't it grand to see the daffodils after a drab and seemingly never-ending winter? They do offer hope of spring. 

Kathy, I hope you find everything still okay after your recent late season blizzards. I guess it is time to start hardening the seedlings off, isn't it? I may wait until next weekend since I still don't quite trust our forecast. 

I think the way you feel about your 50 yrs. married is such a phenomenon, Tasty. I, too, have many times like that where an event can feel like "just yesterday" or an "eternity" away. It sounds like your time away to celebrate was wonderful. I'm very happy for you! 

Birdy, I hope you have great birding opportunities when you get out and about. The pleasure one gets from seeing birds can be so thrilling and energizing ... at least to me.

Well, I need to get busy if I plan to make church. Have a super Sunday! Waving at those I missed.    
  

[nybirder]

Good morning, all. Lovely day here in central NY. Fingers crossed that we've crossed over into real spring.

I don't remember if it was here or in the Cook's Crock forum where someone asked about using the Instant Pot electric pressure cooker. I took mine on its maiden voyage yesterday and I posted my comments about it in a separate thread there if anyone is interested. I am an experienced pressure-cooker veteran using the stove top--and I have to say that I was impressed with it. My next experiment might be using the yogurt mode. I even bought several 1/2-pint canning jars to make individual servings.

Today looks like I've got to do some yard work. I could easily fill a 55-gal. trash barrel with the mess in my yard. Now that it's warming up and drying off, I don't have any excuses!

Birdy