Inklings of Spring

Look what appeared this morning!

I have a handful in the yard. Hopefully I'll remember to cut them and take them to church on Sunday. Fresh flowers in the sanctuary are so welcoming in February.
Our outdoors look like this right now:

See how green that field is across the road? And today's high temperature is supposed to be 80. 80!  I can hardly believe it.
I've started some herbs in trays on the front porch/greenhouse: dill, parsley, basil, thyme, stevia, and sage.

My plants that overwintered on the porch have survived. On the left are some mint plants, plagued by bugs. I'll wash them off today. On the right is a mass of tomato plants, bless them.

Left: forsythia. Right: Japanese magnolia

Everything is eager to burst forth!
That includes Adam. He burst forth into the garden yesterday and started digging. He moved the tomato trellis from this bed and turned it over/cleared it out. Then I planted spinach, kale, and lettuce into it. This morning we also have our first asparagus spear up. So exciting!

The window above is the kitchen window. It used to be longer, a standard window. A massive bush obscured the view, so Adam chopped it way back, as you see.
Below is our fig tree, which has been reduced in height over the past 3 years. Now we'll be able to reach all the fruit! The blooming daffodils appeared beneath it this morning.

I decided to let my young flock of chickens out to free range in the yard yesterday. I'd never allowed them to do that before. I supervised them. I'm worried they will flutter into the dog yard or wander into the road.

They were happy to hunt and peck. You'd think they'd want the greenery, but I'm convinced they spend all their time pecking for bugs, little carnivores.

In the photo above, you see the 3 chicks born a month ago. The one on the left is a little cross-beak. Her beak doesn't close properly, and she has difficulty eating and drinking. I don't want to hand-raise a chicken in the house, but I'm trying to help her out. She's smaller and always hungry. I give her some of our mashed sweet potatoes each morning, which she can eat more easily.

And I got a special waterer for her. Hopefully that will help. She may never lay, but she may survive and have a happy chicken life.
Well, the pasture will soon be covered with blooming clover and buttercups. I found the first one:

Some of you are still facing ice and snow and all that entails. I hope this gives you come cheer! 

When our daffodils are gone and our mosquitoes have arrived, you can then share your daffodils with me, and reciprocate the cheerfulness :) If you want to read about our kitchen remodeling, click over to my other blog. There's a link above on the right, on the picture with the sailboats on the river.
That's it from the farm!

Ripping It All Out ~

Today began the Great Kitchen Redo. We started with the great emptying of stuff:

 We'll be living with chaos in the dining room for a while.
Then we continued with the Great Ripping Out:

Apparently these cabinets were brand new in 1986!

The only thing we actually ripped out today were the two lower cabinets on either side of the oven. We figured that indicated serious commitment, haha! Adam wants to work from the floor up; we'll be putting in a plywood floor, either painted or finished with epoxy.

It didn't take long, but it was exhausting! The kitchen is by far the ickiest room in the house. We've threatened to do this redo for months, and we knew if we didn't give it a good start, we'd put it off again until after the wedding (in June) and after summer, and then after Christmas and .... yeah.

In other farm news:
The three baby chicks are fine. I've named one Applesauce because she has a cross-beak.
Adam has begun cutting down unwanted crepe myrtle trees along the road front.

This tree is now removed.

 And he's building a new fence to divide the pasture in half. It's a natural fencing technique from England in the Middle Ages, used to keep pigs contained.

 A double row of low posts, filled with woodland debris, becomes a thick barrier.

He'll leave a wide gate on the right-hand end and a small gate on the other end by the garden.
Adam has trimmed one pear tree and begun cleaning out the garage too. Much must be done before the wedding in June -- we'd better "get a move on"!!