day of sun

Things that were built today ~

the beginnings of our cold frame

laptop with swivel monitor and swivel qwerty keyboard, designed and built by Leah and Neal, using their screwdriver set, scrap wood, a block, and some yarn

Things that were discovered today ~

twins!

coyote track? (nothing for scale, but it's bigger than it seems -- definitely bigger than a Maya print)

Things I need help with ~

What is it? If the flowering quince identification is correct, then this is something else. The quince blossoms are orange-red, and they produce small, green, crabapple-like fruit. In fact, last year we thought they were crabapples. These blossoms are pink. I'm pretty sure this is the same tree that produced small, red, apple-like fruit last year.

These little white clusters are growing wild in the woods. What are they?

Blogs are so selective. If I choose not to disclose the fact that I'm running a fever and couging up something evil, you'll never know, will you? Back to bed....

leah's top eight reasons

why it's no fun being a grownup:

8. You have to drive.
7. You never have time to get a haircut.
6. You have to buy your own stuff.
5. You have to take care of crazy kids.
4. You have to work all day.
3. You have to pay bills.
2. You have to make dinner.
1. You have to clean up throw-up when your kid gets sick.

Apparently, youth is not always wasted on the young.

action shots and things that hide

At the beginning of the week, we thinned our tomatoes and eggplant and relocated the squash to roomier digs ~

They'll be heading out to a cold frame in the near future -- we've got lots of salvaged windows that we'll be putting to good use.

The kids found some mushrooms tucked between the great big hackberry tree and the monster wisteria vine ~

Using our handy dandy pocket naturalist guide to mushrooms, we think we have identified these as Common Psathyrella (Psathyrella candolleana). Or something like that.

Turkey Tail (Trametes versicolor) on a log, I think ~

We're gathering enough eggs to be able to give some away these days, but Lee came across this wild nest underneath some salvaged materials in the yard. As much as we don't need any more eggs (or chickens), it's still a little disappointing that these weren't deposited in the coop ~

Easterius Eggisus

just hanging around

things that happen here

Remember when it snowed a couple of weeks ago?

The very next weekend, we started some of our seeds ~

tomatoes

eggplant and squash.

The only ones that haven't yet sprouted are the ground cherries, which are really a type of tomato. There's no need to start squash indoors, as you can see by the way it has shot up after only one week. We just figured we'd get a head start since we're a little behind on some other things. We have about a jillion more to start, and we've got to tend to these little germinators as well, thinning some and relocating others.

Gone are the daffodils ~

and the forsythia ~

giving way to spirea ~

Periwinkle is its simple self ~


The tulip tree sheds its dressing ~

Lythrum at Goblins in my Garden helped me know these bright little blossoms as flowering quince ~


The shiitake log is busy making shiitakes ~

That little dot to the right of the mushrooms is a ladybug, the indoor population of which is enough to drive anyone mad, but at least now they have a kitchen sprouting garden to visit.

Life grows ~




and leaves evidence of itself ~


in the form of a phone, a globe, a miniature tornado-maker, half of a hard-boiled egg, pistachios and shells, a screwdriver, and the work of children.

cluck, sizzle, strum

The other day I found an old friend of mine on Facebook, and she turned me on to the Alabama Chicken and Egg Festival in Moulton, AL. In particular, she gave a shout out to the Carolina Chocolate Drops, who'll be playing at the festival next month.

Bluegrass, chickens, and eggs -- what more could you ask for? Thanks, Ashley V.!

climate controlled

Yesterday, I opened my freezer to find the Alabama snowman looking up at me from the bottom compartment. Apparently he has been living there all week. I didn't have the heart to tell him that it was 70 degrees outside. A freezer seems a bit like a zoo when a snowman is inside of it.

alabama snowman

all tomorrow's omelets