Springing Spring

35°f this morning, about 2°C, clear with a a few clouds and light frost.

I am glad the weather cooled down. Those warm days a couple weeks ago were nice, but too much too soon. Thankfully these cooler temperatures are holding back the bloom on our apple and cherry trees, a good thing since we may still get some freezing weather.

In the garden, the seeds I planted back in that warm weather are slowly germinating, and the onion sets are sprouting right up. The heavy rain Tuesday made the ground too wet to work for a while, so we can use these days for mulching the flowerbeds.

Sarah has been hard at work on her cabin, putting in the windows. It is really beginning to look like a home! There is still much to be done, but progress is being made surely and steadily.

Last night we had a wonderful dinner with Derek, Hannah and her little one Eliana, and Sarah. Our oldest son gave us some Wagyu steaks when we visited him last month, and we saved them until now. So delicious! And sharing with family--perfect. I made pasta salad, fried chicken, and crudites to round out the meal.

Yesterday was grocery shopping day. Ugh. It has been several months since I did a big shopping. It was good to really stock up on fresh veggies and fruits as well as getting the other stuff we were out of. Ham was on sale for a great price, so I bought two. And this nice woman gave me a $10 off coupon as I was buying over $100 worth of groceries and she couldn't use the coupon before it expired. So with that coupon and a few others, plus store discounts, I shaved 1/3 off the original cost of my shopping. Still expensive, though. Have you noticed the price of bleach, for example? What used to be 99 cents for a half gallon is now $2.99! I did not buy---i will check the dollar store first. But so many things have increased in price just as dramatically. 

Spring flowers are still doing their utmost to brighten the days, and I am loving it. 

Yesterday I saw the first coltsfoot (sorry for the fuzzy photo),

toothwort,

and spring beauties of the year. 

Still looking for bloodroot. I used to want to move all the wildflowers to my gardens, but now I am happy to see them in their native habitat. 

Ending today with a poem I wrote back in 2010.

Springtime in the Mountains

First

Coltsfoot,

Spring beauties,

Waxy bloodroot;

Then lacy toothwort--

Soon after pink phlox,

Purple-fragrant larkspur,

Spicy hidden wild ginger,

Firepinks blaze crimson against green,

White ash traces ghostly between trees.

Winter fades; nature renews; we rejoice.

Etheree, from the website Allpoetry: "The etheree is a little-known poetry format, consisting of ten lines with graduated syllables. It was created about twenty years ago by an Arkansas poet named Etheree Taylor Armstrong.

The first line is a monosyllabic word; the second line has two syllables, and so on, until the tenth line with, ultimately, ten syllables. The most important elements of this format are the etheree structure, coherence (pulling ideas together to create a complete thought) and focusing on imagery."