Simple Pleasures~ Some Spring Green

Living in a place that we can get up to 6 months of winter weather you sure appreciate green when it comes. But when outside doesn't want to cooperate ( like today...it snowed again) with your need for green... then you make it happen inside. My hubby was pruning the fruit trees on the homestead and picked me some desert plum branches to force. I learned a new trick this year. Put one tablespoon of bleach in the water and it will prevent any bacteria growth and you will have nice clear water in your vase as it buds. Earlier this week after we finished our dinner I noticed the neat shadow play that was happening on the wall. I really wished I was able to catch it better but I loved how the branches and the shadow was leaning into each other.

The time to enjoy a bit of green and shadow play was such a sweet simple pleasure after a long winter.

.....Simple Pleasures is to remind me to stop, to look, to listen, to slow down and pay closer attention to the simple things in life. And when ever I do, I am never disappointed.

To join click on the Simple Pleasures graphic and see what it is all about.

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Wild Turkeys On the Run and Seedy Sunday's

The last three Sunday's my hubby and I have participated in some local Seedy Sunday Sales. We sold our seed from our small joint family seed business. I really enjoy these get together's. It is a neat way to meet people out in our local community and surrounding areas. There are a lot of neat people that we have been blessed in friendship with. One friend we have made through these sales the last couple of years has blessed us with new seed to try out and grow and save. I am really excited with the bean seeds given last year, tomato seeds he gave us this year and a tomato variety he wants to share next year. We are so blessed by this friend.

On the way home from the seed sale we had the pleasant surprise of getting to see some of the local wild turkeys. We wondered where they were sense we hadn't seen them in a while but they made their appearance on Sunday. In the picture down below is at lake level and there is hardly any snow down there unlike us further up the mountain. Snow is melting more and more each day and it won't be too long before we start digging in the garden.

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Waking Up to Longer Days and Earlier Risings

This mornings sunrise

This morning I awoke to the joy of sunlight shining through my bedroom window. I have been blessed this morning with several sites that winter is leaving and spring is breaking forth. For instance ...earlier sunrises, birds returning and chirping, a squirrel scampering up and down on a ladder hanging off our woodshed, sunlight creating a diamond sparkle on the snow. I am feeling very cheerful and encouraged by God's amazing beauty in His creation. I find every winter I tend to not be able to get up as early as I would like but I am doing better now that the sun is rising sooner so I rise sooner. I look forward to this time because it is easier for me to have my quiet time. The treat of a quiet house, a cup of warm tea, a time to reflect and spend with the Lord.

some goals for my spring break....

• finish cleaning out the future bathroom
• Make perogies ( and write a tutorial)
• make cottage cheese for the first time
• give the house a extra clean as much as I can (so I can take pics of my home to share)
• some knitting *grin*
• Make some lesson plans

Those are my great aspirations and we will see what reality will be. *grin*

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Spring is Starting to Pop Up!

A Tray of Leeks

I am so excited that I am starting to finally see signs of spring here. I have to admit to those who don't know this about me but I am not a natural lover of gardening. My hubby the gardener and he has slowly lured me into helping him. I do enjoy certain parts of the garden more than others. For example after planting and waiting and then the plants just... break forth out of the ground is such a simple pleasure of mine. It to me is a sign of hope and new life. New life coming forth is such a pure joy, if it be a new born baby, or animal, or plant. I loved the verse in the creation account in Genesis that mentions that God planted a garden. He didn't speak it to be but it said He planted it. That just shows the loving and caring side in our creator that I think is missed ohhh too often. I didn't catch that till I was in my 30's and I went to a woman's breakfast at church and a sweet lady who was the speaker drew our attention to that. Isn't our Lord so amazing. I hope that you take a moment sometime this spring and stand and be amazed at our Lord's creation and know that it didn't just evolve but was a gift from our creator who thought out every detail as a gift for us.

.....Simple Pleasures is to remind me to stop, to look, to listen, to slow down and pay closer attention to the simple things in life. And when ever I do, I am never disappointed.

To join click on the Simple Pleasures graphic and see what it is all about.

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Still Some Snowy Days and a Peak Into My Knitting Bag

A peak out my dinning room window today.

This time a year I have to work real hard not to be discontent and feel the grass is greener on the other side. (literally, lol) It is that time of the year of transition time between winter and spring. We are seeing glimpses of spring but we are still getting snow. I am drooling over pictures on blog posts that show trees in bloom and life. Yes, it will happen here too...soon. Till then I will cozy up to my knitting and sit by the fire and patiently wait and daydream for spring.

Here is a peak into my knitting bag of goodies. I am using up odds and ends in my yarn stash and making hot pads that I will make a quilt front and then put on a binding. The moss stitch gives the thickness so I don't have to use batting or a backing. It is all in one, neat eh? I am hoping during spring break I can get some quilt fronts made and then assemble them. I used chunky 100% wool or cotton for this. That is important because if you use acrylic it will probably melt when used, I know b/c I used my hubby's aunts and that happened, not a good thing.

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Feeling A Bit Under the Weather

I thought I would come up for air and say that I am feeling a bit under the weather. Yes, it is cold season and our family this winter seems to be getting the latest, most new cold passing through. This latest one I just feel like crawling in bed with a good book and a tea but I need to keep going because my family does. I am very thankful being able to take the Rose Hip Syrup I made in the December. Nursing my cold with herbal teas, apple cider tonic, and earl grey green tea. Yesterday I made a big pot of chicken soup and a batch of whole wheat bread that should last a couple days. At this point I don't know if I will be posting a simple pleasure and Friday Farm Girl's posts or not. I guess time will tell. But I do hope to get some blog visiting in here and there. Hope you all are in good health.

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My MIL's Stripy Wooly Socks and Ramblings

With all the day dreaming I find myself slipping into here and there thinking about spring. I need to remember to savor the now. I know that in the next week or two it will be the beginning of starting seeds on the plant table. Which means in the next couple of months we will start prepping the garden to be planted and it will be full speed ahead from there till New Years again. So, I need to remember to savor this time of quiet days sitting and stitching and planning.

It also shows me I need to get a move on certain projects I wanted to get done this winter. I better get them started and finished in proper time. I really want to clean out what will be our future bathroom. Ohh for those who have known me for the last few years...well yes things have crept back into that room. I need to just get it all out and not allow anything other than what is needed for the future bathroom back in there. I think I will get started on this mammoth of a project a week from today. I will have to block out my Saturday for that alone. Maybe a pre-made frozen dinner is a good idea or a crock pot dinner. I think I will have to get hubby to get me a kitchen timer this week so I can set intervals of work and rest periods. Then what ever doesn't get done that day I will set a goal of 15-30 minutes each day till it is done.

Do you have any mammoth projects that are calling your name this winter?

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Homestead Ramblings ~The Snow Scenes Before It Rained

This last week was a winter wonderland in the beginning and then it warmed up and the rains washed some of it away. I am a Pacific Northwest raised gal and the novelty of snow has never left. I much prefer snow over rain in the winter. I love how it brightens up everything and makes it all new. I can see how the analogy of when we are forgiven that our sins are washed away and it is as white as snow. No blemishes all is perfect and beautiful. It really does look like new beginnings after a good snow.

This is a picture from our front door looking up to our neighbors barn. The border of our property is just beyond the lilac bush that the two bird feeders hang on. I never get tired of looking at that barn. It was a barn that was built by the original owners of the land before it was sub divided and sold. Where our house is is where the old log cabin was. Being up here on this mountain top feels like a world removed and in itself. And sometimes it feels like times stands still. I hope you enjoy some of the fun I had with my camera and also editing them on a free photo editing site...Picnik.

Our Home Sweet Home

It is a bit misleading because it is a bit bigger than what it seems. The house is set into the hill and there is a walk in basement level.

There you have it ...a taste of winter on our Mt. *grin*

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