thankful thursday

The tulips are planted in a small perennial bed by the barn paddock, where I pass them multiple times every day and very often stop to admire them. I've posted several photographs and sketches of the first tulips of the year.

You may recognize this one. It was the very first:

The first few tulips provided joy day after day after day, surviving very cold nights and even a snowstorm. The colors have surprised me by changing over time -
some becoming lighter, others deeper.

After the first week or so, I often considered putting them in a vase.

Three had reached the stage of being more open than closed in the evening,
when we got the multiple-storm and tornado warning.

 Thinking that strong winds would shred these very-open tulips, I finally cut the stems and put the flowers in a vase on the porch, where I could enjoy them. Considering that every paddock and garden is currently scattered with branches that came down in that storm, it was a good decision.

For several days, the tulips opened more and more.
Don't you love the way tulips stay beautiful even as they become fully "blown"?
They simply begin to look like a different flower, one with wide open petals.

But yesterday I turned the vase slightly,
and instantly most of the petals fell into my hand.

Imagine how fragile the connection must have become.

Still...

...beautiful.

~~~~~

wordless wednesday

~~~~~

what a day

It did not rain today!

I had a list of errands to be done in town, and did ALL of them. 

AND a couple that were not even on the list!

When I got home in the afternoon it was such a glorious day I walked around with the herd for a little while. The goats are soooo tired of rain. It was great to see them enjoying the fresh air and sunshine.

Oh, and I rescued little Iris from another potentially fatal adventure - this was the third. The way she's going, I seriously fear that little goat will not make old bones. But I'll do my best to keep her alive because I like her a lot and I'm hoping she'll grow up to be LeShodu without the attitude. I had hoped the same thing about her mama, Vinca, when she was born, but regret to report Vinca has been cranking up the attitude quite a bit recently. Here's hoping Iris will stay sweeter than both her mama and her grandmama, and will enjoy a long and happy life.

Speaking of hope, I've planted a new little garden of Spring bulbs out by the barn.

28 hyacinths and 3 irises and 40 tulips.

Nothing says "hope" like planting, I think.

And perhaps especially, planting in the Autumn for the Spring.

And speaking of Spring, look what I found out in the Upper West Side paddock, almost hidden beneath mushrooms and tiny ground-cover greenery:

A single violet!

What a great day. I hope yours was, too!

~~~~~

now appearing

The tulips I hastily planted in the new raised bed on 15 November 2017 are beginning to appear! Snow predicted tomorrow, then days of rain.

But today: tulips.

~~~~~

tulip tuesday

Many weeks ago,

a friend and I arranged to visit

the Spring Bulb Show at Smith College.

Picked a day.

Put it on our calendars.

We rejoiced at the prospect:

stepping into warm glasshouses

being immersed in the glorious aroma of hyacinths

and filling our eyes with color.

After all these months of snow and ice...

color.

On the day: freezing rain, icy roads.

We peered at our respective morning skies,

phones in hands,

hemmed and hawed and dithered,

then reluctantly postponed.

Very reluctantly.

We rescheduled to Saturday, the 21st.

Which was also the final day of the Show.

Much crossing of fingers last week.

Saturday, there was snow.

Falling.

We went anyway.

(The eagle picture was taken en route.)

Color.

 

 Color, color, color!

Also, colour!

Ahhhh.

(I shall stop talking now.)

 

Ahhhhhh.

~~~~~

weekend mishmash

Have you ever seen the magical moment when snow begins to fall? 

Perhaps you are gazing out at an open landscape, thinking about this or that. Your eye is caught by one tiny bit of something drifting down. And you think, "Is that ash? Is it snow?" Then another bit drifts down, then a dozen or a thousand, or countless millions more. And at that moment, even if you have seen plenty of snow for one season, you still feel huge relief that it is snow. Because that much ash would be a bit worrisome.

This morning I saw the snow begin. Then I checked the online weather report to see if a significant storm is predicted. I learned that the current conditions were "heavy rain" and "21 F," which made me laugh. Isn't there an inherent flaw in that combination?

~~~

Lately, a few things on my laptop screen have made me laugh. 

Here's one:

It may be the 15th century.

And those may be sheep, not goats.

Nevertheless, every detail of that scene is so familiar!

I love the expressions, and the authentic positions of the animals.

And of course, the determined youngster with something to say.

Maybe every herd has a Tsuga?

I hope so.

~~~

Now this is a sensible height for an oven!

If only I could find one of these, I wouldn't need a wall oven.

Not that I need one. Not at all. 

This weekend, I've been gathering recipes for oven-free breadmaking. (Doesn't "oven-free" sound nicer than "ovenless"? Liberating! No need to rush the oven replacement, no sirree!) I hope to become an expert a competent flatbread-maker in the weeks ahead.

But I'll tell you what: if you don't have a few hours to spare, you might want to avoid searching for recipes on the informative and inspirational rabbit-hole of Pinterest. One interesting image will lead a board (that link is to my Pinterest boards) then maybe you decide to click through to the original blog or YouTube video or website...and suddenly it's really, really time to get outside and unload the hay before nightfall, you lazypants!

~~~

Along the bread-lined way I've collected recipes for lots of other things. (Note: these links will take you to the site with the actual recipe, not to Pinterest.) Desserts from the days of WWII food rationing. Soups and stews from many countries and cultures. Crockpot chicken dishes to replace my standard (but totally unnecessary!) oven roasts.

  

As you might imagine, I always go for simple recipes, with few ingredients and a short list of instructions. Even so, an occasional recipe presents a challenge, like the one that calls for "one and a half eggs"... 

"Say what now?" 

...or the instruction to "line a large pot with a thin layer of vegetable broth."

~~~

Speaking of vegetables, my 2014 garden seeds are now in a bowl in the kitchen, where they make me smile several times each day. Every now and then, I move the bottom packet to the top. Today, a switch from broccoli, which I hope will be more successful than the 2013 cauliflower experiment:

...to a variety of kale which I hope will work in caldo verde. Because seriously: I have tried and tried and if I can't duplicate the remembered flavor with this kale, I suppose I will have to go back to Portugal and collect some seeds by the roadside.

Still plenty of time before planting, as you can see by the intrepid hens. At least the snow has melted down enough that they are happy to go outside again! This winter is the first time ever that the hens have chosen to remain indoors for even one day, let alone days on end. I'm so glad they are venturing out as usual now.

The tulips are becoming fragile, but are still so precious. 

I will probably be refreshing the water in the vase when the petals have dropped and all that's left is the green stems, and yellow stamens and pistils.

Because green and yellow are colors, and colors are not to be squandered these days.

~~~

I hope you are enjoying a colorful weekend! 

~~~~~

quick question

Dear Readers,

If you were my camera, where would you be?

Your friend,

Quinn

~~~

Update:

AND IT WORKED!!!

I have been looking for my camera for four days.

FOUR DAYS.

Today, I reached the point of searching in places 

where no camera could possibly be.

So...I turned to you, my Readers, for help.

Ten minutes after posting the question, I found the camera.

In the trash.

In the TRASH.

Whew.

Blogging is a powerful thing.

~~~~~