At last, Spring comes!

It's been quite a winter, hasn't it?  People killing other people all over the world, political scandals... and then there's the weather.  It had been months since it was warm enough to go outside and watch the sun come up.  This morning I needed a coat, but the wind was still and the sky was cloudless; this means, of course, that I didn't see a fantastic sunrise, because clouds are needed for that perfection.  But it was just so good to be outside to see the sun.

So lovely

 Gabe decided to eat some watermelon.  The Holsteins wonder why.

As I trimmed fruit trees, I was serenaded by the resident mockingbird.  Glorious!  Just what I've been hungering for.

Yesterday was perfect.  Cliff helped me get a new, much smaller garden spot in a different location:  Behind the house, in the calf pasture (fenced away from them, though).  I only intend to have three or four tomato plants and perhaps four pepper plants.  In any leftover space, I might play around with something else, but it won't be much.

Gabe was outside with us all day yesterday and stayed near one of us all the time.  I took him out with me this morning and he tortured cats while I trimmed at the fruit trees.  Perhaps he won't always have to be on a leash, since he did so well yesterday.  

One interesting note:  Early in our garden-planning yesterday, Cliff got on the tractor; Gabe has a habit of running in front of it when it's moving, and we don't trust him to have enough sense to get out of the way.  So Cliff got on the tractor holding him.  After that, every time my husband started the John Deere, Gabe jumped on.  We won't talk about the way he kept jumping off a moving tractor after half a minute or so every single time, causing me a series of mini-nervous-breakdowns.

I'd love to have a video of Cliff and Gabe on the tractor, but the only camera I had with me was my new smart-phone.  The sun was shining so brightly, I couldn't even see what I was aiming at.  Right then and there, I made up my mind to carry the digital camera with me outside, because it's quicker and easier to use.

It's morel season, although nobody around here is finding a lot of them, just a few little greys.  We need rain, and soon, if it's going to be a decent mushroom year.  As for me, I've almost lost the taste for them, and haven't been able to climb the hills and hunt them for years anyway.  One thing that always heralds morel season is the Redbuds blooming.  My dear departed friend Christine gave me a baby redbud tree four years ago.  It's about ready to burst out in bloom.

When I walk past the tree, I always think of Christine.  

She loved full moons, gardens, springtime, her family, all of nature's creatures, and most of all, Jesus.  I'm so glad I met her during her brief time on this earth.  

Peace.