Monday, April 25, 2011

Michi's Magic Bookshelf


  On Saturday, April 23, the 'Bookshelf' storytime/craft had an Earth Day theme, and was held at the wonderful Mountain Mercantile in Pine Mountain Club, courtesy of Alice, our gracious hostess.
  We read The Great Kapok Tree and Grandmother Oak (the hub came to my rescue when  I couldn't find the Kapok book, bringing it just in the nick of time!). Rachel of Go Wild! programs, brought Jasper, the Hawk-Headed parrot, for the children to meet, and supplied the seeds for our craft!
We had about 11 children total attend. After storytime, we folded origami pots, and planted sunflower seedlings in them. After they were done, Alice, the owner of Mountain Mercantile, gave each child a free scoop of ice cream! Thank you to Rachel & Alice!!


Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Finally, Signs of Spring!


   Wow! A lot has changed since my last post. Spring has finally sprung! This is the view from my backyard this morning. The lilac is beginning to leaf out, and we are preparing two terraced areas in the side of the hill, where you see the long dirt area (just ignore the 'bat caves' Moose has dug above that).
   One raised-bed plot will be for corn, which I have sprouted in a seed container. The other raised bed will be for a small variety of vegetables. I am hoping to grow some peppers, broccoli, and eventually, when it is hot enough, Japanese eggplant. We shall see...What I really would like to do, is plant some cold-hardy wine grapes alongside the plots...
   I am also hoping to get a nice grassy area growing in the flat area at the top, so we can get some fun croquet games going this summer (I love croquet!). We are also going to dig out a horseshoe pit along the fence.



   Remember the snow in my last post? Now my grass is taking hold (despite the best efforts of the pesky gophers). All three apple trees are beginning to leaf (the mystery red, Golden Delicious and Sierra Beauty). Speaking of fruit, it will soon be cherry-picking time at M&M! Can't wait!

Friday, April 8, 2011

Another Spring Day???

















Apparently, Mother Nature did not get the memo that it is SPRING! Hello, I have gardening plans...Sheesh!!

Looks like we'll be popping corn and enjoying a fire tonight...

I am so very happy my apple trees have yet to leaf, let alone bud. Hopefully, the daffodils will come back to life.

Saturday, April 2, 2011

Spring Day in the Mountains!

We had a busy day of chainsawing the broken limbs from last week's storm & doing general upkeep. Since I mowed the 'back 40' yesterday, the hub & I enjoyed some afternoon adult beverages on the hill this afternoon. Note the idiot dog in the 'cone of shame' & Hannibal Lector (aka Moose) in one of the many resting pits he has dug in the yard in the lower right corner. Apparently, Glade is toasting a ghost...

The hub is pointing to idiot dog's chubby chipmunk cheek (did I mention I found another squirrel carcass yesterday?). My tasty beverage is in the rubber coated glass as seen in "Mystery Men."
Hannibal in the foreground, & his hapless victim in the cone of shame...didn't I do a nice job mowing & removing those pesky tumbleweeds??

It was such a pretty afternoon, but difficult to capture the beauty of the sky...I began digging out the spot for my veggie garden...