teamwork

Nine years ago, Ed and I worked on our first project together: we built a table for the apartment I had just moved into. It wasn't complicated, but he fretted about whether we would be able to work well together. Not everyone can do it -- he told me.

That still makes me smile. Because it turns out that we do work well together. Toiling over farmette projects gives us some of our best hours. Indoors, he typically takes the lead. When the job gets too technical, I back off. Outside, it's the reverse. There are a few projects that he claims as his babies (planting tomato seeds comes to mind), but for the most part, he merely asks -- what's next?

There is no doubt that spring brings us the greatest number of projects and working outside is a glorious way to enjoy the outdoors again. So I truly could not wait for the snows to melt and for the sunshine to take hold.

Well, the snow isn't entirely gone, but it's gettin' there! And we're having plenty of sunshine right now.

And so right after a thorough farmhouse cleaning, we eat a sunny breakfast...






...and here I want to give a nod to my pots of summer annuals that I brought inside and that are now wildly in bloom -- take a look, for example, at the simple pack of alyssum: it's a riot of white flowers...





...okay, so we finish our breakfast and go outside? No, not so fast. It's a cold day again. It may reach 30 F (not quite freezing, for all you European types who constantly remind me that my Fahrenheit numbers mean nothing to you). In the afternoon. Maybe.

But I can't wait. I bundle up, take out the rake and start the process of moving away some of the debris that I never bother to clear out in the Fall.

We had talked about various ways of dealing with the enormous piles of spent timber, shrubs and brambles that we take out. Burn it? Seems unnecessary. Watch it decompose? There's too much of it. Shred it? Rent a shredder? Maybe. For now, Ed follows me with his ancient hand mower and shreds the little stuff. Teamwork!






And despite the temperatures, exertion makes me feel warmer. Here, I'll set the camera to take a photo of Ocean's author raking away:





It was, as always, a wonderful set of hours.

In the evening, my older girl comes over for dinner.






It's been such a long time since I've seen either of my girls! Not to worry, in April, I'll see the other one! In the meantime, I make chicken thigh rolls for tonight. Kind of an unusual dish for me, but I'm on a Polish food spin and meat rolls are very much a Polish thing (indeed, I had chicken thigh rolls at the Bottega BTW on my next to last night in Warsaw).






For once, it's still light when we eat. How good is that!

And did I tell you? Underneath all that yard waste, I saw something: the first sign of daffodils poking through:






I tell you, a Sunday like this cannot be improved upon. The promise of the good months before us. Of plenty of outdoor work to make that garden grow. Of farmhouse projects. Of daughters, of sunshine, of meals together. Of flowers, inside for now, but soon in all corners of the farmette. And that's exciting!