Thursday

The second half of April starts the march toward our growing season. Onward and upwards. The lilac leaf buds grow plump, the flower gardening centers are officially opening, and my bulbs, though not yet popping out daffodils, are certainly gettin' there!

Yeas, this would be my label for this mid April day: we're gettin' there.

Breakfast.

The wind is gusty today and we have a chilly week before us, so our outdoor work time is still limited, but the tomato seeds have sprouted lovely plants under artificial lights inside, and the few daylilies I did purchase arrived in a stuffed box today. They'll wait in the mud room for a few days. Ed has finished planting all the peach trees. We have about a dozen nut and fir trees still to put in, but we're not quite sure when they're arriving, so we are happily enjoying a reprieve from heavy digging.

An equally important component of any gardening is using your eyesight to observe and take note. In this early phase of the season, I do a lot of that. I look at the strength of stems, I note where weeds are a threat. Each day has something new to show me and all of it is quite beautiful. Spring doesn't disclose the mistakes I've made. That's a summer thing. Right now, it's all good!

Snowdrop is here this afternoon and once again I am reminded how blessedly easy is the work of a grandparent as compared to that of a parent. Sure, she and I usually have a bit of homework to get through, but otherwise, my sole directive is for her to wash her hands when she comes in. Everything else is a joint project, with some small negotiation over the food consumption, but otherwise she is the master of her fate. No wonder the farmhouse is such a favored escape for her! The task of getting through the day's essentials is left to the parents, at home. Here, once the homework's out of the way, she just coasts.

I'm still a little bit taking it easy today and so Ed and I order pizza for dinner. I cannot really love it in the way we loved our pizzas in Italy, but we've finally found one that is good enough and we must be getting really ancient because for the first time this year, we've discovered the joy of pizza delivery. Imagine: you tick off a few items on their website and a pizza of your construction arrives at your doorstep! 

Isn't life amazing? That is, if you live in peace. 

With love.