Petals Like Snowflakes

We are blessed to have many fruit trees on our farm (we're fruit rich!), but I refer to the old, yet still graceful, Stayman Winesap tree as "the" apple tree. The smaller, younger apple trees don't make me swoon when in full bloom. They don't hold a special place in my heart--and won't live in my memory the rest of my life.

The last two nights, I stood on the porch in the dark and took in several deep breaths of apple blossom perfume.

Our peach tree blooms before the apple tree and holds its cotton candy-pink blossoms for ten days to almost two weeks. Not so with apple trees. It is a brief, gorgeous show that lasts 48 hours, at most, before petals begin to fall, like large snowflakes slowly tumbling down from the tree to the ground.

This morning I awoke to see that petal drop had begun.
Scattered about the new green grass are petals lying everywhere, from afar they resemble large snowflakes that refuse to melt as they lay next to fresh yellow dandelions.

Almost Spring Cleaning

Yes, indeed. It's almost Spring, wahoo! We have tackled major house cleaning for a visit by my Dad, not for the return of Spring. A relative is coming to visit!

There are various levels of cleaning:

1. Cleaning for Everyday - vacuuming downstairs & putting stuff away and/or stowing it somewhere to put away later.

2. Cleaning on Sunday - add bathrooms, putting away stuff on the stairway, seasonal yard work, and vacuuming upstairs every other weekend.

3. Cleaning for a Job-related Visit or Friends - add bathrooms the day of the meeting, put on a fresh tablecloth on the kitchen table, double-check the downstairs is 'tidy,' make the boys' put away belongings, maybe even light a candle or make a pot of tea, and last...

4. Cleaning for a visit from family - add dusting (my favorite!), wipe down woodwork & kitchen cabinets, clean the fridge, mop the kitchen floor, eliminate leftover dust bunnies & cobwebs from under beds and high on the ceiling--including standing on tiptoes on the bed or at the top of the stairs to dust ceiling fans, put away 'stuff' scattered about the farm, and in general give the place the illusion of a clean and clutter-free home....

Cleaning for relatives is a killer.

My Dad isn't getting the full treatment that was given for a visit by my Sister last July, my Aunt & Uncle last August and for my Mom & Step-Dad last November. We cleaned for five days before my sister & mom got here. "We" was mostly me, with assistance from The Guys. Scott always cleans the fridge for which I am grateful.

This time we cleaned for two days. Maybe it was because of those visits that we didn't need to clean as much, or it could be that we weren't such filthy people this winter.

The house almost looks good enough to sell, in an 'as is,' this is Floyd kind of way.

Scott's parents are coming late May. We'll add 'pressure clean the outside' to #4. There'll be colorful flowers and the grass and trees will be green. The illusion of the bucolic farmhouse in the country will be in full force, and as it is said, may the force be with you.

Oh Swell, Time for Morels!

A couple days ago, Emerson and I took a stroll down to the pond to check out spring peepers and see how many newts he could collect, a very boy thing to do. On our way, a morel mushroom caught my eye.

We had just entered the woods, there were two mushrooms a few feet from the walking & driving path. Walking over to the mushroom to examine it closer, I stepped on another morel by accident. I told Emerson,"Don't move!" We looked around to see that we were in the middle of a mushroom patch.

Later, after we had confirmed with a mycology site and local mushroom expert, Karl Holliday (who was a tad miffed that he was second choice to the internet), that the morels were indeed morels, we picked and dried them. Ours look just like the morels in the photo above. Included the funny photo below after I found it searching through Creative Commons images.

Spring has Sprung!

Yes indeed, today is the Vernal Equinox. The first day of Spring.

No matter what weather we have in the next few weeks, we have turned a corner and the winter of 06-07 is officially behind us. It wasn't a bad winter though it had its moments. We often wondered during December and way into January, if we'd have any winter. When winter arrived late, it brought with it cold, ice and power outages. Yippee.

But here we are, two-thirds through March and it's a fresh, new season. Hallelujah!

[Forsythia photo courtesty of Creative Commons until I can borrow my son's camera while mine is being repaired. We have our own forsythia to photograph, but this works for now.]