April 2017





We were so hopeful for April to be sunny and now when I look at the pictures in a review, I am realizing that even though we still had a lot of rain, we also had sunshine and lots of spring! 

Our precipitation was 173.2 mm which was a big improvement over March! 


The upside to all the precipitation and ice/snow over winter was a very clean fence.
Normally, the north side of the fence is green and grungy but my clean loving guy did an inspection and declared it fit for spring!


The earliest bloomer on the farm is this white magnolia.  


 The rhubarb has been amazing as it usually is.
I've been baking and sharing and enjoying roasted rhubarb on yogurt every morning.  


The Star Magnolia is really a two-week wonder.
If it is windy like it was when it was reaching full bloom, the two-week wonder loses a few days.



Miss N was working on her speech that she needed for school.  
It was about Mennonite Girls Can Cook.  
How sweet is that?  


We spent one Sunday afternoon hiking in the forest with no trails. 
There was all manner of creatures lurking.  


It was fun to watch free exploration and I was glad at least one adult had a firm idea of where we were.


I'd love to be back there now.
There were thousands of Trillium buds about to open.  
We found two already fully blossomed. 


The trees still bare in early April are likely now fully green. 
Recording life by way of photos makes me realize how quickly things change. 


Back on the farm, the Sorrel and Chives were ready to harvest and we enjoyed a pot of Summer Borscht as a way of celebration.


In preparation for Easter, I prepared centerpieces and placeholders.  


The bunnies were ironed and folded into submission and left to wait for little children to tug their ears.






The official Paska taster gave me the okey-doke on this batch.

Next year I will try to take a tally of how many batches of Paska left the kitchen. 



We had my siblings over for dinner.  
It was a good time.
Wondering how to entertain at your next dinner party?...
take a selfie that includes yourself.  
It's trickier than it looks. 


Our family!

The kids are growing up!
They can be pretty independent at one end of the table.


They are not so grown up that they can't enjoy a good Easter Egg hunt.
With five acres, there is plenty of places to hide those foil eggs. 


Will they remember how they ran around the farm at Grammie and Grandpa's farm?


They will remember this old apple tree for Caramel Apples and foil covered eggs.


If they can climb it...
the Easter bunny also likely climbed it. 



After the hunt was over, they divided up their eggs and treats with Oma.



The bleeding heart is one of my favourite spring perennials. 


While I snipped off the old hydrangea blossoms, I found a snail family.  



The field and lawns have now been mowed several times.  


The cherry tree is blossoming.

I wondered if there were enough bees around. 


Less than an hour later, I met one and pulled this stinger out of the soft part behind my knee.


So, spring has come!


I walk around the property a few times each day and marvel at the creation that God made. 


I let my beloved know that the ladies were coming for high tea last Tuesday and within an hour I saw this view out the front window. 


The Mennonite Girls came.
We missed Charlotte and Betty.  


We are very blessed to share our lives together through emails.
Every now and then, it is an extra blessing to be able to sit together face to face and share in ways that emails can't. 


I called in the second seating after basketball practice was over. 


They drank a large pot of tea and did very well with the egg salad and cucumber and cream cheese sandwhiches.



Eating scones with devonshire cream and blackberry jam is not something that needs to be learned.
It is love at first bite!


Tea at Grammies.
Will they remember that?


One of the things I love the very most about spring is the bright blue sky and big puffy white and sometimes dark and ominous clouds. 




Yesterday we took Kobe to Vedder River for his first swim of the season.


If that water was chilly, he didn't seem to notice.
He would swim clear across if we didn't keep calling him back.

He flopped down on his bed when we got home!
He was dog tired!


This lilac blossom caught my eye as I came into the house.
Within a week, the lilac will be fully open and the house will be scented with that glorious flower.

God has indeed blessed us with beauty after the long months of winter!

Happy May!

with love...

Comments

  1. Oh yes - they will remember!!!! Your pictures and words are all SO lovely. You do the best selfies ever (with your signature glasses in the front corners. You could do a wonderful collage of them and frame it? Your grandchildren are growing by leaps and bounds and you are making the best kind of memories for them.

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  2. I love your photos and words! Your phone sure has a great camera, but those pictures don't take themselves! Who would have known how easy it would get to record our lives?

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  3. A wonderful, hopeful, upbeat synopsis of April. Is it okay to hope that May will be brighter? We are looking at another ten days of rain in addition to the ten we've already endured. We are hoping for some warmth and sun. ☀️

    Your grands will certainly remember because you will be around to remind them. I imagine that they will be there hunting eggs for another 40 years at least! 🌿

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  4. Lots to smile about here...despite the rain! You captured the moments and memories beautifully.

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  5. Love your Easter table preparations. The napkins are so much fun. Great Paska eater shot! Life is full at your farm and around your table which is a blessing.

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  6. Loved all the spring pictures!!!!! Such a beautiful time of year! I'm sure you are enjoying peonies just now...my very last ones got delivered last night to my newborn niece!!! I planted them 8 years ago hoping we could use them if my sister every got married. But she ended up marrying in an October and that didn't work. It's SO special that her first child was born during our peony season!!!!

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  7. Gorgeous magnolia tree ... wish I had one! and yes, your grand kids are growing up .. What great memories you are building with them, and nice to see you and all your siblings around the table !

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  8. I'm so late here but realize that I kept looking for June's post and I missed May....I'm glad I came here today to see all the things you did way back when. Beautiful and filled with fun. Easter seems like months ago.....it's summer and your yard was pretty then....and I'm sure it's still ever so lovely.

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