Happy St. Patrick's Day

The windows are open, the roosters are crowing, the birds are singing and the flowers are blooming!  The excitement around here has been building for St. Patrick's Day.  Kali wanted to make a green meal so we had our menu crafted, only to receive a few more recent tweaks, for weeks now.  For a family night this week, in addition to doing some fun brainstorming together about how we might make money and all stay home, we made shamrocks and decorated our big picture window.  We got some books about St. Patrick's Day out of the library, educating ourselves a bit more about the background of this day (other than the fun of wearing and eating green).

We did enjoy a very green lunch.  If we hadn't had dinner plans with friends already, we could have easily spread our menu out over two green meals...  Here's the run down: chicken tenders sauteed in garlic with parsley or basil pesto; roasted rosemary and garlic potatoes (also good with pesto on them), the last steamed broccoli from the freezer, our first spring spinach salad, and buckwheat banana zucchini bread with either rhubarb or strawberry jam.  No one went hungry!!

We are all enjoying a good dose of daily sunshine and fresh air.  This morning we found ourselves all out in the same region of the property for awhile: Kali doing her duck chores; Alida and I chopping down amaranth stalks to make way for peanuts, and Jason using the wheel hoe to prepare for onions and potatoes.  I also meandered about a bit and found some new flowers blooming.  Here's some of the sites we are soaking in these days: 

Our goldfish is no longer in a barrel of frozen water. That fish just gets bigger every year!

The first tiny purple iris along our front walk.

We always think of Nora when we see the first cluster of "three yellow flowers."  This year they popped up around the same spot but there are actually two clusters - this is one of the two! 

The first miniature daffodil blooming in Nora's garden.  We got these from two different places but we think these are ones we got at my Grandma Myers' funeral.

Duckie still enjoys "dabbling" at Kali and coming out of the pen with her but he gets nervous if he is too far away from his other duck companions.  She got her first duck egg of the year yesterday - which she ate for breakfast this morning.

The chickens never want to be far from us when we are gardening.  They know that we unearth bugs that they happily consume and turn into high omega-3 eggs for us.  Thanks chickens!

Alida helping me cut down the amaranth stalks (until she nicked her thumb with her pruners).  Then the drama commenced until Kali graciously went in with her to get a band-aid - you would think those things were magic!

A few more beautiful flowers blooming in Nora's garden!