Is spring just around the corner?

It seems that the world around us is undergoing a wonderful transformation!  It felt so glorious to head outside this morning with a wheelbarrow and a pitchfork to put leaves on the last leg of the new garden area that the ducks were finally able to be moved off of (once their pen was no longer frozen to the ground).  Kali was outside climbing a tree, Jason (taking a break from the bathroom project to get some fresh air and sunshine) was working on the winter outside list that hasn't gotten much attention of late, and Alida was my side kick either pretending to be a mother hen laying eggs or my father (it's hard to keep up with her imagination these days).  We hadn't let the chickens out to range since Jason wanted to see if one hen was just laying an egg or going broody again, and so they were "talking" to me as I loaded up leaves (as if they knew I was out there and had the power to let them out and they could not understand why on such a glorious day they weren't out and about already).  It's so satisfying to let the ramp down and watch them file out and go running off to make their rounds.  What a satisfying morning!

The snow is almost completely gone, and I (who didn't seem to get my mother's unquenchable love of snow) am ready for that to be the end of it until next winter.  I love seeing the green popping up from the ground, and the splash of color from the first crocuses of the year.  The bees haven't wasted any time and are buzzing around the flowers eager to make their contribution to spring's yearly transformation.  Yesterday Jason and the girls went for a long nature walk (at this point Alida's strongly prefers "naTURE" walks over "naPPY" walks).  When they returned and we were getting laundry in, supper on the table and wrapping up a few other tasks, Jason found a turtle that clearly had just emerged from hibernation.  The girls and I had found one at pretty much that exact same spot last year.  It seems it is time to wake up and soak in some sunshine.  We certainly feel ready for it.

The girls munched on some leaves of spinach and we are happy to note that pretty much all our spinach plants (uncovered for the entire winter) have made it through as well as many of our covered lettuce plants and even a few vigorous uncovered plants.  It's hard to not want to throw caution to the wind and start planting stuff!  But experience has told us that is not wise - we are not interested in losing our onions again.  However, Jason and I did spend a rare hour or so this morning before either girl woke to plan out our garden plantings for the spring, which was exciting and my mouth is now watering for fresh peas (though we amazingly are still enjoying frozen peas, which is a first for us at this time of year and something we hope to repeat in future years!).

One of the current fun weekly traditions is that Kali's interest in cooking has not waned and she is now on the schedule to cook weekly.  She clearly looks forward to her cooking days with much interest and is getting a knack for planning and executing her plans.  Last night we enjoyed chicken breasts sauteed in garlic, steamed garden peas, and creamy parsley pesto noodles.  There were no leftovers.  The most amazing part of the whole meal for me was that Kali spent an hour or two after dinner doing all the dishes (other than the sharp knives).  It took her at least 4 times as long as it takes me but the dishes got clean and she had a fun time doing it.  She was in her own little world and admitted at the end that she did some playing while doing the dishes.  Whatever works!  I got to play multiple rounds of Mastermind with Alida, her current game obsession, and read some stories.  A tradition I hope continues far in to the future!

Time to get lunch on the table.  Here's two pictures of recent bathroom progress.  It's coming along!  The shower project has continued to evolve in exciting ways - it will now include a Fibonacci sequence, the creation myth and a sunflower mural.

Re-installed wood sunflower that used to be behind the bathroom door...

See a portion of the Fibonacci sequence and/or the creation myth?