It Looks Like Spring is Springing – Finally – I Think

Bees, Chickens, Daffodils, Dogs, Flowers, Reflections, spring, , , ,

After a brutally cold winter and a March that has seemed to be one step forward two steps back it looks like spring is springing. Monday and Tuesday were both t-shirt days (only the second and third ones we’ve had this year) so my husband and I got a few little outside jobs done at the farm.

Join me for some of our sights of spring.

The crocuses, our first spring flowers are blooming. 🙂

White one too!

Our mini daffodils began blossoming on Tuesday.

The rest of the daffodils are up but no flowers yet.

The garlic is up but seems slow. We had rain in the forecast for Tuesday, so I gave the garlic a dose of fertilizer on Monday. We did get some rain/storms Tuesday, but at least it wasn’t an all-day rain.

The chickens were out enjoying the weather. This hen actually stopped and posed for me. They have been laying good since the middle of February and some of them are starting to act broody. We will likely let a couple of them brood some chicks later this year.

The bees were out in full force. My husband mentioned seeing that they were carrying pollen back to the hive.

My best guess is that they are gathering pollen from the poplar trees

or the maple trees. Perhaps both.

Believe it or not we spotted our beagle fish on Monday. LOL. I thought it might be a bit early in the season for that.

Ruby didn’t do the full body plunge that Ranger did, but she was in far enough to get her belly wet. I’m looking forward to spending time in the pond too but not until it warms up A LOT!

Thanks for visiting. Has spring found you?

If it Looks Like a Brownie and Tastes Like a Brownie, is it a Brownie?

Recipe, Reflections, , , ,

This post is a lesson in “Don’t believe everything you read on the internet”.

Last week one of the articles that came up on my news feed boasted making brownies with just two ingredients. If you have been reading my blog for long you probably know that I do a lot of home cooking and baking, and we love desserts, so I read the article/ recipe that called for just chocolate chips and eggs. I had both ingredients on hand and decided to give it a try.

I followed the instructions to melt the chocolate chips in a double boiler and to beat the eggs (I used an electric mixer to make sure they were completely beaten.) I let the chocolate chips cool a bit so they were not hot enough to cook the eggs when added. I added the chocolate slowly while using the mixer to combine them. When it was completely mixed and looked like brownie batter, I put the mixture in a baking pan that I had sprayed with cooking spray.

I baked it at 350 F for about 25 minutes until a toothpick inserted came out clean. It was cooling on the counter when my husband came in and said, “brownies, yumm.” I explained it was a new recipe and he said he was sure it would be good. “You always make good desserts,” he said.

After lunch we decided to try the brownies. When I cut them and took one out of the pan it looked dense and moist like a good brownie should. My husband’s first impression was good, and I agree they had good flavor, chocolaty and sweet like a brownie, but after a second bite he noticed they were dry. He was right the, even the good chocolaty flavor could not make up for the dry crumbly texture. They looked like brownies and tasted like brownies, but they lacked the dense, moist and even a bit gooey texture of a good brownie. I honestly would not even call these brownies.

So, if you happen to come across this recipe for two ingredient brownies my advice would be save your eggs for breakfast and eat a handful of chocolate chips for dessert. Don’t bother trying this recipe which is sure to disappoint any brownie lover.

Of course, you could choose not to believe this since you did read it on the internet. 🙂

Our Bees Are Alive

Bees, Reflections

The above photo was taken during the summer of 2025.

Yesterday, when the sun was shining and the temperature rose into the low 40’s F, my husband saw bees flying in and out of our hive, taking cleansing flights. We find this amazing! It’s been many years since we have had bees that have survived the winter. Winter is not over yet but considering that they survived that long cold spell that we just experienced this is a very good sign.

Thanks for visiting.

The Mercury’s Rising

Chickens, Eggs, Maple Syrup, Reflections, Tapping Maple Trees, Weather, Winter Prep

Hello and Welcome!

Here in Michigan, we have finally emerged from the deep freeze that has engulfed us since early January. Daytime high temperatures for the next week are forecast to be above 40 F (4.4 C). I’m sure we will be dealing with a lot of mud as the snow melts, but I’ll gladly take that over the bitter cold that we have been dealing with.

With temperatures above freezing during the day then falling below freezing at night the sap will begin flowing. We won’t be tapping trees this year, we haven’t since 2017, but I suspect the syrup producers in our area have tapped their trees.

If you would like to read about our adventures in syrup making in 2016 and 2017 you click here, here and here.

The other thing that’s happening, that seems to coincide with the sap beginning to flow each year, is that are hens are beginning to lay again. We know that at least three of them are laying because my husband collected three eggs on a couple of days this week. As the days get longer and sunnier egg production will increase. I am thankful for my daughter and son-in-law and their flock who were able to provide us with fresh eggs this winter while our hens took a break.

It’s too soon to be celebrating the end of winter but this week will be a nice break.

Thank for visiting. Are you seeing signs of spring?

The Good News

Reflections

Hello and welcome.

Here in Michigan, we are in the midst of a brutal deep freeze. I’ve been staying in as much as possible (hibernation mode) and while my husband still goes to the farm to take the dogs out and care for the chickens his time there is abbreviated. Being out in that cold is just miserable.

But now for the good news. I received an email this week letting me know that one of my stories will be published in an upcoming  Chicken Soup for the Soul® book. The title of the book is “I Can’t Stop Laughing” and it’s scheduled to be on sale on April 28, 2026. The title of my story is “Where’s God?” and yes, it’s a funny story.

I’ve added this to my list of reasons I’m looking forward to April. Things like: Spring!, flowers, green grass, trees getting their leaves, birds returning from their winter homes, frogs singing, dandelions blossoming, bees buzzing, starting our garden plants, getting my hands in the dirt (yes even if that means pulling weeds), the chickens will be laying again, and now my story being published.

My mom always said, “don’t wish your life away,” so I’ll try to be patient while I, eagerly, await April.

Thanks for visiting.