A Good Week

Birds, crochet, Fencing, Flowers, Horses, Nature, Pansies, Planting, Pond, Reflections, Ruby, The Farm

Hello and Welcome!

Spring Has Sprung

This week turned out to be much like I expected. Robins and red winged blackbirds have returned to the area and the daffodils are poking up through the ground. The garlic had actually sprouted last fall but it has now resumed growing after its winter break. I have yet to hear the frogs sing.

Last year I made this bird house out of corks. We hung it in a tree at the farm. It was late spring, and I suspect the birds already had their nests built so this house went unoccupied. I am hoping someone will make it home this year.

Crafting

I finished the afghan I was crocheting (picture above) this week and started another. The one I am making now will be bigger than this one. It is the paw print pattern that I like to crochet. I intend to donate it to the Humane Society so they can raffle it off at one of their fundraisers.

When the Grass is Greener

Last spring our neighbor decided to expand the area where he lets his horses graze. Our fence is their barrier where our property meets his.

Colby Jack has discovered that this time of year the grass on our side of the fence is greener and tastier than what is in his pasture.

The problem is that he is not quite tall enough to reach the grass without bending the top of our fence.

Here’s a closer look. Can you see how the top part of the fence is bent over? Last year the owner strung an electric wire to keep Colby Jack away from our fence, but it didn’t stay in place very long. We haven’t complained because we feel bad for the horses that they are not provided better quality feed. At least the fence still keeps Ranger in.

A Dip in the Pond

It is way too early for me to go in the pond. There was still ice on it yesterday,

but that didn’t bother Ruby who had to go looking for minnows or tadpoles.

Playing in the Dirt

In the last several years it has become sort of a tradition for us to pot up some pansies in early spring and set them in the flower bed along our deck. They are bright and cheery and add some much-needed color while we wait for everything else to come back to life. On Thursday my husband made my day by going the greenhouse and coming home with two flats of pansies.

So, I got to play in the dirt. 🙂

There were 36 pansies in the two flats, and I divided them into 12 pots. Oh, so pretty. We may still have a few nights when temperatures drop well below freezing, but the nice thing about have these in pots is that we can bring them indoors to protect them from the cold.

While I was “playing in the dirt” I planted some spinach and pea seeds that we will grow in containers on our deck. I don’t think it’s too early since these are cold season crops.

My husband spent a little time with his hands in the dirt as well. Since we grow most of our plants from seed, he started eggplant and several types of peppers that we will grow indoors under grow lights until late May when we can get them into the garden. He will be starting tomatoes next. Planting season has begun!

Overall, it was a good and productive week and now that spring has sprung it only gets better from here. 🙂

Thanks for visiting.

21 thoughts on “A Good Week”

  3. It certainly got warmer the tail end of the week didn’t it Ruth? I hear we might have snowflakes or a wintry mix tonight … I hope I heard wrong. The birdhouse is cute and I hope you get some occupants to fill it soon. I’m sure the afghan will be treasured by someone – that is thoughtful of you to crochet it and donate it as a fundraiser. Your early pansies always look so pretty and festive as we still have such a blah landscape out there. There are no early blooming flowers here, except Snowdrops. Ruby is testing the waters and I’ll bet she didn’t go back in after the initial “test”. The poor horse having to bend over the fence to eat properly, but your poor husband who labored many hours to put that fence around your property a few years ago.

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    1. Yes, I enjoyed the weather this week very much. I do think there is a chance of snow tonight. It will be cold enough.
      We don’t even have snow drops here so no color until the daffodils bloom. The pansies really stand out against the browns and grays this time of year. That’s why I love to get them early.
      Ruby was in the pond several days – she just doesn’t seem to mind the cold water.
      We do feel bad for those horses. Their pasture is full of weeds they won’t eat and they do not get good quality hay, so they really are searching for greener pastures. 🙂 I suppose someday that fence will have to be replaced but it would do any good to do it now.

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      1. It’s already down to 36 degrees as I write this comment. The weather’s twists and turns amazes me. No color here at all. I recall seeing pansies blooming in the snow once when I went for a haircut and the small salon where I used to go planted them in a window box and it had snowed … they still looked perky. Ranger does not taking a polar plunge then? Poor horses. Good think they have long necks and nice neighbors!

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      2. Ranger likes a dip in pond to cool off when it’s hot out. But this time of year he’s got his nose to the ground sniffing out bunnies.
        I may be a bit overprotective of the pansies but better safe than sorry.

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      3. Well, soon Ranger will have chick duty. I liked when you had the photo of him a few years ago, so inquisitive about and guarding those chicks. Are you getting new chicks this year Ruth?

        I have not seen many bunnies lately. Hopefully they did not fall prey to the same predators that got all my squirrels at the Park. I will be writing about this in a few weeks, but I did not get down to the Park as much this Winter as it was so icy there – they don’t plow/shovel – it’s dangerous. I learned from a walker who walks daily, whether it’s icy or not, that coyotes and bald eagles were at the Park. I once would see 20- 30, even 40 squirrels a day and now there are five and they are afraid of me. I’m devastated by this – my happy place all these years, first destroyed along the shoreline last May, now this.

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      4. We won’t be getting chicks this year. We have a full coop right now.
        Do you think the work along the shoreline – changing the habitat – contributed to the loss of the squirrels?

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      5. Okay, well Ranger will have to keep concentrating on chasing bunnies then. I think the project contributed somewhat Ruth – there were not enough large trees to accommodate all the squirrels whose nests were destroyed when they knocked down all the trees. So some moved to the neighborhoods. I can’t see there was a mass exodus over the Winter maybe just to seek food in the nearby neighborhoods though. They really have made a mess of this park – it once had so much ambiance. Even if they plant native plants like they plan to, it will take years to look nice again.

        At the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge in Trenton, they opened in the Fall of 2020 and had planted pollinator gardens that year and they are just tall enough now that they look somewhat nice, but it takes awhile each year for that to happen.

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  4. Your deck looks so festive with all the flowers. I also have pansies on my porch, but not nearly as many as you do. I have just one pot. Even though it still gets into the mid 20’s at night here I have not brought them in remembering that they would poke up through the snow one year when I lived in Troy. I was afraid that they might not like being frozen solid I first night I put them out, but they didn’t seem to mind and looked fresh and happy afterwords.

    I think that your friendly neighborhood horse might love the “sweet grass”, as my aunt would call it, in your yard as opposed to the mix of grasses and weeds that are in his field, although I have been told that the mix is supposedly better for them. At least you get to visit with the horse. And I bet Dom doesn’t have to mow much near that fence. lol

    SusanMatai

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    1. The greenhouse Dom goes to is wholesale, so he gets them for $10.00 a flat. If I waited until they were in retail store it would probably be$15 for a pot.

      I don’t think there are any grasses left in the pasture next door only weeds that the horses won’t eat. We do enjoy their visits. Even Ruby and Ranger do.

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  7. Welcome back spring. We have been spoiled this past week with glorious sunshine and temps in the 70s. My husband has come out of his winter hibernation and the projects have begun. Between that and longer walks with the dogs I am tired by bedtime. But its a wonderful tired and I love it .

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