To an Early Daffodil Thou yellow trumpeter of laggard Spring!Thou herald of rich Summer's myriad flowers!The climbing sun with new recovered powers Does warm thee into being, through the ringOf rich, brown earth he woos thee, makes thee flingThy green shoots up, inheriting the dowersOf bending sky and sudden, sweeping showers, Till ripe and blossoming thou art a thingTo make all nature glad, ...
My Lady Spring
"My Lady Spring is dressed in green, She wears a primrose crown, And little baby buds and twigs Are clinging to her gown; The sun shines if she laughs at all, But if she weeps the raindrops fall." ~Traditional Children's Rhyme I just finished needlefelting these Spring maidens from soft wool roving. Each holds a pussy willow staff and a basket of Springtime treasures to ...
World Water Day and A Few Thoughts on News and Stewardship
Today is international World Water Day, and all over the world there are celebrations and people raising awareness for the appreciation and care of one of our most important natural resources. Wherever you are and whatever your day holds, I encourage you to think about water and your relationship to water. What does it mean to you? Is there a favorite river, beach or lake that you ...
Look Ma! It’s a Double-Yolker!
To my utter amazement this past week, one of our hens layed this! Now, I've seen plenty of double-yolkers in my day, but this one was downright HUGE. Note how much larger it is than this other egg, and my son's hand! And it cooked up very nicely too. Nothing like a fried egg to start the day out right. ...
Spring Equinox
In honor of the first day of Spring, our family had our annual Equinox egg hunt with natural plant dyed eggs. I looked through this book we got at our Waldorf school store a couple of years ago called "Decorating Easter Eggs" by Thomas and Petra Berger, and got all kinds of elaborate ideas involving dried flowers and leaves, but in the busy pace of life, decided to stick to our traditional ...
The Joy of Nettles
Nettle season has come around once again, and I couldn't be any happier about it. Just about the time I'm starting to wonder when Winter will finally take its leave, these wonderful green heralds of Spring come up all over the woods, offering a nutrient-rich, rejuvenating food source with seemingly endless health benefits. They may be prickly, they may have an unpleasant reputation with ...
Saturday Morning Baked Eggs
Baked eggs were always a weekend favorite my mom made when I was growing up, and with all these chickens we've got, it is still a favorite in my house today! It's very easy to get going when you wake up, and you can serve it with toast, fresh fruit, sausages, or whatever makes your breakfast complete. We eat a lot of eggs, so it's always good to change things up a bit from the scramble ...
The Daffodil Faeries
Daffodils I wandered lonely as a cloud That floats on high o'er vales and hills, When all at once I saw a crowd, A host, of golden daffodils; Beside the lake, beneath the trees, Fluttering and dancing in the breeze. Continuous as the stars that shine And twinkle on the milky way, They stretched in never-ending line Along the margin of a bay: Ten thousand saw I at a ...
Birds for May
I have a sweet little story to share with you of childhood dreams come true. The other day, my daughter Rosemary painted a picture inspired by her favorite folksinger's song about a pair of tin birds in love. It was a beautiful watercolor of two red birds facing one another, and in my opinion was quite good. She asked me if I would send the picture to Daisy May. I told her I didn't know the ...
Red Zeppelin
I had already planted a bed of red storage onions, but how could I NOT get a bundle of these with such a name? I planted the Red Zeppelin onions in their very own raised bed, and look forward to some rockin' recipes this summer! In honor of these onions, all the rain we've been getting lately, and a band I have enjoyed listening to many a time, here are the words to one of my ...