Mother Nature Mourns

Well, I will be darned. Look what time of the year it is already. Where has the time gone? One moment I am peacefully hibernating in the igloo here at Peaceful Pines, the next moment, poof, spring arrives.

I hope no one missed all that sarcasm. Here we are at the end of April and the last vestiges of snow are melting away.

I think Mother Nature is having a difficult time letting go of her winter child and letting it become the spring toddler it wants to be. So far we are ranging about 20 degrees below normal for temperatures and a few inches above for rainfall. Her sadness is pervasive.

On the brighter side, Joyce and I have accomplished quite a bit in anticipation of warmer weather. We have piles and piles and piles of branches stacked as evidence of Joyce's pruning adventure. 

 

I was able to boil off some sap for maple syrup. We decided to add two more trees to the collection process. It turned out to be a good decision. The sap only ran for about ten days. It was slow to start but quick to end. I have mentioned in another post the process. I really do enjoy the time outside.

The fact that I can use the gifts of the land to produce our year's supply of syrup is very satisfying.

I also decided that this was the year that I would try to design an implement to smooth the dirt area of the driveway. And, while my initial drawing looked hopeful,

 

it was not until my brother-in-law, John, with his welding expertise, brought my vision to reality. 

Thank you, John.

Remember the bricks? You know, the auction bricks. It seems not all of them were as sturdy as when they were first manufactured. We had plenty of broken pieces. Leave it to Joyce and her creative mind to make lemonade from broken bricks.

 

She can now proudly announce the names of all her growing plants on the reused broken bits.

So, we will continue to let Mother Nature wallow in her sorrow.

 

 In the meantime, there will be projects to finish in anticipation of the the fury of the temperature tantrums of her summer child. At which point, Joyce will be praising the wonders of the air source heat pump. Ah, the circle of life.