Here comes the crocus...

 The weather has been nice here.  There has been a lot of elk in the mornings on the way to work.  Someone left out their round bales, and the herd made short work of them.  

The crocuses are blooming and I took a lot of pictures.  If the turkeys don't get them the snow, we are predicted to get Tuesday probably will.  The dang turkeys snip them off.  They don't eat them, but they seem to think they need to be beheaded. 

We got some bentonite and put it in the bottom of my frog pond.  All of the construction around here has ruined the tree frog habitat.  I'm hoping this will give them at least one mudhole for their tadpoles.  

With the good weather we got a lot of projects competed.  One I have been pondering all winter was cutting up a downed aspen.  It was hollow and I want to make them into planters.  I will take off the bark (otherwise the ants will eat them), sand, and stain them.  The work on it so a flowerpot will fit in the hollowed part. 

My cousin took some photos of the sunset from her home.  I am a few miles away, but it was the same sunset, and I also took some pictures. The photo below was the sunrise this morning.  It sure has been nice the last couple of weekends, and we have taken full advantage.  It sounds like there is rain and snow in the future. 

What has the weather been like there?  Are your crocuses up yet?  Any garden projects you have been dreaming about completing?

In the blink of an eye...

 Last weekend I was snowshoeing.  This weekend started with Saturday in the 70's!  The foot of snow we had last Sunday melted, under a warm southernly wind.   It was great getting in the garden and cleaning up the flower beds.  Dollor even took a few minutes to sit with me.  Not for long though, then he was chasing chipmunks.  Dollor was not happy when I picked up all of the sticks, twigs, pinecones, and bark that he has left in the yard.  He couldn't understand why I didn't think they were necessary. 

After cleaning out the beds, I planted my seed trays and the greenhouse.  I have searched high and low and I cannot find the tops to my seed trays.  This is very upsetting.  Especially since I still haven't been able to find the mosquito repellent I bought in August.

Carrots, lettuce, peas and spinach are now incubating in the greenhouse. I ran the sprinkler for quite a while before planting anything.  It made for a nice humid and warm.  

Of course, things can change in the blink of an eye.  Last night the fog rolled in and it rained.  Then it snowed.  

And after a glimpse of spring, winter set in again.  It did end up melting before the end of the day, but it wasn't the same.  The air had a chill that it didn't have yesterday.

Last weekend to ward of the chill, I tried warm vanilla custard:

Ingredients

    2 c. milk

    ¼ c. sugar (or more or less to taste)

    2 eggs

    pinch of salt

    ⅛ tsp. vanilla

    ground nutmeg

Instructions

In a small pan, heat the milk and sugar just until it starts to simmer and come to a boil. (see Notes below).  In the meantime, blend the eggs, salt and vanilla. Once the milk mixture starts to bubble, remove it from the heat and add a small amount of the milk to the egg mixture. Blend immediately.  Add the rest of the milk to the egg mixture and blend well. Pour the warm custard into two mugs and sprinkle with nutmeg. Enjoy!  Warm Vanilla Custard Drink - Thrifty Frugal Mom.  I really enjoyed it. 

What was your weekend like?  Have you been able to garden yet or are you still snowshoeing?  

Celebration time...

 My brother got married this weekend.  I am so happy for both of them.  It was a wonderful ceremony, and everything was decorated beautifully. It was good for the family to spend time together. Especially in celebration.  Part of the ceremony was braiding a rope and then 'tying the knot.'

It was a blizzard on the way back for us heading to Deadwood and for them heading to Minnesota. 

Bear Butte was a delightful site when we finally got to the hills. 

The bighorn sheep greeted us when we got to Deadwood.  

There is a lot of country to see when you cross South Dakota.  Still my favorite view is from the family cattle pasture overlooking the river.  Growing up I rode a lot of horses through those draws. 

I am so thankful that we were able to celebrate with my brother and his wife.  Any time you can spend with family is precious.  Taking a few days with my parents was also also a highlight. It was a weekend where memories were made.  Some were precious and others were hilarious.  

What was the last family event you attended?  

Ready for Spring...

Today I prepared for spring.  I took all of my tools and scrubbed them with steel wool and then gave them a coat of mineral oil.  I took apart all of my pruners and sharpened the blades.  All wooden handles were coated with linseed oil, as well as my tool caddy.

Can you believe the rust on my clippers?  The poor tool caddy was bone dry. 

There they are.  All shined, sharpened, and ready to go. Spring, I am ready.  

A few more sunsets and I am sure it will be here.  We have some snow predicted in the future, but for now it is warm and we actually don't have much snow on the ground.

Are you ready for spring?  When was the last time you gave your tools a good once over?  What do you do to prepare for gardening season?  

Duck, Duck, Goose...

 Not much going on here.  It has been warm.  We stopped at Canyon Lake and enjoyed the ducks and geese.  

We have some snow, but it is melting fast.  It comes and goes.  We had a pretty sunny weekend.  

It was a great sunset on Friday.  It has been a while since we have had a pretty sunrise or sunset.  I just found out that I will be without an oven for another month.  I can't say that is making me happy.  

I'm on one month without my oven.  How long have you gone without a kitchen appliance that is necessary?

Sunshine and seed stashes...

 It is amazing how warm it feels when the wind isn't blowing.  It was quite cold this weekend, but the sun was out and there wasn't even a breeze.  I actually enjoyed our walk today.  Of course, Dollor loves any walk, rain, sun, snow, or wind.  He is just a happy go lucky mutt.

I cleaned out my seed box.  The goal was to see what I needed to order this year.  Come to find out, there is nothing needed.  I have everything for the upcoming year.  I've been gardening enough that I know what works best at our altitude.  

Everything is neatly organized.  I went through my list and checked it twice.  I'm pretty happy with my seed stash.

I'm not sure what type of lights were.  I don't think they were Northern lights or light pillars.  

Are you anticipating spring as much as I am?  Have you ordered seeds yet?  Do you get new seeds every year?  Do you stick with tried and true, or do you try new thing?  

No snow, but there is pie...

 The weather has been amazing.   We don't have much snow, which is unheard of for this time of year.

The other day at Someone's in the Kitchen, I saw this interesting pie crust contraption.   It is a plastic bag perfectly shaped for a pie or pizza pan.  It is simple to roll out to the perfect size.

It works pretty slick and sure saves the usual flour mess.

I made a cherry pie.  Since our oven parts are on a slow boat from China, my husband baked it in the smoker.  Wow was that good.

While walking Dollor, I came across these mouse tracks.  He went on quite the mouse adventure as they went for about a quarter of a mile.  

The sunrises and sunsets have been a bit lackluster.  It was nice to see a little color yesterday.  

Have you been baking?  How much snow do you have?  What is your favorite pie?