Mother Nature played quite a prank on us Saturday, which was the Vernal Equinox aka the first day of spring.   We got nine, or ten, or twelve inches of snow, depending on who in the neighborhood you asked and how many spots they measured before averaging the results to guess at the total snowfall.  It
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Every good seedsman tests his stock for germination before offering it for sale.  Most gardeners who save their own seeds or carry over purchased seed from previous
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  Sometimes, when the cat squabbles escalate to cat wars, it becomes necessary for the humans to intervene.  The worst of the offenders is evicted from the cozy warmth of the house for a while to contemplate her behavior.   It’s kitty-cat time-out, so to speak.    Then the whining commences, the plaintive, pitiful cries — usually
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A few weeks ago, the sweetest of the young geese turned up lame.  She stumbled around and made pitiful sounds, so we prepared the big cage in the ‘hospital room’ and brought her in for rest and observation.   I suspected a pulled muscle from too much frolicking.   Two days of quiet with no racing the others to
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The warm spring air blew in on the wind and stayed around long enough for the upper end of the big garden to dry out
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The recipe for Mom’s White Bread makes three loaves.  I’m not a big fan of plain white bread, so when I took the pictures for Basic Bread – Part One &  Basic Bread – Part Two, I decided to dress up two of the loaves and turn them into Cinnamon Bread. Any plain bread recipe can
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Part One of Basic Bread 101 ended with the bread dough rising in a well-oiled bowl.  An hour and a half later, the dough has doubled, and it’s time to punch it down.   I start with a nice punch to the center, then allow the air to escape on its own for a minute or
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I learned about breadmaking as a child, watching grandmothers, great aunts, and my mother.  All the women in our family made bread, though some more than others.    Basic white breads were a staple, as were hot rolls, cinnamon bread, and later, honey whole wheat bread.  The recipe I first learned was a basic white bread,
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While I was looking through the digital photos on my hard drive, I came across a couple of photos I took on the way home from my son’s wedding. I’d say it’s a Southern thing, but I know a few people in the Midwest who’d put the National Bird Dog Museum under the must-see column on their vacation
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A year ago today, Tiny Bottle Lamb weighed about 7 pounds. She still slept indoors in the playpen and followed me around outdoors like a puppy. She still sucked fingers when she was hungry. She hadn’t yet learned how to cross a creek, even a very little one.