Busy as bees.

Now that Spring is in full swing life has suddenly started to become increasingly busy. i've been a bit slow with planting this year, kind of expecting another snow or deep freeze before it's really safe to plant much. i did get in a few rows of sugar snap peas, broccoli, spinach, lettuce and onion sets.
Last weekend my parents stopped by on their way home from Florida. We lost power for part of the weekend and spent Saturday evening playing cards with the light from candles and an oil lamp. The power came back on about 10 minutes after we all went to bed. :)
On Monday, my father continued on to Michigan, but my mom is staying for a couple weeks. i'm hoping this will give me a chance to catch up on some things and get some work done on my dolls.

We've been having some wonderful Spring storms all week. We lost power again on Monday, and on then on Friday morning lightening took out our surge protector and modem. We spent the entire weekend playing outside without the distraction of the computer. It's amazing how much of a distraction it really is. i really need to learn to step away from it more often, and really limit my computer time to an hour in the mornings or evenings.

We've spent much of the week outside, enjoying the changes that come with spring. The Spring rains turned all the fields near us a lush green. Wildflowers are popping up everywhere and trees are beginning to bloom. Our peach trees are full of flowers, and the apple trees are not far behind.

i've been seeing these comma butterflies for couple weeks now, and just finally got a picture. This is the first butterfly of the spring (not counting the one we released).

i love these little butterflies. The wings are a bright rust red-orange, and the bodies are a shimmery green. They have been fluttering all about the yard, lighting down in front of my, but flying away every time i tried to get a picture. i chased this one all around the yard before i finally got it's picture.

My boy found his first 4 leaf clover of the year!

Sunday was so nice, we took a walk down to the creek. The kids just wanted to play in the water, but i like to scope out all the wildflowers coming up. These little bluettes are all over the banks of the creek. i also spotted wood violets, sweet violets and anemones.

Bloodroot is blooming all over, and trilliums and mayapples should be next. It's a good time to start hunting for morels. We used to find them every year, but didn't find any last year or the year before.


While playing in the creek, my boy found this tiny salamander. It's is just slightly bigger the Salamander tadpole we are raising in the house. We'll be able to bring them here to release when they are ready.

Although we are still getting some cool nights, they are getting increasingly warmer. We had a bonfire/cookout earlier this week and roasted veggie dogs over the fire. Stayed up late watching stars and just enjoying the moment.

i've been working on custom bendy dolls this past week, and have started a couple more Waldorf dolls. i've had to take a bit of break on them while i worked on getting more materials and yarns. i was orginially planning to just put them for sale as i finished them, but i'm thinking now that i would rather have a nice selection made up in different styles, sizes and price ranges. Then i can do sort of a re-Grand Opening of my website and etsy shop which have been so horribly neglected over the years. i will post a doll update very soon, with some new pictures of my progress.