Spring has sprung!

The weather has been beautiful here this past week. We slept with the windows open last night and listened to the rain outside. I love it. The tulips I planted last fall are starting to come up, and I'm finding that we have thousands (and I am not exaggerating) of day lily plants coming up. There are huge swatches of them alongside the creek and throughout the woods. I did not realize we had so many since last year most of them did not actually flower. I think they've been in the ground for quite a while and need to be dug and divided. That will be quite a chore!

We have been a bit busy the last two weeks with things here around the house. Mike finished packing most of Nick's things up and moved his computer into that room. It will now be his den and our guest room. I was busy last week with 3 cakes. I made a small one for Mike's Mom for her birthday and had a bridal shower and a 25th anniversary cake to do. My kitchen was full of cake layers and flowers for several days. :o)


We've also been working on the vegetable garden. We're putting in raised beds, but first we have to level off part of the hill and then fence around it to try and keep the deer out. I'm hoping to finish up most of it this weekend and get my seedlings in the ground soon. After that I'll start pruning out a lot of the raspberry patches that were the most productive last year to make it easier to get in there this year.

Mike has been going through the property with the tractor pulling out the various remains of the previous tenants. So far I think he's found a washer, dryer, fridge, field seeder, car (couldn't get that one moved), trailer frame, and miles of metal fencing. There's still a lot more. There's one pile we'll probably never be able to move unless we cut down the two trees that have literally grown through the metal and bring a huge bulldozer in to take it out. I understand those that use part of their property as a dump rather than pay to dump it, but ours is spread around the whole 25 acres and now a lot of it is half buried. At least the price for scrap metal has gone up. Maybe we can make a bit from all this work.

Our exciting news is that we were able to get a phone call form Nick on Tuesday. We've been praying to hear from him so we would know how he is doing. We did not know that they do not get writing privileges until they are there for 3 weeks. That doesn't stop God though! Nick's "flight" (that's what they call their class of recruits) did so well on their drill that they were each given a 15 minute phone call. God is so faithful! :o) It was wonderful to hear his voice and to know that he is doing fine. He's adjusting to the heat there (I'm so glad he went in spring and not summer!) and is learning to drink more water. He's learning to get up very early and eat really fast. That's about all we learned in the short phone call. We are continuing to shower him with letters, which he says he loves to get, and upholding him in prayer each day. Mike and I are making plans for the two of us to go down at the end of May for his graduation.

I guess that's about it for this week. Time to get the little one into bed and head there soon after myself. Till next week...

God's love and blessings!