In the garden, field and stream

This year, our local rainfall has busted all records. It has been a HARD, LONG winter.

But, alas! Let's concentrate on the fact that spring is in full swing, and although it's wet, we did have one sunny day with 88 degrees. That lasted for a few hours, and it gave me hope for summer.  Phew.

Cherry trees are blooming, we are eating some food out of the garden, and most vegetable starts are nicely (albeit wetly) tucked into the garden.

Things kind of feel under control on our homestead. 

At least for a minute, until the slugs eat holes into my new lettuce, the chickens get out and ruin tender seedlings with their scratching, and the goats get into their usual mischief.

The goat babies are growing, and any day now I will separate them from their mamas overnight, so I can steal their milk for our own use. They are old enough to endure nights without nursing, and as soon as I milk the mama goats in the morning, they get to hang out with them and nurse all day long.

I've hesitated starting to milk, since it's nice not to be committed to the daily routine just yet.

I like hanging out with them in the barn. As soon as the little 'uns see me, they jump on my back, nibble on my ears, and demand love. And I give it. Freely.

Whenever it doesn't rain and I have a free chunk of time, I work in the garden. There's plenty to do: weeding, digging, planting, dreaming... 

And harvesting! Harvesting!!! We are eating our own asparagus, lettuce, cilantro and parsley, and it feels so good to have fresh greens.

Pretty soon, I'll plant tomatoes in the greenhouse, but not quite yet. It's still pretty cold outside at night...

When it's not raining and when we don't work in the garden, we head to the river. The other day, we found a magical place we've never been to. 

It's a little bit of a bush whack, but once you get out of the thicket, you find yourself on a sandy beach. Little Eva swears it's just like Hawaii. I think so, too, with a tiny 40 degree temperature difference.

I'll leave you with more magical signs of spring.

Robin eggs next to our chicken eggs...

My son making us Sushi, doing it all himself, without zero help from me...

The last picture is my daughter's fairy house setup inside of a cedar tree by our house. I'm telling you, these fairies live in luxury around here.