I have a sunburn and poison ivy.
I am officially saying goodbye to winter.
Au revoir l'hiver.
Now if I could only stop itching.

3:53 p.m.

My dog is a little shit.

Twice in three days Biscuit has come home covered in deer crap. I can only assume that it is deer crap as deer are the only woodland creatures I can think of that would possibly smell like sheep. Biscuit smells like a sheep. There are no sheep nearby so it must be deer. She comes into the house with a jaunty air of superiority. Smell me! Don't I smell fabulous? Damn dog.
I have to then dump her into the tub and soap her up and hose her down a few times. How do you feel now Biscuit? Damn dog.

On a more pleasant note - the spice bush are blooming and bloodroot has joined the trout lilies and violets on the forest floor. None of them, however, can mask the smell of deer crap on a rotten little red mutt. Damn dog.

Happy Easter

Why is it always cold and rainy on Easter? It's not actually too cold here, just damp, grey and gloomy. It hasn't stopped Monkey from having a fabulous day. She is finally napping after overloading on Easter egg hunting, jelly beans, chocolate bunny ears and Cadbury eggs. There was an Easter egg hunt at church this morning between services. People were asked to dye eggs and bring them for the hunt. Well some genius dyed the eggs, but didn't bother boiling them first. Who does that? I decided not to trust anyone's egg dyeing ability after that and threw the whole lot on the compost pile when we got home.

Big Daddy is outside constructing the chicken house and run. Yesterday we got in the fence posts and frame and floor of the house. I'm going to have the coolest little chicken palace in Western North Carolina when he is done. It was a beautiful day yesterday. We spent the day outside doing yard work and building. Monkey supervised our work.

I was raking the debris from under the raspberries, Big Daddy was digging holes and Monkey was spinning around dancing to the radio. That one moment is the reason we moved here. Life is good when the sun is shining. We all got a little sunburned yesterday. I only ended up with one small patch of poison ivy on my arm. Yes, life is good.

There are lots of things sprouting in the garden. Some of them have not been invited and I will have to remove them. I am of the opinion that it is much too early for weeds. I can't wait for radishes and fresh lettuce. We'll plant potatoes next week. In another three or four weeks I should be able to start planting the warm weather crops - beans, okra, black-eyed peas, squash, cucumbers and annual herbs and flowers. I will wait a few more weeks before I set the tomatoes and other plants. Last year I was over-eager and had to cover them on several occasions.

I should go outside and help Big Daddy. We have guests coming to dinner. None of us are ham people and a leg of lamb was $40 at Ingles, so we are having barbeque. There's a boston butt on the smoker. We'll pop open a jar of Big Daddy's secret sauce and one of homemade pickles. The baked beans are in the oven and the slaw is in the fridge. Lent is over so I will be drinking beer once again. Life is good.

5:57 p.m.

Counting My Chickens Before They Are Hatched

I spent a large part of yesterday inside because of rainy weather. The supplies for my new chicken house arrived and I could see them sitting out on the driveway. I kept thinking about my chicken order and wishing I had ordered a Dominique cockerel instead of a Black Australorp.

This morning I called and changed my order.

Those chicken people are mighty friendly at 8:30 a.m. I was still struggling to formulate complete sentences. So now I have a month to wait for my little chickens to arrive and I'll have a pretty little flock of Dominiques someday.

9:07 a.m.

Here Chickie, Chickie

I ordered my chickens last night. I had to order 25. This is due to the fact that they ship them when they are a day old and 25 is the magic number for keeping the little girls warm. It was so difficult to choose what type to get. My problem is that I look at all the pretty feathers and weird features and I want one of each. And don't even start to tell me that something is rare, because I want it even more!

I decided to go with decent all-around birds that would be calm and nice to live with. I wanted Dominiques. I fell in love with them last summer. I also like the Black Australorps, all shiny green-black, so I ordered a few as well, including one Australorp rooster. I like the idea of a big black rooster looking over all those hens, except now I wish I had ordered a Dominique rooster instead. Then I ordered a few Golden Polish, just for their mop heads. Next were the Golden Laced Wyandottes and a few Rhode Island Reds. They should make a colorful lot, although I'm not sure what I'll do with 25 of them. Actually it is 26 because McMurray Hatchery sends one rare goofy chicken as a freebie with the order. The suspense is killing me. I can't wait to paint them.

I want to thank my friend, Kristin for her insight and experience with chickens even though she wanted me to order all the truly strange. The baby chicks arrive the week of April 25. That's plenty of time to get their new home prepared.

I was listening to the frogs sing.

6:48 p.m.

Illustration Friday - Another Bloom

another bloom

I just can't leave well enough alone. Spring is officially in my blood. I'm blooming! I have to post another illustration for Illustration Friday. Please feel free to check out my first entry.
This one is ink and watercolor. I picked up a scrap of paper - most likely Arches.

7:51 a.m.

This day is starting with promise.

Welcome Spring

Trout Lilies are blooming in the woods. What a lovely day.

lovely

Hmm...

Blogger is not letting me add links or edit posts (like the last two) without a lot of difficulty. Hmm...
I thought it might be bloggerbot, but NO-O-O! It's doing it with this post as well.
It is pissing me off.
Dammit.
Seriously.
Don't make me come over there and kick some ass.
Fix it already.

Illustration Friday - Bloom

bloom

The Illustration Friday topic this week is Bloom. The topic is now given on Friday and participants have to post by Thursday (I think...). At least we have the weekend to work on our entries. I am already looking forward to summer, thus the sunflowers. I am more than ready for things to bloom.

*Because of the overlap this week, check out the illustration for fragile as well.

Happy Birthday Brother Bill

Happy Birthday Brother Bill

Until my brother went to kindergarten my mother thought his birthday was Saint Patrick's Day.

Illustration Friday - Fragile

fragile

This week's Illustration Friday topic is fragile. I'm feeling a little delicate myself today.

8:43 a.m.

2:57 p.m.

Five days until Spring.

Beware the Ides of March

Et tu Brute?

It was a typical Tuesday - Kindermusik, the bakery, then home. Monkey surprised me and sang today. Sang her little heart out. The goat goes bump. The donkey goes kick...

The weatherman is threatening snow, but it stayed a mild 50 something today (just like yesterday). Monkey and I enjoyed the sun again today. We ate lunch on the back porch. I raked out the flower beds and cut back the sprawling rose on the fence. Monkey sat in the dirt.

I managed to run two miles without losing a lung. I need a new dog to run with. Chelsea, Queen of the Compost Bin is now 12 and just can't do it. The heart is willing, but... And Biscuit the Wonder Dog is a sprinter. She starts slowing down after a half mile or so and drops farther and farther behind. I need a speed demon with endurance.

The weekend was beautiful with temperatures in the 70's. Like thousands of parents we took our little monster to see Robots. She said she preferred Pooh's Heffalump Movie. I was slightly let down as well. The animation was impressive, but the story kept losing my interest.

We spent the rest of the time outdoors enjoying sunshine. It was heaven.