Change of Plans

I did not spend the first of May with my fingers in the dirt as I had planned.

No, I turned fair-weather-gardener and opted for other activities.

With an all-day threat of rain, I decided to forgo the cold, damp day

and postpone my garden chores for a sunnier time... perhaps this afternoon.

What I did, instead, was pick a handful of violets to candy.

While I was out picking violets, I ran into this little one.

I've been seeing baby groundhogs down by our old log cabin.

This one was not afraid of me at all, but just sat there watching me

as I walked right up to it and snapped a photo.

Then, back home with a handful of dainty, purple violets.

Candying violets is simple:

Beat an egg white until frothy.

Paint the egg white on the violet petals, front and back, with a little paintbrush,

and then sprinkle generously with very fine sugar.

Allow to dry overnight.

Of course I needed something on which to place the violets,

so I baked chocolate-sour cream cupcakes with buttercream/cream cheese frosting.

Voila!

Oh, how I love a good cupcake!

Jack, however, is not a cupcake fan, but prefers less sweet desserts that have nuts.

For him, I pulled some sour gooseberries out of the freezer,

and added them into myBlueberry Buckle recipe to replace the blueberries.

Yummy!... the perfect blend of sweet and sour.

I published the recipe in this blog post.

The rest of the day was spent running errands, seeing a movie,

and arriving home just in time to feed our critters and tuck them in for the night.

I'll be finishing my fairy gardens today and will give you a tour tomorrow.

PS... we had another bear visitation Tuesday night.

I was awakened in the middle of the night by the sound of the front deck furniture

being moved.

I tiptoed over to the front window, only to see a huge black bear

lumbering across the deck.

We take our bird feeders down each evening, so there is nothing here to eat.

Eventually he will get the message and stop visiting.

Luckily, he only visits at night, so there are no safety issues.

Lastly... I received a question earlier this week about our apple orchard, and how we raise

organic apples.

There are some organic sprays available, however, we do not use them because of the sheep.

Instead, we accept the fact that our apples are not pretty.

They taste good, but are ugly... which none of us mind.

They make great pies and great cider!