More (Happy) Surprises

Well... the rain continued yet another day,

but today looks hopeful for some sun.

Hopefully, everyone will be able to emerge from their houses and enjoy a dry day.

These past few rainy days have helped me to get some extra

inside chores finished.

I purged my sewing room of old quilting scraps and donated them to our

local fabric/fiber store to be used in a "Pop-up" free-for-all...

a fun event for those interested in lots of free sewing and knitting goodies.

I am currently working on a cropped, boxy, wool cardigan sweater from a very

small-gauged (fingering) yarn and small needles.

The yarn is brown and the inside of the front pocket will be knit in 

robin's egg blue.

Because most of my time these days is devoted to outside work,

it will take me a few months to finish this project.

Luckily, I won't need a wool sweater until autumn.

Yesterday, during morning chores, one of my favorite hens, Ivanka,

appeared at the gate to the chicken yard.

She had a flesh wound on her back, but otherwise seemed in good shape...

not weakened at all.

She must have spent the previous 24 hours in hiding.

We let her in with the rest of the hens and she immediately began to eat.

Sadly, I cannot say the same for our rooster.

Ivanka, a Transylvanian naked-neck chicken,  is the friendliest of our hens and one of the eldest.

I am so relieved that she survived the fox attack.

Aside from the fox attack, this spring has been perfect.

Each and every day I find a surprise awaiting me somewhere on the farm.

New things pop up here and there...

and I am delighted.

The mountain phlox are blooming along the edge of the woods.

The wisteria in the front yard has begun to bloom...

the longest flowers I have ever seen!

We have a steady stream of hummingbirds at our feeders each day.

And because a few Baltimore orioles have been visiting the hummingbird feeders,

we decided to purchase an oriole feeder and mix their nectar at the proper

dilution (1 pt. sugar to 6 pt. water)

We hung it next to the orange zest suet that the orioles have been frequenting.

Orioles are especially attracted to the color orange.

Yesterday I spied this enormous morel mushroom.

It's almost as big as Jack's hand!

I am planning on hiking our hundred acre woods today with the dogs,

in search of more morels.

I am also eager to see how the woods have greened up and filled in...

especially after this winter's culling of the diseased hemlock trees.

If you'd like, I can take you along on this hike!