Springing Out in the Country

This is just a random pic of a rare moment when the wee ones are getting along great. They had discovered the latest Toys 'R Us ad and were beginning to construct their Christmas wish lists already.

In other news, we are enjoying the spring weather although it is flighty. We've had days in the 80's and days in the 40's. Regardless of a few transient cool days, the grass is really green and really long. We've mowed it twice so far this season.

We've also gotten started on some more cleanup in the woods. Not only did I get to drive the big ass lawn mower around a few acres of grass recently, but I didn't hit a single tree. We planted five new ones last fall, so my odds increased. I got that zero turn thing figured out well by now despite Dear Husband's anxiety over trusting the machinery to me. I also got to give the new chainsaw a workout. It occurred to me in the midst of all this that it took a lot of time and work. I had a hard time imagining what it would be like to live in an apartment building or condo in the city with none of this to do. I couldn't figure out what I would do with all my time!

Dear Daughter is having fun growing tadpoles in a jar in her room. We managed to fish a few out of the pond a couple weeks ago. We are having fun trying to identify all the frogs and turtles that live in the pond. We've decided that one of the types of frog is most definitely a Spring Peeper. We apparently have lots of those! We identified them from some sound clips on an Internet web site. They have a very distinctive sound. Early this spring they started their chirping and screeching and I noticed it even in the middle of the night. I thought they were bird and couldn't figure out why they were being so noisy even in the dark. Then we hypothesized that they were aliens stalking us. Their screeching is eerie, especially if you are outside in the pitch blackness when you are hearing them. There are two or three other varieties of tree frogs that I haven't identified for sure. There are also several very large blackish looking turtles. They are VERY shy and don't let you get within 100 feet of them before they dive into the water to hide. I can see them out of the picture window above the jacuzzi bath tub if I use binoculars.

We are also getting started setting up a garden. Nothing is planted yet, which is probably just as well as we are still getting cold enough to be near freezing once in awhile. The kids enjoyed helping Dear Husband set it up while I mowed Saturday. We'll have a vegetable garden and a berry garden to start with. Eventually we plan to put in a small grove of fruit trees. Here's a picture of the kids stopping for a drink. And pausing for a "rest."

Husband also got my new clothesline set up this weekend. We've had some perfect days for hanging sheets, towels, and blue jeans on the clothesline. I haven't gotten to try it out yet, but I'm looking forward to it.