Walking on sunshine

Just quickly...

The potatoes are in, the garden and the wheat are up, a bunch of weeds are out. The sun has been shining for two days in a row, and all of the moisture combined with the new warmth is making the plants just about jump out of the soil. My transplanted peony is exceedingly happy in its new home and ready to pop.

Our trees (both the 1,000+ shelterbelt ones and my two bigger apple trees) are flourishing with lots of leaves and roots, and the rhubarb is growing better than it ever has. The two plants are almost as tall as I am, and make a cozy, shady playhouse, I'm told. I'll be digging out some of my favorite rhubarb recipes in the next few days.

The first of the baby goslings were swimming around last week, the first of the ducklings spotted today, and the cinnamon-colored bison calves at the ranch down the road are arriving.

Supper tonight was popsicles at the pool (they have all the fancy kinds there) followed by ham sandwiches on homemade buns, and grapes in the loaner clown car on the ride home. We bought some more annuals and perennials at the big greenhouse, a few for us but most as thank you presents for art and piano teachers and Laura's Brownie leader. Wednesday was Laura's Brownie advancement, and the end of her time in Guides, since she is looking forward to 4H in the fall. Tomorrow is the last art class, and piano is done next month. The kids are definitely ready for the activities to come to a close and spend more time outdoors. We're enjoying the late Spring, and it couldn't be finer.

Added later: It gets better. Tom came home at 8:30 and told the kids, who were still zipping around on their bikes like dragonflies, that he was going to have a cattle drive tonight to move the mamas, babies, and bull to the other pasture. You'd think the kids had won the lottery. I expect everyone back in about two hours, filthy and exhausted. Thank goodness we homeschool or there'd be no time to get an education around here!

Even later: Unexpectedly Tom came tearing up the driveway at around 9:30 pm and said, "Get in the truck and bring the camera." While he and the kids had been checking the fences near our small forested area, they saw a deer bolt for the trees and came upon a newborn fawn, about twice the size of Tom's hand, all curled up in the grass. While I've seen new fawns before, I've never seen one so new or so small. We took a few pictures, unfortunately not digital so you probably won't be seeing them, and left it in peace. Back at the corrals, the kids amused themselves by catching frogs and watching me help Tom move our small, old red tractor (remember the kind Oliver Douglas had on "Green Acres"?). I wasn't expecting to be pressed into service, or I wouldn't have worn my Lily Pulitzer-style turquoise and hot pink capris and slides, in which no doubt I was one of the more fashionable tractor drivers in the neighborhood last night.