I went for a walk last night, with camera in hand to record the lovely spring evening and progress on crops around the farm. As it turned out, both my DLSR and point and shoot cameras had dead batteries, so I have no photographic record of my lovely walk. This actually turned out to be a good thing, as it was such a beautiful night that I was able to give it my full attention without being distracted by taking pictures and worrying if I lost my lens cap. I even ran up and down a large hill several times, which surely burned off all the calories I had just consumed in the form of a slice of Kentucky Bourbon Pie the Farmer made. If I had taken pictures, this is what you would have seen:
-A large pile of coats, sweaters, and shoes discarded by the farm children as the day turned warm.
-Plums trees covered with tiny, green plums! Since this crop was a total failure last year, I was delighted to see this! I have a recipe for plum cordial I want to try this year.
-The first tiny green blueberries. The bushes are still in full bloom, but one or two bushes had an actual berry or two on them!
-A beautiful sunset mirrored in the glass like surface of the lake-gold, pink, and dusky blue.
-Strawberry plants in full bloom. No fruit yet, just lovely white blooms. The field looks great this year.
-Quince and apple trees in bloom. The quince trees have especially lovely blooms. They are white with strips of pale pink on the underside, and are larger than an apple blossom. So pretty I wanted to pluck a branch to take inside, but I would rather have quince jelly and tart in the fall!
-The Farmer and the eldest farm child (who just turned eighteen and is technically another farm adult, but bear with me as he is still my little boy) trying to fix the John Deere so the field plowing could be finished. They were successful, and as the sun sunk low into the horizon, I could hear the roar of the engine.
-The raspberries, almost ready to bloom. They also look really healthy this year.
-The garden, in all it's lush green glory. Not much has bloomed here yet, as we have no spring blooming bulbs planted. A bleeding heart, a few columbines, and some Camas lilies are the only flowers right now, but the rose bushes are loaded with swollen buds, and my vases are all clean and ready for them!
-The little girls drug out the wicker lawn furniture yesterday afternoon, and spent the first really warm day of the year lounging under the hickory tree begging for popsicles. I unearthed the last bag of frozen blueberries for them instead, and with that they were content. I probably would have taken a picture of my lawn furniture, so happy was I to see it's return.

The long winter has passed, and although we may have more rainy, cold weather, (I have lived in Oregon too long to forget this fact!) it will be interspersed with beautiful, warm, sunny days. I am trying to plan a summer's worth of meals, so during the busy days of June and July I have at least some idea of what is for dinner before 4pm. sneaks up on me. I would love to hear what people's favorite cook books are, as I am always looking for new recipes to try!