First Harvest

How wonderful to witness the land awaken from her winter's snooze. Each of her flora and fauna appearing at their accustomed time.

 

Pretty Spring-Beauties and a wee beetle beastie.

 

 

Free for the picking (with leather or plastic gloves), wild stinging nettles are now at their tender best to make a tasty and protein rich boiled green. I also enjoy the water they are cooked in as a tea. They contain calcium and manganese, which promote bone health. A wise food choice given that I do have osteoporosis.

  

A lovely crop of nutritious and delicious nettles.

Yummy nettles and battered cod. Disappointing Betty Crocker scalloped potatoes.

 

 

The brown thrasher is back and happy to find that my property still has plenty of brush piles to forage around and for nesting in. He's a member of the mockingbird family which is evident when he sings his melodious, mimicking birdie phrases. Usually from a tree top.

 

At a glance he is quite hard to see amid brushy surroundings.

In this pose, he reminds me of a road runner.

What a talented 'cover' singer!

 

Here are a few more April snaps of my wildlife neighbours.

 

The craggy, shaggy profile of a raven.

Looks like a lease has been signed for Number Ten.

A male Yellow-shafted Flicker foraging on the lawn.

A blurry snap of a kestrel, our smallest falcon.

A couple of bunnies speaking body language.

 

 

Funny how an item can pass muster for many years, then suddenly scream out that it is completely the wrong colour for its setting! Demanding a repaint! 

My grandfather, Roy, was a carpenter and built many things from barns to boats and everything in between. Decades ago, I had painted a little cabinet he made in a very dark, high-gloss green and the handles in silver. Last week I decided the colour was much too dark to live with. So I gave it a makeover with much lighter paint and handles in black. (Wish I'd thought to take a 'before' photo.) I also penned an inscription on the back for future generations to read.

 

I'm still enjoying the relaxing pastime of knitting. Over winter I made a good supply of comfortable wool socks. So I decided to make some cotton blend ones for summer. The yarn is 72% cotton, 18% polyamide and 10% polyester. Of course for really warm days, bare toes in sandals is the ticket.

 

Ankle and heel finished, foot and toe yet to be knit.