The View From My Window

First off, let me apologize for the fact that it has taken me so long to write another post.  I've thought of lots of things to write about.  But, I just haven't taken the time to write.   I've been working on some things to help me have a little more time (more on that later) and I HOPE to post more frequently from now on.

Spring has arrived!  I love Spring!  It is my favorite season of the year.  It seems like it has taken forever for it to come this year.  The temperatures refused to rise and the sun seemed to have been on vacation the month of April.

I love to watch the leaves come out on the trees and see everything come alive again.  I take daily sneaks at the flower beds around my house watching for my perennials to see if they survived another winter.  This year I've had the joy of watching three little squirrels playing in the hickory nut tree right outside my window.  Their little tails never stop twitching!   Unfortunately, I haven't been able to snap any pictures because they keep themselves mostly hidden in the leaves.

Most of the other blogs that I follow post pictures.  So I am going to try out a few.  These are a few pictures that I have shot over the past couple of weeks of things that I have seen outside my windows...

These are the two apple trees that I have in my yard.  There are several more fruit trees on the farm.  They really blossomed this year.  The blossoms are mostly off the trees now, but the pollen seems to be out in full force.  I'm not allergic to it, but I am not a fan of the yellow dust that covers everything outside and sticks to my freshly scrubbed screens and windows!  Later in the summer, we will have several deer and their babies stop by to eat the apples.  I have spent a lot of time - probably too long - watching the fawns.

Is there anything prettier than the sight of freshly turned ground?  Is there any smell better than the smell of freshly turned soil?   Then again, you are talking to the girl who looked forward to driving past a big dairy farm every Friday on her way home from college just to get a whiff of that great manure smell!  It smelled so much like home after being stuck in a city all week.  My brother always teased me that he was going to put some cow manure in a jar so I could keep it in my apartment!  There is just something about that smell!!!  I love it!  There is nothing better than growing up in the country.

Well, the whole picture thing was easier than I thought!!  I'll have to post pictures more often!

Hopefully you all are enjoying Spring as well.   If you haven't lately, take some time to look out your windows and enjoy the wonderful gift that God has given us.

It's That Time Of Year Again!

In my opinion, January and February are the worst two months of the year!   I am anxiously awaiting winter to be over, but the snow continues to fall and fall and fall!   Will it ever stop?  It is not that I hate snow - because I don't.  I get excited about big snows and snow days as much as any ten year old does!

It is just that spring is my favorite time of the year.   As soon as the the new year begins, I am ready for winter to be over!  I start looking for signs of spring.   I love how it stays light longer in the evenings each day.   I am excited to say that this past week, I found several signs that spring is just around the corner - and I'm not talking about the groundhog!!!

We had a day in southwestern PA last week that the sun actually shined!  Carolyn and I went for a walk out the lane to get the mail.  On the way back to our house, I walked along the side of my house where I have some of my flowerbeds.  I was so thrilled to see that some of my perennials are popping up.  My hyacinths, daffodils, and irises are starting to show their green heads!!  I know that this is partially because these flowerbeds are right along the side of my house and my basement is not sealed all that well and makes that soil warm...but it still counts!

I also started to prepare for my garden and flowerbeds this week.  I have three plastic bags laying beside the register in my dining room.  I am waiting for my tomatoes, cucumbers, and snap dragon seeds to sprout.   I am determined to have tomatoes and cucumbers early this year!!  There is nothing better than a tomato or cucumber straight from the garden.

The last sign that spring is just around the corner started on Saturday.  Butchering time has begun once again!  I am sure that many of you are wondering what in the world I am talking about!  In my family, we butcher our own pork and beef.  We have for as long as I can remember.  I can remember my uncle teasing my cousins and I when we were little about pinning a real pig tail to our rears!!  Every Saturday for about a month, my grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, mom, dad, brothers, and sister gather in a little room in my grandparents' basement designated solely for butchering.  The room consists of basically three counters, a grinder, and a meat saw.

Everyone has their own job.  My grandfather and father run the saw, the other males and my sister (the only girl on that side of the room!) trim the meat, and the women package and label the meat.  Someone has to run the grinder - it is usually a younger cousin.  I can remember fighting over who got to run the grinder when I was little.   We'd sit on the back of the grinder and push the chunks of meat to make either hamburger or sausage into it.  It is definitely not as much fun now as it was then!

I won't say that butchering is fun...we stand in one spot on that hard concrete floor basically all day.  It's cold and tiring.  But, I still look forward to it each year.  It is just good old-fashioned family time together.  My uncles are usually picking on someone and there is also good food!  My mom always has some sort of breakfast sweet when we first get there.  My grandmother makes us a huge dinner (lunch) each week.  Every year we can count on her homemade pizza one week and her amazing pancakes, homemade sausage, liver pudding (don't even ask about this!), and sweetbreads (cow pancreas) - they are actually really good - another week.

When the month of butchering is over, I have a freezer full of steaks, hamburger, roasts, steak-ums, pork chops, sugar-cured ham, ribs, sausage, and hot sausage links.  I am so blessed to have good, healthy food in the freezer for my family.  I know where my food comes from and I don't have to worry about preservatives, food recalls, or anything like that!

And, when we are finally done with the butchering, it's March and SPRING IS ALMOST HERE!!!