Signs of Spring

"I love spring anywhere, but if I could choose I would always greet it in a garden." ~Ruth Stout

By late February, my spirit yearns for warmth, color, the earth reborn...A flush of green tinges the meadow, a hopeful indication. I've started seeds in the greenhouse and, to my delight, most are coming up. Baby violas are potted in readiness, with the promise of more diminutive pansies to follow. Flats of sweet alyssum will go out among the earliest flowers to perfume the air and attract pollinators. Spinach and cabbage seedlings await transplanting. Parsley is showing its face. I'll seed more herbs and vegetables soon, like heirloom lettuce, basil, sweet peppers, and tomatoes. I may even start peas indoors this year because our soil is so wet they may rot otherwise. We've had a drenched winter after last year's drought, and the weather shows no indication of letting up. No one wants a drought again, just 'normal' weather. Daughter Elise and I are sorting through seed packets from last year and carefully ordering more. The greenhouse will soon burst with new life.

"Every spring is the only spring — a perpetual astonishment." ~Ellis Peters

In the flower beds, the tiny white snowdrop buds will open into pendulous bells. Fuzzy catkins line pussywillow branches like the tiny kittens they're named for. Daffodils, tulips, and the green points of crocus leaves are emerging. Early snow crocus will soon appear. It's my dream, as Elise knows, to have masses of crocus everywhere, filling the yard. How splendid that would be. A great trumpet of spring.

"No matter how long the winter, spring is sure to follow." ~Proverb

On the book front:

For the first time since its publication by the Wild Rose Press in July 2017, Somewhere My Lady is on sale at all major online booksellers with the exception of Kobo and was a featured Bookbub deal. Sale ends March 1st.

Story Blurb:

Lorna Randolph is hired for the summer at Harrison Hall in Virginia, where Revolutionary-War reenactors provide guided tours of the elegant old home. She doesn't expect to receive a note and a kiss from a handsome young man who then vanishes into mist.

Harrison Hall itself has plans for Lorna – and for Hart Harrison, her momentary suitor and its 18th century heir. Past and present are bound by pledges of love, and modern science melds with old skills and history as Harrison Hall takes Lorna and Hart through time in a race to solve a mystery and save Hart's life before the Midsummer Ball.~

Somewhere My Lady is on sale for 0.99 from 2/15 through 3/01 at:

Amazon in Kindle at: https://www.amazon.com/Somewhere-Lady-Ladies-Time-Book-ebook/dp/B071VTNC7V

At Barnes & Noble  in Nookbook at: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/somewhere-my-lady-beth-trissel/1126418713?ean=2940157225872

At iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/somewhere-my-lady/id1241587669

At Google Play:  https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Beth_Trissel_Somewhere_My_Lady?id=1JoqDwAAQBAJ&hl=en

"Spring stirs under silent snow." ~Terri Guillemets

***Images from last spring's garden

Old-Time Dandelion Salad Recipe!

Socked full of nutrients, dandelions should probably be eaten more often than zapped with herbicides. We've been taught to look upon this humble wildflower/weed/herb as a plague in our lawns and flower beds, but perhaps we should have more respect for the much maligned dandelion. 

To further that end, I've searched out an old Mennonite recipe for a tasty hot dressing to pour over the tender greens. It's essential to gather the leaves quite young or they will be entirely too bitter. I'm sure you can also use this dressing for other greens, too, like watercress and endive.  My mother in law used to make it for dandelion salad and then forgot her recipe. But I found it, at least this sounds like what I remember more or less. I gathered new greens and prepared the salad this week. Very good, though not quite as delicious as hers.

For The Salad itself:

4 cups chopped dandelion leaves

3 hard-boiled eggs

3 slices of bacon

For The Hot Dressing:

1 1/2 Tablespoons flour, 1 tsp. salt, 1 egg, 2 Tablespoons sugar, 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar, 2 cups milk or water

Wash and chop dandelion leaves. Cut bacon in pieces and fry. Remove bacon from drippings. In a separate bowl, mix together dry ingredients, add egg, vinegar and water or milk. Stir until well blended.

Cook this mixture  in the bacon drippings until thickened and cool slightly.  Pour over dandelions and mix lightly. Garnish with sliced eggs and bacon.

For those of you who are reluctant to use all that bacon fat in the dressing, I suggest substituting butter which is better for you than margarine. You could probably even leave the bacon out if you're vegetarian, but bacon makes everything taste better.

Geese Are Grazing In My Yard

(Image from last summer but you get the idea)

Barnyard geese grow fussy and restless this time of year. The gaggle are in search of nesting sites and busy bringing about the goslings who will soon scuttle behind their parents. I read our variety of geese are called Pilgrim, because their coloring resembles the drab garb of those early folk to America's shores, not because they date back that far. I used to think they did. Duh on me. This American breed was developed in the early 1900's. They are termed friendly and called good parents by one site who sells the fuzzy goslings. I beg to differ. While it's true these are not 'attack geese' I must point out that they hate me and run fast and far, so I must sneak up in them to get pics or use a telephoto lens.

(Nesting Geese in the barn)

As for their parenting, I would add, 'When they remember.' They tend to misplace their offspring and forget where they put them. It's not unusual to discover a peeping gosling in great distress because it was left behind. I've retrieved and returned these babies more than once. But the adults lose a certain number every year. If they didn't, the gaggle would be far larger. They roam about the farm, my yard, and the meadow. While they love swimming on the pond--now empty as it will soon be dug out and deepened--they are content with puddles, the cow's watering trough, and ample grass. They also glean corn from grain the cows spill as they eat. We never feed the geese anything. They are free ranging. I've tried tossing grain their way to make friends with the 'Beth haters' but they just think I'm throwing stuff at them and run faster.

Sigh. I continue to try and befriend them but they are a ornery suspicious lot. Still, I'm fond of the cantankerous critters and protect them more than they know. So don't ask if you can buy some to eat, and people do. The answer is NO! I am their defender whether they like me or not.