New Chicks & A Birthday

Hello, friends.  The Medical Medium says oatmeal is a neutral food until you add fruit, which turns it into a health-supporting meal.  I always add raisins, and depending on what's available, pawpaw, figs, berries, or banana.  Anthony William, aka Medical Medium, says raisins are more powerful for your health than goji berries, which have been touted as a superfood.  Raisins are always in my pantry, and other fruits are added as available.  Three more tomato sprouts were planted, and three wintersown lettuce.  My co-op gave 25% off your entire purchase to celebrate it's 46th anniversary.  Though it's close to an hour away, I took advantage of it, and picked up mostly produce, but also a couple of goodies for J's birthday.

For J's birthday, I made German Chocolate brownies.  We took a little road trip, which included a picnic at Pilot Mt. State Park, and a tasting and dinner at a winery.  There was also an Amish store, which disappointingly had very high prices.  So I could join in on the festivities, I made a MM spice cake with cashew frosting for myself.  For a dinner, I made our mashed potatoes with mushroom gravy, roasted asparagus, and a green salad with pear, dried cherries and pecans, and homemade salad dressing.  Another dinner was pasta with our tomatoes, garlic, summer squash and basil in the sauce.  Breakfast scrambles included our asparagus and lamb's quarter.  Laundry was dried on the line.  I used some more of the thrifted tulle to make a cover for a raised bed with a cabbage and several kale.  The feed and seed got in Blue Australorp pullets, and J picked up 4 on his way home.  It's fun to have little chicks again.  They're staying in a box in the house until it warms up.  

Some years ago, I was excited to find a volunteer autumn clematis underneath one of the pear trees.  It flowered so prettily, we moved it front and center, in the area in front of our shed.  That wasn't the best decision, as it turned out to be a thug, sending up shoots throughout the bed, and out into the lawn.  I'd had enough of pulling up its progeny, so J dug it out, and we planted a Chestnut crabapple in its place.  My brother and SIL had given us the crabapple for Christmas, and it arrived last week.  It's a beautiful, healthy sapling, and we hope it will thrive there.  We did our best to pull all the roots of the autumn clematis, and plan to mulch the bed, though I won't be surprised to be pulling it up for a while yet.  Sunday was a beautiful day, with some nice breezes.  I cleaned out a flower bed, then cleaned the chicken coop.  A mixture of spearmint, catnip and southernwood were gathered for the nest boxes and as strewing herbs in the coop.  It's definitely more pleasant in there now.  Happy April, friends.