The Blossoms of Spring

I predict it is going to be a good cherry year.
The cherry trees are in full bloom and the the weather is 90 degrees.

Standing under the canopy of white cherry blossoms,
I can hear a distinct hum from the hundreds of bee wings buzzing around my head.

The bees are flying from blossom to blossom,
around and around creating a constant cloud of movement and sound.

Looking through the lilac bush,
I can see the pear blossoms in the orchard next to our farm.

It seems the whole valley is in bloom.
I think it might be a good year for pears, also.


There is a sweet fragrance in the air.
I comes from the millions of crab apple blossoms.

Easter Joy

Celebrating with friends - Easter 2009

With delicious food,

The day was bright.

In the company of friends,
No greater delight

A baby goat, Zoli and Ari, and curious llamas.

Oh, oh, there's llama poop in this egg. Toby's been up to his usual tricks.

Year of the Canadian Geese

For a month or more there has been a flock of Canadian Geese in or around the pond.
One day I counted 21 geese and 5 wild ducks.
That is the most wild geese I have ever seen at the pond.
I have felt honored when I have seen two geese on the pond, but 21 swells my heart
to near bursting with long for everything wild and free.
Every year I hear the wild, woodland sound of the geese as they honk to each other.
Every year a send telepathic messages to the geese.
"Stay here! Come back! You are welcome."
But every year I am disappointed when a few touch down for an evening
and are gone the next day.
For several years we have had
a goose couple hatch out young, but I never believed they survived the summer.
One summer, Jasmine hunted them. Chasing the mother and babies into the orchard.
The babies were too young to fly and so I thought they must have perished,
but now I think perhaps the goslings did grow to adulthood and have now
returned to their place of birth.
What an honor!
Bramble Creek Farm - home to a tribe of wild Canadian Geese
And to think,
they heard my messages all along.

Apple Blossoms

These are blossoms from the Gravenstein Apple Tree. They blossom early and produce fruit earlier than the Red and Golden Delicious.

Below is a picture of one of the original Golden Delicious apple trees that grew in our garden when I was a girl. San had cut the branches back severly a couple of years ago. The tree then grew scores of new sprouts. It looked like a hairy bush. I was able to take a fruit tree pruning workshop at the Extension Service this March. I reluctantly took on the task of restoring this old friend to a respectable condition. This is the first time I have pruned the apple trees with a small idea of what I was doing. I hope it turns out to be a job well done.

New Flock of Beauties

I had convinced myself that I didn't want to bother with chickens anymore, but, Victor Wiggington came driving up the driveway one Saturday with a couple of hens in the back of his pickup. The minute I saw them, I wanted them. I cleaned out the little hen house in the dog run and put them in there. I got two eggs the next day. I was in love.
The next day I told my friend at school about getting the chickens. She said she was thinking about getting rid of hers. Long story short, I now am the proud of owner of 5 beautiful hens. Two are black, one is red, one is golden and one is variegated gold to black. I get between 2 and 4 eggs a day. I hope I will get a more consistent ratio of eggs to hens when they are finally settled in.
The hens share the dog run with Toby. Toby uses it in the morning when I am at work. When I get home, I let Toby out and open the hen house door so the girls can scratch around. It works out nicely so far.

Baby Goat

Of all the farm animal babies I've seen over the years,
I think a baby goat is the cutest and sweetest baby of all.

The mother goat was born last spring.
She is is still not very big herself,
but has been a good mama.

You can see the baby goat looking at Toby.
The mother goat is always trying to keep Toby
away from her baby.
Toby is always trying to play with the baby.
If I can't find the baby goat
I take Toby along. He always sniffs her out and finds her for me.