Spring, Spring, Spring

 

Well, it's not spring yet - really - but I've already gotten my vegetables started.  Look at my first cucumber sprouts!

The flowers I planted and neglected a few months ago aren't growing though.  It's a real shame, too, because they would have really prettied up the place.  I haven't given them up yet though.

These are the simply gorgeous roses my dad got my mom for Valentines Day.  Every day, they open up a little bit more.  They are stunning.  And isn't this picture absolutely perfect?  That's not me, I assure you, although I took the picture.  My mother got a new camera for Christmas and it takes very clear pictures.  Some of it I still haven't figured out but the clarity is amazing

This is my rose, a little crisp and already wilting a bit.  That's mainly my fault because I didn't put it in water right away.  That's just the way the cookie crumbles.

I love the part in 'Seven Brides for Seven Brothers' about waiting for spring because that's just how I feel right now.  I have a terrible case of spring fever.  I want to be out there raking out the leaves and hoeing the soil and trimming the black raspberry bushes.  Oh, there's a lot of work to be done, but most of it isn't too convenient just now with patches of snow still on the ground.  But I've got my veggies and my rose, and yesterday I amused myself by baking a hand-peeled apple pie.  It was so nice to peel the apples and make the crust by hand.  I don't usually do that because I haven't that much time on my hands, but I'm afraid I put off some of my duties in order to complete this pie.

But I rested my Macbook on the island and watched 'Rear Window' while I took care of the apples and then I watched 'The Russians are Coming, The Russians are Coming' while I took care of the crust and put the pie together.  May I say that it may be the best pie I've ever made.  The apples have been sitting in the basement fridge since the fall and were too soft to be peeled on the corer even if I'd wanted to, but I sprinkled some lemon juice on them to keep them somewhat fresh while I peeled them.  My father said he liked the homemade crust.  As good as Pillsbury is, I was more than satisfied with my own crust.

Well, anyway, I've got a whole weekend ahead of me.  My father and brother are on a scout camping trip and it's just us girls.  It remains to be seen if it will be a pleasant weekend, if you know what I mean, but I'll try my best to be agreeable.

~Meggy