On second thought, green

The black pots just got lost under the dark eaves of the barn so I went back & tried this bright green

My 'barn star' = a 2'x2' painted quilt square.

Busy!

O heart weighed down by so many wings

A little obsession of mine lately?  Artichokes.  Growing them.  Or rather, getting them to grow.  Germination.

Here's the instructions given on my pack of Imperial Star Artichoke seeds:

Sow 1/4" deep in a lightly moistened flat.  Germinate at 80-85 for 8 hours a day and 68-75 for 16 hours a day.  Grow at 60-70 day and 50-60 night.  Time transplanting so that the plants get at least 250 hours of temperatures below 50 to induce budding.  

Really?  I rigged up a hot pad under the seed tray and cranked it up religiously 8 hours a day.

I kept to this regiment for awhile using the hot pad & finally gave up after 3 weeks and only 1 seed germinating.  I stuck the flat outside & just have kept the soil moist.  FINALLY this week, 6 weeks after seeding these babies, 9 more are coming up.

The cool thing about artichokes and living on the edge of USDA hardiness zone 9?  They're perennials here that will live 3-5 years.  I expect no fruit this year, but next...

temperatures outside have triggered natural germination this week

here's that first one that germinated weeks ago - this newest leaf is prickly on the edges

Weekend

salvaged hanging pots + black spray paint = a project for the barn underway

turkey season opened Saturday morn - a bird in hand on Sunday - fried turkey dinner this week

a west wind today & Joe decided to burn the rest of the planted pines here on the place

gotta love it:  lightin' off a couple acres with baby in carrier, drip torch in hand 

Swiss Chard!

fresh arugula eaten daily

Cherry Garcia

My all-time favorite ice cream?  Cherry Garcia by Ben & Jerry's.  Vanilla ice cream with chunks of dark chocolate & black cherries.  Had to give it a whirl in that new churn we found...

the salty ice was a big hit

the cherries & chocolate go in right at the end

New Kitchen Art

"Aquarium" by Levi

"Culture" and "Seal" by Nikki McClure

"Rainbow" on wood, by Levi 
{a birthday gift to his mother}

Barn Loot

Okay, so officially, the barn is done.  Done in that we hauled off 13 pick-up loads of stuff that had built up over several decades.  Sifted thru it all & whats left has some function.  There's still a bit of organizing to be done - who am I kidding really - weeks of organizing to be done, but at least we're getting somewhere.  

In addition to the barn on the place here, we got the opportunity to go thru another old family barn as well.  

Some of our treasures: 

an array of old wooden handmade baskets (I'm loving them all & immediately put them to use around the house) - wooden ammo boxes

who couldn't use a sturdy pitchfork?, silver tray, paint brush, fire screen, wooden pic frame

a handmade birdbath dated 10/10 1931

a stray duck decoy to add to our extensive collection...

post-hole diggers, wire fencing, fence post {already in the ground = tomato stakes}

with a little spray paint... I have just the place for this

books galore

a brand-new in-the-box electric ice cream makers

a cute baby picture throw in for good measure & you may have noticed she's out of a helmet temporarily - she outgrew the first one & has been helmet-free for 3 weeks - the new one gets here next Tuesday

spring equinox

Levi's grasp on the world is expanding & so are his questions!  This week:

"What's at the edge of outer space - I mean what's behind it?"

{I'd just heard a science program on the answer to this the week before}

"How did you make me?"

{oh goodness, already?  However, I was ready with an age appropriate answer}

"What's the last number?"

{and then a whole discussion on infinity began - he's really thinking about this one though - I've been asked this question every day this week - he says there must be one last one - and I say whatever number it is, there's a number one bigger...}