I am returning from my blog hiatus. In my absence, I dashed off to Calgary for my brother’s wedding, had an adventure driving back through blizzards and rock slides, and now I am slowly settling into the routine back here on the farm. Upon coming back, the peas have grown, the cats have shed copious fur-balls in every corner, the thyme, rosemary and sage are in full bloom and the bees have found them and are happily sucking them dry.

Marc and I have been walking the island every chance we get, with tea in hand, to rediscover Pender in the Spring. The weather has been incredible but still chilly in the morning. We have been savouring the quietness that comes with island seclusion.

On the gardening front, the tomato seedlings are not doing as well as I’d like. They’ve come up but they are just starting to get their second set of leaves now and I fear we will be dreadfully behind. This weekend it is my mission to give the bottom veggie garden a good weeding as the weeds seem to be outgrowing what we planted down there. Also, I must prepare the beehives for the approaching bees!

I am to pick up 15 hives of bees whenever the beekeeper calls, so I have to have their little homes dusted, polished and ready. I’ve placed several beehives at neighbour’s and friends’ houses so that I can spread out my bee empire to ensure they have enough foraging. I also have to treat two of the hives with formic acid for mites, which I’ve never done before. Any of you readers explored this method of mite eradication? Any tips I need to know?

Anyway, I’d love to hear how your week was. As I find my blogging wheels again, I’ll post some more photos.

Happy day in May! Here are some tempting photos from the garden.

Spring is thick upon us. The pear trees are blooming, the blueberries are fertilizing, the morrel mushrooms are fruiting and going straight on our pizza. The cows in the field I walk by every day at work are learning to walk. They are so cute! The lambs are frollicking in the crew-cut grass and the peas are brandishing their new green petals.

We’ve got two big weddings coming up so our focus has been more on arranging that and less on the garden and the bees, it must be admitted. My brother is getting married to his lovely fiancee in a couple weeks in Calgary. Marc and I are flying out at a pukey hour of 5:30am and then we’re staying in a hotel we booked because of the reviews. Get this, it’s my favourite review so far,

Decor strange, staff friendly.

Bring on the strange decor! We stayed in a hostel in Inverness Scotland when we were travelling that could have suited that description perfectly. We’re talking purple walls with technicoloured handprints, lime green baseboards, a red door, zebra striped bedspread on an old iron bed frame. It was surreal. I’m hoping that this hotel brings us close to that experience again. One can only hope.

The second wedding coming up is Marc’s sister at the end of May. That one is a little closer to home, in Victoria. Weddings are such a joyous occasion and I’m really looking forward to them and to all of the planning being finished. Then we can get into the heat of summer with bees, vegetables, Farmer’s markets, pulling weeds in sundresses and sandals.

Pottery is going well and we did our first “bisque” firing at the beginning of the week. This process changes the clay to a ceramic material. It is the stage you do after the clay pots dry, but before you glaze the bowls/cups/plates. So now my works of “art” are rather pinkish, like old bubble gum. And they are waiting for their glaze bath which will come next. Also, we picked up some Earthenware clay. We’ve been using Raku clay which is grittier and for more decorative pots. I really wanted to get into the Earthenware clay because of it’s resilience and functionality. Above most things, I am practical. If I’m making mugs, bowls, and funny-shaped things (that I’ve been told, when it doubt, it’s an ash tray.) I want them to be useful. And did I mention, my teacher is very patient with me. I still have trouble centering the clay and I still ask silly questions, and he dutifully shows up, answers my questions, centers my clay, and generally puts up with my nonsense. Yes, there is lots of nonsense!

Did I mention I bring him cookies? It is my best form of currency… It’s amazing who will work for cookies. So far, my mechanic (which is essential) and my pottery teacher work for cookies so I consider myself a very lucky gal! Let’s see who will work for honey?!

Hope your merge from Winter to Spring is as welcome as it is for me! Happy April!

Somedays you just have to take the time to do the unusual. Spice things up. Somedays, you have to go to Tim Hortons in a funny costume.

Somedays you need to learn a new dance.

Somedays you just need to dress like a pirate! Argh!

(Votes for Marc getting an earring, comment here….)

Somedays you need to prepare for all inevitabilities.

And somedays you just need to fly.

What things do you just need to do today?

I’ve been up to my usual tricks this week, gardening and shaping clay. I’m feeling a little dry on my blogging lately. Really, guys, this is my life. I read a little, I write a little, I work too much, I shape some clay, play some piano, prepare some bee stuff and drive my small truck around the island.

We’ve planted some more peas, beans, Jerusalem artichokes, carrots, cabbage and other assorted veggies.

On Island, the cows have had calves, the sheep have had lambs that I have no good photos to show you the evidence. The weather has been mostly cold and mostly rainy with some patches of sunshine.

What have you been up to?

The day began with choosing what bread to bake. Cheese and Onion. This bread has convinced me that anything could be turned into bread. You basically make a cheese sauce with onion, thyme and marjoram, and then you add yeast and flour to it and voila! Bread! I do not use a bread machine. I’ve never learned how. I don’t own one. I want to be able to have fresh bread even when the power goes out. So kneading the bread by hand, getting the feel for the elasticity, this is a step towards self-sufficiency for me. The rhythm of kneading bread, the smell of the yeast bubbling, the texture and the consistency under my hands. This is what I enjoy about making bread. It always amazes me how I can leave a bowl of dough on the counter, forget about it for an hour, come back and it is pushing it’s way right out of the bowl! It’s like magic everytime. I exclaim, I praise the powers of yeast, I admire the balloon. Then I punch it down. The fwiff of the air escaping is one of my favourite sounds.

Making bread this way has been passed down to me from my mother. The smell of yeast bubbling in the little cup, adding a pinch of sugar to give the little yeast bugs something to munch on, the texture and taste of good bread dough. This has all been given to me over a very ripe childhood. This has not been given to most people. Many people do not even know what ingredients go into bread. I recently watched a TED Talk by Jamie Oliver about Obesity. He declares a convincing argument that much of food education can start in the homes. It starts by parents passing down to their children ways to cook food, ways to nurish themselves. I have been so fortunate that this has been true of my life.

What recipes do you have that were given to you by a different generation? Any that you would like to share?

I am blessed enough to actually be in possession of my mother’s recipe box. It is stuffed full with so many recipes, hers and now mine, that it doesn’t even close anymore. To me, this is truly an inheritance.

Do you ever take stock of how much you make from scratch? It’s amazing the nutritional value you will add to your food, if you make more of it from scratch. I’ll try to keep a talley this week of how much we make from scratch and what processed foods we still consider staple.