Spring at the Little House in the Little Woods

Under Construction

The annual bird's nest is under construction just above our door at the little house in the little woods.  The bird...it may be a tufted titmouse...got the thing started before I noticed.  I tried to get a photo of the occupant while it was sitting in the lilac bush next to the house but he flew away when the dog came outside.  I'll have to carry my camera with me every time I go to the door and try to get his photo and post it!  This will be the 5th or 6th year that a nest has been built in that location.  We had an 'Uncle Sam' flag holder underneath it who's flapping flag helped keep scavengers away from the nest but it fell this winter and is beyond repair.  Have to start looking for something to hang there...the spot looks empty.  Maybe I'll even try to paint around it this year instead of waiting until the birds leave!
   Jeff showed me what wintered in the garden boxes this year.  These are carrots he found in a box in the front garden and there are onions and garlic in

those boxes, too. And in the back there are red cabbage growing nicely under leaves in the big boxes.  I think we're going to skip planting tomatoes and cucumbers this year.  The blight always gets the tomatoes before we do...and that seems a lot of work for very little harvest...and we got a large harvest of cukes last year and have enough pickles to last several years.  Beans and greens, and potatoes head our list right now.

Garage Sale Finds

   We went to a couple of garage sales Saturday and I got a Welbilt Bread Machine for $5...without the booklet so I've been searching the internet for one.  Jeff recommended YouTube and I found videos galore and copied a couple of recipes (bookmarking those sites, of course) and plan on trying my luck at machine bread.  I also got an electric tea kettle...for $.25, (I wear them out quickly) and Jeff got an old-fashioned double-boiler for $.50.  He's going to use it to melt wax to take fire-starters and candles.   Maybe my pots and pans will last a little longer.