waiting for spring

     I know it’s much too early for spring, but it’s nice to think of what’s to come in these next few months and there’s always the little reassurances we see everyday in preparation for such a wonderful season.

     The Governor’s Garden (a few blocks east of the Missouri Capitol) is already planted full of tulip bulbs. Mom usually calls them ‘laurel’s tulips’ since they are in full bloom on my birthday so it's nice to already see the garden signs reading: ‘stay off of tulip beds—bulbs in ground.’ Here’s a preview of what they’ll look like even though the colors vary from year to year. They’re always a pleasant surprise!
    

     
      Our family is famous for our creek walks. Every year we go for creek walks on my birthday since there are no ticks out yet and the young greenery is pleasing to the eye. (It really is quite convenient to have a spring birthday...) There are rocks to climb, tadpoles to admire, and the cheery songbirds to listen to. This is not to mention the deep pools left over from heavy rainfall to swim in and numerous mud fights amongst the more foolish members of our tribe.

     New life is always a sure sign of spring. The picture of this morning dove nest was taken last year when the nest was discovered in our favorite climbing tree. Spring also ushers forth the playful foals on a farm close to our house, the German shepherd puppies we’re expecting this March and on special occasion delicate fawns crossing the back roads close behind their mother.  

Now I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves:

  This is a perfect example of how we spend most
    spring mornings

Soooooooooooooooooooo appealing!

Don’t you see why I love spring? It is the refreshing, jubilant season when everyone rejoices that winter is over at last. When I first started this blog, my first post was about how I love winter. Notice however, that it was written in December when winter in Missouri is just beginning. Now, just the thought of warm weather and growing things has invigorated my mind. I simply cannot wait!
    

  

Homemade bubbles

  I love the strong and graceful steeple against the turmoil
of the clouds

Awake, thou wintry earth -
Fling off thy sadness!
Fair vernal flowers, laugh forth
Your ancient gladness!
~Thomas Blackburn, "An Easter Hymn"

     It's spring fever. That is what the name of it is. And when you've got it, you want - oh, you don't quite know what it is you do want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so! ~Mark Twain

Good ol' Xenephon

            With the onslaught of modern technology, our homeschool principal (a.k.a. Dad) decided to buy the class an e-book to keep up with the times.

                So far we’ve been generously taking turns with it and since it was my turn today, I chose to spend my afternoon reading “On Horsemanship” by Xenephon.

Here is one excerpt which I find to be a very true statement: 

                “That a horse takes pleasure in swift movement, may be shown conclusively. As soon as he has got his liberty, he sets off at a trot or gallop, never at a walking pace; so natural and instinctive a pleasure does this action afford him, if he is not forced to perform it to excess; since it is true of horse and man alike that nothing is pleasant if carried to excess.”

               

                And here’s another selection which is excellent advice for horse owners.

               

                “It is desirable that the groom should be ordered to carry out the dung and litter of the horse to some one place each day. By so doing, he will discharge the duty with least trouble to himself, and at the same time be doing the horse a great kindness.”

                Unfortunately, I am not only ‘master’ but also ‘groomer’ or I would wholly agree with the idea of such promptness. As it is, I just cleaned out Tex’s stall this morning and hope I shall not have to do it for another week.

                 Don’t you just love Xenephon? I rather like his common sense and forthrightness which comes through so plainly in his writing.

                “The one best precept—the golden rule—in dealing with a horse is never to approach him angrily. Anger is so devoid of forethought that it will often drive a man to do things which in a calmer mood he will regret.”

                “Supposing a man has shown some skill in purchasing his horses, and can rear them into strong and serviceable animals, supposing further he can handle them in the right way, not only in the training for war, but in exercises with a view to display, or lastly, in the stress of actual battle, what is there to prevent such a man from making every horse he owns of farm more value in the end than when he bought it, with the further outlook that, unless some power higher than human interpose, he will become the owner of a celebrated stable, and himself as celebrated for his skill in horsemanship.”

                The latter is a position I would gladly take if I were only as knowledgeable as Xenephon! But for now, I am very happy enjoying the company of Tex.

                I love horses—perhaps even a little bit too enthusiastically—(the phrase “there’s a pretty horse!” passes my lips more than often during John Wayne movies) so I hope to put this love to work one of these days.....

Under Construction

     This is our latest construction project which also allows us to play outside and get some exercise at the same time. It’s a ‘fort’ that Cabe, Clara, and Austin have been working on for a couple of weeks. (They only get to work on it for a couple hours in the afternoon which is why it’s taking us so long.) I just started helping out yesterday by cutting some dead cedar trees for the roof and hauling up rocks from the creek for a rock wall.       
     The hardest part of building it is trying to use as many natural resources as possible. We’re not using hammers and nails, utilizing as little man made materials as possible, and limiting ourselves to only the necessary tools (hatchet, spade, saw, etc.) I’m amazed at how nice it looks so far. These pictures were taken yesterday right before I began helping:

 

 

     If you look closely you can see the two trees which serve as our front corner posts, and in the back there are two conveniently located boulders. To these posts we have lashed four stout cedar trees to support the ‘rafters’ which in turn will hold up the roof. To do this we have been using some nice yellow rope from a hardware store which works very well.

     The walls will be a bit of a problem as will the draining system (for which we might have to use PVC pipes) but so far we are very pleased with it. We might even sleep out in it this summer! Further pictures and reports will be posted.

Life is tough......

And this is what happens to naughty little dogs that run away.......................

It was a pretty torturous experience—both for me and ‘Retta—

but we managed to get through all right and restore the bathtub to a more hygienic condition afterwards.

Dalahemslojd

Isn’t this the quaintest little piece of Swedish culture? My siblings and I bought it for Mom’s Christmas present at an antique mall. You can buy a new one for roughly 200 dollars—way more than what we paid for it! It is in perfectly good shape: the paint is still clear and bright, the wood smooth and unblemished (though a little dirty on top), and the sticker in Swedish confirming the value of this wonderful little “Dalahemslojd” We like to think of it as a symbol of our Swedish heritage.

The sticker says:

Akta

Dalahemslojd

tillv. Nils Olsson

Nusnas, Mora

Sweden