4/24/26  From fog-covered valleys to lush, forested waterways, nature is a blessing and a sanctuary where we can escape the chaos of the world. 

 Clouds, 34 degrees. Cloudy today with a strong north breeze, high 45. Partly cloudy tonight, low 31. Partly cloudy tomorrow, a north breeze, high 57, low 36. Partly cloudy Sunday, a light NE breeze, high 64, low 40. Mostly cloudy Mosday, an ESE breeze, high 69, low 40. Partly cloudy Tuesday, a SE breeze, high 68, low 38. Partly cloudy Wednesday with PM showers, a brisk SE breeze, high 58, low 42. Rain Thursday, a SE breeze, high 52, low 42. Partly cloudy next Friday, a NE breeze, high 54, low 40. Showers Friday evening, overnight, and the weekend. Saturday's high 50, low 39, a NE breeze. Sunday's high 52, low 40, a brisk NW breeze. Mostly cloudy Monday the 4th, a stiff NW breeze, high 56, low 41. Showers Tuesday the 5th through Friday the 8th with brisk north breezes. Highs Tuesday and Wednesday 58, lows 42. Highs Thursday and Friday 54, lows 41,

   The Loop is late because instead of copying it I deleted it!  I'm re writing it.

    The Bailey order came yesterday.  Lots of fruit trees but no Wolf Rivers.  But we got 150 Ginkgo Biloba!  They grow in our zone but we didn't order them.  We've never even thought about ordering some! We'll be getting a call today, some nursery is looking for them.  All the trees and shrubs look great.  Some of the fruit trees have already been sold.  Customers bought them bareroot.  Everyone but me will be very busy the next few days potting them up.

   I got the new butter churn.   Tomorrow I'll make butter.  I went by the church pansies twice Wednesday and forgot to uncover them.   I uncovered them yesterday.  They look great.  Thanks to the protection of the remay they enjoyed a gentle rain.  No snowflakes touched them!  And it didn't drop to 22 degrees under the remay.

   May your day be blessed, Sally

 4/23/26  Lord please teach me to hold my words carefully, to listen more deeply, and to choose peace even when I feel provoked. 

Dense fog, 37 degrees.   Rain this morning, clouds this afternoon.  A high of 48, a strong NW breeze.  Late night partial clearing, low of 34.

Cloudy tomorrow, a north breeze, high 45, low 33.  Partly cloudy Saturday, a north breeze, high 58, low 35.  Partly cloudy Sunday, a NE breeze, high 64, low 39. Mostly cloudy Monday. an east breeze, high 65, low 38.  Partly cloudy Tuesday, an east breeze, high 64, low 41.  Showers Wednesday through the weekend and next Monday , ESE breezes through Saturday.  Brisk north breezes Sunday and Monday.  Highs in the mid fifties, lows 40-42.  Mostly cloudy Tuesday the 5th, a brisk NW breeze, high 57, low 47. Partly cloudy Wednesday the 6th, overnight showers, showers Thursday the 7th.Highs 56, lows 41.

   A good doctor's appointment is when I leave standing straight.  The nurse took lots of blood, in a few days I'll know how the rest of me is doing.  After my appointment I had some time to kill before it was time to pick up Annabelle.  I stopped at an antique store/ thrift shop.  it was much larger than it looked.  The merchandise was old and very old.  Lots of nice items.  Lots of things I'd like to have but didn't need.  Except, there was this gem dandy butter churn.  Not as old as the one we have.  Our jar is very heavy, very thick glass.  The mold the glass was poured in to make the jar made lots of dairy themed decorations part of the glass.Even though the lid of our jar has a large chip out of  the rim, the jar is worth more than the whole churn at the shop.  The motor still works on our very old jar.  We had to replace the cord.  The cord looks like new on the one at the shop.  I'm going back this morning to buy the one with the plain, easier to wash, lighter jar. Still an old motor but not as old as ours.  We'll use it and have the security of knowing we have the very beautiful, old churn for a back up.  

    I was asked what the  "Three Sisters" is.  It is a circular growing method the Indians taught the Pilgrims.    Corn in the center with pole beans planted around it.  Squash is planted around the corn and beans.  The beans climb on the corn.  Nodules on the bean roots make nitrogen for the corn.  The rough prickly leaves of the squash deter raccoons who would eat the corn.  I plant colored corn, the stalks are stronger for the beans to climb on.  Scarlet runner beans are pretty, the hummingbirds love them and they are good to eat.  Sometimes I use tastier high producing pole beans.  Tuxedo sweet corn has strong stalks.

   May your day be blessed, Sally

 4/22/26  What other people think of me is none of my business. If they are talking about me, they are leaving some other person alone. Bruce Young

Some rain showers today. a strong south breeze, high 47.  Occasional rain overnight, low 36.  Rain tomorrow, a stiff NWN breeze, high 48, low 34.  Mostly cloudy Friday, a light north wind, high 47, low 33. Partly cloudy Saturday, a north breeze, high 58, low 36.  Mostly cloudy Sunday, a NE breeze, high 64, low 39. Partly cloudy Monday, an east breeze, high 64, low 40.  Mostly cloudy Tuesday, a brisk ESE breeze, high 62, low 41.  Showers next Wednesday through Sunday the 3rd, NE breezes, highs in the mid fifties, low in the lower forties.  Some sun possible Sunday and Thursday.  Mostly cloudy  Monday the 4th, a brisk NW breeze, high 56, low 42.  Partly cloudy the 5th and 6th, brisk north breezes, highs 63, lows 44.
    Last year I bought some plain black pots and saucers at a yard sale. They are large, 30 galleon size.  From a grow house?  The Chinese have several in Maine, some have been shut down.  I often buy groceries online, heavy and bulky things I don't want to handle.  I have saved the heavy cardboard boxes the groceries come in. Yesterday I broke the boxes down and laid them in a place hard to mow in the backyard and sat the pots up on  the cardboard.  I am planting a crate of red norland potatoes in them.. Starting out with about ten inches of raised bed mix.  I'll cover the potatoes gently so I don't break off any sprouts.  As they grow I'll add more soil, like I was hilling them in the garden.  I've never tried this before.  The goal is early new potatoes for us, not the stand. The black pots will warm up nicely now but will they get too warm later in the season?
    It seems so cold out but the pond lilies in the garden pond are starting to break out of the water.  Just on time for the frogs to sit on them.  Some of the pollywogs have become tiny frogs already.  Last year the racoons got a lot of frogs.  Jay made the garden pond a little larger and deeper. Hopefully that will make getting dinner harder for the coons.  They got all the frogs out of the kitchen garden pond.  A couple of bull frogs lived in that pond, I missed hearing them last summer.  This year I'm planting squash and pumpkins around the perminator.  Coons don't like walking through the scratchy, rough vines.  I'm hoping that will protect the pond.  Squash vines protect the corn from coons when it is part of the Three Sisters.
   A doctor's appointment today. I'm supposed to rest my back after she works on it so I'm taking Annabelle for a haircut. Always a pleasant time.  May your day be blessed, Sally

 4/21/26 “Agriculture is our wisest pursuit because it will in the end contribute most to real wealth, good morals, and happiness.” - Thomas Jefferson.

 19 degrees earlier this morning, 30 degrees with bright sun now.  Sunshine this morning, clouds this afternoon.   Today's high 45, tonight's low 28.   A light 

WSW breeze today.  Partly cloudy tomorrow morning, some PM showers. High 47, low 36 with a stiff south breeze.  Showers Thursday, a stiff NW breeze, high 49, low 33. Mostly cloudy Friday, strong NEW breeze, high 53, low 34.  Partly cloudy this weekend.  A north breeze Saturday, high 56, low 36.  A light NEN breeze Sunday, high 60, low 39.  Mostly cloudy Monday, a NE breeze, high 61, low 39. Showers next Tuesday through next Saturday. NE breezes, highs about 55, lows about 42. Sun and showers Sunday the 3rd, a strong NW breeze, high 57, low 40.  Sun and clouds the 4th and 5th, brisk north breezes, highs 57, lows 40.

   I'm starting a fermentation class today.  Where I grew up there were a lot of Quakers.  They served seven sweets and seven sours at Sabbath meals.   Daily meals had a sweet  and a sour.  I was never too much about the sour.  But now I keep reading how good fermented food is for us.  There is even some evidence that the good bacteria in fermented foods will help flush microplastics out of our bodies.

   Bird books say April is one of the most important months to feed the birds.  They have eaten the seeds nature provided all winter and not many are left.  Looking out the window at the many different birds at our feeders I do believe nature's pantry must be near empty.

   I usually go to my sister's for breakfast on Tuesday mornings.  Not this morning.  We've both been so busy we haven't spent much time in our yards.  Today we want to skip the leisurely breakfast and go outside.  My goal is to have a yard as beautiful as Lynne's.  Mine will be different, I mix herbs in with my flowers.  I plant with birds and pollinators in mind and I have a pond with moving water to attract the birds.  Some of the sunflower feeders get replaced with hummingbird feeders.  I have water lilies and cattails in my ponds for dragonflies to lay their eggs on..  Blackeyed susans are a dragonfly favorite.

   May your day be blessed, Sally

 4/20/26 A mind unemployed is a mind unenjoyed.

It was 29 degrees but bright sun has already brought it up to 32.  Clouding up this afternoon, possible early afternoon shower.  High 43 degrees.  A stiff NNW breeze, Clear tonight, low 25.  Some forecasts say 22.  We did have a couple hours of mix last night. Partly cloudy tomorrow, a light WNW breeze, high 46, low 38.  Scattered showers  Wednesday and Thursday.. Highs about 50, lows 35.  A south breeze Wednesday, a WNW breeze Thursday.  Partly cloudy Friday, a strong north breeze, high 54, low 33.  Mostly sunny Saturday, a NE breeze, high 59, low 37.  Mostly cloudy Sunday, an ENE breeze, high 58, low 40.  Mostly cloudy next Monday, an east breeze, high 59, low 41.  Showers next Tuesday and Wednesday, east breezes, highs about 55, lows about 43.  Sun and showers next Thursday and Friday, north breezes, highs 56, lows 42.  Some showers the weekend of the 2ed and 3rd, north breezes, highs 55, lows 40. 

   I follow a few homesteading blogs.  Mostly Josh and Carlyn Thomas's Homesteading Family.  and Laurie Neverman, Common Sense Home.  I've taken several of Josh and Caryln's classes.  Last week I took one on stocking a pantry.  They have 40 acres but their suggestions cover everything from window sill gardens to unlimited space.  In the class Carlyn talked about one of my favorites for stocking up for winter, winter squash. There are many different kinds.   Several kinds have varieties that grow with smaller vines.  I grow big mama buttercup squash,a large squash and lots of vines.   We have the room and a large family.  There are smaller varieties, Johnny's has one that people love.  We grow it for sale because it is so popular.  All you have to do to preserve winter squash is wash it in a solution that is one part bleach to nine parts water, let it dry thoroughly, and store it in a cool dry place.  For me that has been three milk crates stacked with a round piece of plywood on top and a pretty tablecloth over it.  In the front room behind a chair. I've set a blue Hubbard on top for decoration because it was so big I didn't have any other place to put it. I've also lined squash up on the floor under the bottom shelf of a bookcase.  We often plant them in odd corners.  Their vines cover everything so there is less weed whacking.

   Late yesterday the forecasts about how much "mix" we were going to get and how cold tonight would be got to me.  I went to church and tucked some remay around the pansies.  Snowflakes make brown spots on the leaves, a wet mix seems to bother them less.  I don't think we are going to see 21 but if we did that would set the pansies back.  Their cheerful colors are so pretty, I wanted to protect them.

   May your day be blessed, Sally

 4/19/26  Teach me to pray with compassion, to speak with gentleness, and to live in a way that reflects Your heart for all people. Amen.

 Rain today, a stiff WSW breeze, high 47.  Partly cloudy after midnight, low 32. Cloudy tomorrow, a stiff NW breeze, high 45, low 27.  Some forecasters say the low may be 23. Sunshine Tuesday, light NW breeze, high 47, low 29.  Cloudy Wednesday, a south breeze, high 49, low 36. Showers Thursday.  Pleasant next weekend.

    I think i'll tuck in the church box pansies tomorrow, they can handle 26 degrees but 23 might set them back.  If I had a pansy bowl I'd bring it in or throw a jacket over it.

     May your Sunday be blessed, Sally

 4/18/26 If you've complained for a minute you've lost sixty seconds of happiness.

Cloudy, calm, 45 degrees.  Partly cloudy this afternoon, a strong SE breeze, high 63.  Overcast tonight, a brisk SSE  breeze, low 43.  Rain tomorrow, a WSW breeze, high 47, low 32.  Partly cloudy Monday, a strong NW breeze, high 45, low 26..  Sunshine Tuesday, a NW breeze, high 46, low 31. Rain/snow showers Wednesday morning, a SE breeze, high 46, low 35.  Mostly cloudy Thursday, a brisk NWN breeze, high 53, low 35.  Partly cloudy Friday, a north breeze, high 53, low 36. Partly cloudy next weekend, showers possible Sunday morning. East Breezes. highs in the fifties, lows 42.  Showers every day but Wednesday the week of the 27th. NE breezes, highs in the mid to upper fifties, lows about 42.
   Everyone was busy yesterday soaking up the sun and warmth.  Trying not to think about next week's chilly temperatures.  Especially that four letter word, snow, mixed with Wednesday's morning showers.  We'll put the pansies inside Tuesday night.  They will keep blooming through snow but it makes brown spots where it sits on the leaves. If I have time I may cover the ones in the church box.  I may even cover them Monday night.  Bekah's forecast says it will drop to 23 at 3AM. 
   The soil temperature was 49 degrees, warmer than we expected.  Johnny's is sending us Alisca Craig onion plants.  People like to get them planted so they can have cucumber and sweet onion sandwiches when the cucumbers are ready.
   In the greenhouse all but the cherry tomatoes are transplanted.  They pruned all the blossoms off the flowers but they are reblooming so it is beautiful in the greenhouses.  The propane company filled the propane tanks Wednesday.  So the greenhouses are all set for next week's cold. The wood stove is still burning nights.

   May your day be blessed, Sal