Today at Iten's Acres: Day Four March 28, 2017

Day Four: Not much exciting other than the deer my neighbor's dogs sent fleeing past me, around the pond, and down through the meadow and wild area. Hope he or she is still running.
The day was wet and windy, but I managed to spend a lot of it outside. Have to get all the outside that I can before the return of school. As expected, I am no where near accomplishing my imagine list. Slow and steady will get a few things done.
Here are some mid-week blooms:

Today at Iten's Acres: Day Three March 27, 2017

Day Three: Blessings
1. I woke up--and the old body was working!
2. I woke up at The Acres.
3. Brad continues to improve. Tough kid.
4. Taste buds--eggs, hash browns, pizza, sweet and sour chicken, Pepsi, Pepsi, Pepsi.
5. New blooms--my Gardening Angels "snuck" some Lenten Rose under the canopy--who knew?
6. Lazy morning--I took my to-do list for the morning and read it--and then ignored it.
7. A good friend had applied for a teaching position that from a human perspective it would take a miracle to get. Miracle!!! Thank You, Lord. He is a prayer answering God--and Father.
8. Honey bees.
9. Sunshine for my afternoon/morning "work."
10. Pansies
11. Bible study tonight--Joseph. When everything that can go wrong does go wrong--Be faithful. In life, in obedience, in testimony.
"Count your MANY blessings name them one by one."

Today at Iten's Acres: Day Two March 26, 2017

Day Two:
Waking: The Homesteader does not believe in weekends.
Worship: Another good message. This one on Paul's work in Philippi. Lydia, the demon possessed fortune teller, the jailer and his family. Nice start to a church. Female, male, rich, poor, Gentile, Jew, single, married. We don't know the particulars of the young girl that Paul delivered from the demon, but Lydia and the jailer had the exact same evidence of true redemption--wanted to be baptized right now and immediately started giving.
Water: Rainy afternoon. I'm sure the peepers, goldfish, and turtles enjoyed their afternoon. Every time I started to think I could go outside and do some stuff--monsoon. Homesteader must have been doing a rain dance. She certainly enjoyed lap time. The Posse disappeared until the rain stopped.
"Work": Moved a few things. I took a gamble and put a bunch of orange day lily throughout the Bog. They live in the ditch along the side of the road--enthusiastically. So--maybe they'll love the Bog. I have a million of them--well, maybe only half a million--so it's worth the chance. I would love to have some islands of orange throughout the Bog.
Walk: Hey, it's not a real day without a walk. More daffodils, some wood hyacinth, red corydalis, and grape hyacinth entered the landscape today. Going to be a blooming week. I need to go get some pansies--my flower namesakes.

Working Iten's Acres: Day One March 25, 2017

Day One: I find manual labor restful--even though I didn't come anywhere near doing what I had hoped to get done, it was a good day. My brain had grandiose plans for the day. The rest of my body said, "Not so fast." They win. A couple hours of work is always followed by an hour of recovery time. Lunch--I had Shepherd's Pie. Then a water break and cat pampering. Finally, the day is finished with another slow walk. (If it's not slow, is it even a walk?) Anyway, half of one bed is finished. A small multitude of flowers moved. The hands are achy--as expected. The feet as well. But the back is doing very well, thank you.
Odds and Ends: The Posse has taken to dropping off dead rodents on the patio. The goldfish are "spawning." Despite numerous dining opportunities last summer by the great blue heron and the kingfisher, the populations is splendid. The huge branch that fell off The Sentinel last winter has become quite a turtle parking lot. At least seven spend the afternoon perched on the old log. Tons of things bloomed in the last two days. Pictures to follow--mostly new crocus and a daffodil or two.
Not to sound like a mystic or anything, but one of the great joys of laboring and walking are the "conversations" I have with the Gardener. Oh, there's no voice from Heaven--just verses brought to mind, reminders of past blessings and lessons. Being still and alone can be quite "noisy." I'm always reminded of the hymn "I come to the garden alone . . ." Never are we alone. Sometimes, though, I'm too distracted to listen. Find some quiet time--still time. Listen.

This Week at The Acres: Spring Break!! March 25, 2017

And so it begins: Spring Break. The morning was the same--white, furry, insistent alarm clock. Breakfast in the usual order: Alarm Clock first--if I want to live through the morning. Then, the three-headed monster peering in the front doorwindow. The Posse is quite demanding as well. Then, the old man gets to eat, sitting in the chair, watching the morning brighten into day. But the rest of the day will be different. Finally, some time to get some work done at The Acres. And the Lord appears to be planning a perfect weather week for me. A few beds to finish building, lots of clearing out of beds to do, some beauty to move, some beauty to plant, some mulching as well.. No, I'll never get it all done. But if the back and hands hold up, a lot will be accomplished. And the warmth will bring out the beauties. I was amazed even yesterday after a single afternoon of warm and sunny how much decided that it was "show-off" time. Walk before work, of course. Then a schedule so I'll have something to not follow. I'm sure Shadow aka Midnight will want to help. The other two will just sit and watch at a distance and make comments about the stupidity of the human race. Homesteader will scold me whenever I take a break and wander inside. A week of the joy of manual labor, the beauty of The Acres, of days spent outside, not inside. And next weekend the baseball season begins. Perfect.

This Week at The Acres: Cool Trek March 4, 2017

A cool week at The Acres, but then, we still have three weeks left of winter. I wish, though, that the warmer days in the week were on Saturday and Sunday instead of school days. But alas, some day maybe the work will get done. Still spots of snow on the ground as I took my morning walk, and a film of ice on some parts of the pond. Nevertheless, there were some new blooms: more crocus, more orchard iris and another Lenten rose. Hope you enjoy the beauty of my morning trek.

This Week at Iten's Acres: February Spring February 28, 2017

All the signs of spring invaded February.  First, the peepers began their serenade.  Then, the red wing blackbirds showed up dancing along the country roads, claiming their telephone wires.  And, on the morning of the last day of February, I was greeted by a morning Robin singfest.  Crocus, orchard iris, Lenten rose are blooming everywhere.  Daffodils are ready to do the same.  Even one of the forsythia is showing signs of chiming in.  And it's February!  Anyway, here are a few pictures of the beauty of February at The Acres: