Saturday at the Cabin

The sweet honey fragrance of the cottonwood leaf buds, the pale yellow haze hugging the tips of poplar and birch, and the greening of meadow grass, tell me it is finally spring. We woke this Saturday morning to bright sunny skies... a good day for outside chores. But first there are the animals at the door, waiting for two sleepy headed folks to get up and throw out a handful of birdseed, and place mixed nuts on the stump. While we eat breakfast we stand at the front window watching a small flock of white crowned and golden crowned sparrows scratch in the grass, a couple of Steller's jays go for the sunflower seeds, with big hopping motions. Josie, the female red squirrel sits on the stump, nibbling filberts, and making little squeaky-toy noises to warn off Red, the other squirrel. We leave them to their own devices and go online to check for e-mails and the morning news. We try out the new computer sharing program, with mixed results. Enough of the technology for a while!

With milder temperatures there was no need to fire up the wood stove this morning. One less chore. Bed made, coffee cups rinsed out, Bob tries to sort out a problem with the trailer's battery charger while I head for the garden. Ooops! A couple of the garden peas I planted this week now sit on top of the soil. Yesterday we saw a pair of varied thrush in the garden. They eat insects, snails, and berries – which is good, except for the berries – they must have pulled up the sprouting peas. I push them back into the soft soil. Last year we had the garden tilled because it hadn't been gardened for a long time and the sod had grown back. After the tilling, and breaking up clods of dirt and sod, I formed raised beds, which were really just mounded beds two to four inches high and two to three feet wide. Between the beds were paths. I dug the beds deep and put organic composted manure at the bottom of a trench, then refilled with soil. The advantages for this kind of gardening is that the slightly raised beds warm quicker in the spring, are easier to weed and since the beds are not walked on, the soil does not become compacted. It also conserves on water use because you only water where the rows are, not the entire garden. This year there is no need to till. In fact, there is little I need do to prepare the beds other than a light weeding, adding more organic matter, and fluffing up the soil. The rhubarb is coming up nicely and I will soon be making rhubarb sauce.

Lunch for us. Throwing out more seeds for the birds. Bob works to hook up the garden hose to the faucet bib under the cabin. Pulls the insulation out from around the water pipes, and tries to reach the the bib. There is a problem. New firewood has been stacked against the cabin wall – a small opening left to access the water connections. I do mean SMALL – in fact too small. Bob can just touch the faucet bib, but can't get close enough to screw on the hose. "Morningstar, are you claustrophobic?" What can I say? Sort of, but the alternative is to unstack the firewood. So I squeeze my upper body through a space that is 17-inches wide and 13-inches high. It tapers to a smaller space than that under the cabin. I have to get both arms out in front of me. I dig my feet in and push further, finally reaching the faucet bib, and screw on the hose. I turn the water on, and Bob has to pull me out by my feet. Once wasn't enough. We soon discover the hose wasn't screwed tight enough, water begins squirting everywhere under the cabin and I have to make a second attempt. Fortunately, this time it was successful. That deserves a nap.

Later... more nuts on the stump for Josie and Red. We see our first hummingbird of the season. Where did we put the hummingbird feeder? Bob splits firewood and fires up the woodstove. We have waffles tonight for dinner, made with a cast iron waffle iron insert. Delicious with maple syrup. We could work outside some more – it doesn't get dark until almost 10pm, but I think we will read instead.

... P. L. Morningstar