Yes, we have chickens and we should probably get more of them even though we have a lot of eggs - eggs to spare in fact. Yesterday we gave ten to Alison who came with a car full of treats. Packages for Mita and Gigi contained chocolate, coffee and a bottle of fine wine! They have been recipients of the generosity of the Church of the Resurrection, the Anglican Church in Bucharest. Mita lives next door and Gigi a bit farther away. When she still had her cow, she would bring us milk each week and from it I made chefir and Eugeniu loved drinking the fresh milk after I had pasteurized it by bringing it to a proper temperature. Lately we have been fortunate to have her here to clean the house. Now, it is not possible. We are all over the age that one is allowed out of one's house except between 11 am and 1 pm when we could go to a nearby place to shop for groceries or go to a pharmacy for needed medicine.
This morning I have been thrilled with what is happening in our garden in this warm spring weather. Work is calling and it is warm enough to be out and do what needs to be done. A week ago our neighbor's sons came to help. They cleaned out a lot of weeds and overgrowth that was begging for attention. They planted spinach and zucchini and transplanted some daisies. I have the hoses in place for watering since the rain is not exactly on the time schedule that the seeds are needing! I hope that the deep watering of the asparagus is not too late. Other weeds need to be pulled before they are almost impossible to remove safely without endangering the lovely flowers near them.
There are treats before my eyes as I look out the window - The unfolding delights of spring for this Texas girl amaze me still. The daffodils faded as the tulips emerged and the hyacinths were strong, sturdy and beautiful amidst them all. Now the grape hyacinths remain in full glory. They have been undisturbed which reminds me not to mess with them. Plentifully bordering the sidewalk beside the house, they provide a steady source of blooms to cheer the interior of the house even when the day turns too dark to see them lining the path beside the house. The antique roses on the fence now have room to grow beneath the pear tree full of white blossoms that will become tiny pears. Perhaps one of the very varieties that this village was named after. The tulip tree has pale pink blossoms beside the bright yellow of the forsythia glistening over a growing ground cover of tiny violets mixed between iris and tulips waiting to bloom. A peony sprouts purple there, too. The Easter lily will likely bloom in June while across the sidewalk the vinca spreads new green along with purple blossoms beneath the walnut tree. The front fence once bare, now, despite all my pruning, is burdened with too much honeysuckle shading where I had hoped to provide some zinnias full sun. On that fence between the house and the fig tree there is new growth on the wisteria vine much pruned back. I hope it can take over the honeysuckle or at least share the fence to provide a mixture of the white and purple blossoms. We also have two wild sweet cherry trees and two planted from the nursery. All are in full bloom as are the apple trees and my young almond tree.
The apricot blossoms may have been frozen in a recent few days of very cold weather with its mixture of rain and snow and overnight just at or below freeing. The hazelnut tree though is fine as is the plum tree nearby. Two more apricot trees died this year and I fear that the two remaining ones are doomed.
The parsley and sage grow through all the mild weather of this year's winter and the lavender survived as well. The hydrangeas are showing bits of green, too. Oregano and chives seem not to need much attention and neither does the leustan which is the Romanian version of celery (for the taste it gives, which is amazing). I have seeds for other herbs including those from last years basil which may be commandeered for seasoning as we do not really need more seed of basil to plant.
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