It’s been a strange couple of weeks. One week: a funeral. The next week: surgery. This week: my birthday. I haven’t quite processed everything that’s been happening. But the phrase “April is the cruelest month” keeps coming to mind. Of course it’s not all despair around here. There are robins nesting on our porch. I’m sewing a birthday dress for myself. The weather has been beautiful. We have four pints of ice cream in the freezer.

Yesterday, we planted our early crops in the hoophouse:

The Greens: Swiss Chard, Spinach, Kale, Lettuce mix, Red Romaine, Arugula

The Beans: Amish Snap Pea, Climbing French

The Roots: Carrots, Beets

The Random: Okra

And this gentleman never fails to make me smile.

Here he is, posing…

…getting alpha on his friend Zoe…

…welcoming me home after a few days out of town…

…being dramatic…

…and having a nap with his buddy in the big bed.

John and I have fun adventures planned for tomorrow’s birthday, starting with cake for breakfast at a fancy coffee shop! I might get a massage, maybe a haircut too. Then, a fancy dinner…and more cake.