Almost spring

Although it is only 4 days to the first day of spring, our yard looks like the middle of winter. If only it were at least above freezing, those 30-40 mph winds would do some good in getting rid of all that dirty snow. Just too depressing to include any photos of the flowers that have not emerged today.

The frame of the green house withstood all the winter storms, and the door that was installed is intact.. but... still waiting for DH to put the panels on the roof and side walls. This is the 3rd year since the project was begun. After all these years living with this kind man, I would think I would get used to his procrastination.  Maybe, just Maybe.. we can move the potting bench into the green house this spring. It is stored in the garage and I heard talk about needing the garage for the '65 ElCamino. Yup, they will have completed the restoration of that pickup this spring... and it CAN NOT sit out in the weather when it is completed (so they say).

Our goose and gander have done an excellent job of protecting the chickens. Racoons have moved into our farmstead by the dozen. When we are late shutting the chicken coop door, those 2 geese are sitting on the step filling the door opening. Nothing can get past them.

We've had to trap the racoons to get remove them from the outbuildings. Now we have bald eagles visiting every day to see if we have provided dinner.  Wish our guys would serve the dinner a bit further from the chicken pen.  At least 150 yards out from the chickens, please.  I'm afraid the bald eagles will think chicken would be pretty tasty.

Mma Potokawne's bribery fruit cake

Recipe time

The cold weather has been almost unbearable this winter in our area. Not just wind chill but actual temperatures 25-30 below zero. Then have a brisk (read hard) wind blowing at the same time, it caused us to want to crawl under the blankets and .... read. 

My choice of a book was NO. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith. It was set in a small country in South Africa. Just reading about the hot dusty dessert helped to make me feel a bit warmer.  The book is like a potato chip, you can't read just 1. There is a series of 14 .. and thanks to Paper Back Swap on the internet, I will soon have them all. Waiting for the last one to arrive in a couple days.

One of the characters bakes a fruit cake that she uses to bribe workers to fix things at the orphanage. I became curious about that cake. Finally I used duckduckgo.com to find a recipe for it. Aha!! There it was.  The first cake was so good I baked a second one before going to bed. It is NOT like the fruit cakes you receive near Christmas.  More of what we would call a coffee cake but different. It really goes better with tea. And- Red Bush Tea is the choice in the book. I checked the Frontier Herb catalog and they have it!! In many varieties. I am ordering the plain red bush tea in the morning. 

Hope you enjoy the cake as much as we do... and don't skimp. When it calls for butter, use butter!! Not margarine. Calories are the same in butter and margarine, but there is a BIG difference in texture and taste.

Mma Potokawne's Fruit cake