Surprise pussy willow

Posted on April 6, 2016 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

Growing up, an elderly lady lived next door. She couldn’t take care of her gardens very well, so things ran a bit wild. At the very back of her yard at the end of one of the overgrown flowerbeds was a huge pussy willow bush.

I loved that bush and its unique fuzzy flowers. And I’ve always wanted a pussy willow of my own.

This year I think I might have one.

What looks like a pussy willow is growing in the creek alongside the driveway.

Pussy willow

The flowers–can I call these fuzzy things flowers?–are perhaps a bit sparser than the pussy willow of my memories, but other than that they look the same.

Anyone know if I can transplant this from the creek? I’d like to put it in one of the flowerbeds that are closer to the house.

April 2

Posted on April 4, 2016 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

April 2 has become my barometer of how spring is going to go.

The first year we moved to the farm, the forsythia was blooming on April 2. It hasn’t been that early since.

Each year I take a photo of the forsythia on April 2 and try to evaluate how long until we see blooms.

Given the mild winter we had this year, I’m thinking the forsythia might be close, but so far there’s no sign of the yellow blossoms.

You might recall that the past two years haven’t been great for our forsythia. The yellow blossoms have been few and far between. I gave the bushes a pretty vicious pruning last spring in the hopes that it might encourage some new growth.

We have what I think might be a few buds. And you can see where I hacked off the woody stalks.

Forsythia buds

Things were looking a little green around the farm, but then we got a dusting of snow Saturday morning.

Forsythia early spring 2016

It had mostly melted by afternoon, but then we got several inches of snow Saturday evening and more snow rolled in yesterday afternoon, so we’re back to winter now.

Forsythia bushes covered in snow

Looking at the pictures from April 2 going back to 2012, the snow rather than the forsythia tells the story of what kind of winters we’ve had.

Collage of forsythia through the years

Just a week ago, the forsythia was coated in ice, thanks to the ice storm.

Ice covered forsythia blossoms

So far, this spring has been very up and down. I’m not making any predictions of when the forsythia will actually bloom.

What’s spring been like where you are? What signs of spring are you watching for?

Country style guest room before and after

Posted on April 1, 2016 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

The day is finally here. You’ve seen sneak peaks already, but today you see the whole thing–the brand new guest room.

Let’s start with the before. Going way back into the archives, here’s what the room looked like on day 1 when the farm became ours. A herd of dust bunnies all over the floor and dirty valances on the windows.

Guest room before

Look closer at the windows and you’ll see the extent of the decorating in this space–sparkly butterfly stickers. Unfortunately, no more my style than the curtains.

Stickers on the window in the guest room

We cleaned up the dust bunnies, removed the valances, kept the stickers and called this our master bedroom for our first three years. When we moved our master bedroom across the hall, this became a guest bedroom. But it wasn’t the most welcoming space.

Guestroom before