MARCH MADNESS

Hello dear friends!  Aren't we having a glorious spring?   With forsythias and daffodils in bloom and buds on the birch and willow trees, everything is bathed in a golden glow.   Yesterday while taking Georgie on his morning walk in the back fourty,  I spotted this little scene.  Something about the yellow wheelbarrow leaning against the compost bin and the hedge of forsythias just made my heart leap.  It just speaks of the  hope of an abundant garden, doesn't it?

Speaking about leaping hearts!  On Sunday I came around the corner and spotted a fox skipping down the street.  He was a jolly  fellow  and very handsome!  He climbed atop a ridge to give me a better view of his magnificent  self and I sat for a good quarter of an hour watching him  while he sat warily keeping an eye on me.  Finally he became bored and sauntered off over the ridge.  Hope I meet him again!

I also had good fortune in spotting something else this week.  Yesterday, I had to make the eighty mile (one way!) trip to do some banking.  Every time I have to make a trip to the big city with it's crazy traffic, I'm always so grateful for my little home tucked away in the middle of nowhere.  Anyway, I'm digressing here.  To make the trip worthwhile, I stopped at my favorite thrift store.  This little place is always a treasure trove and today was no exception.  Sitting on a shelf, just waiting for me, was this whale oil lamp.

Of course it didn't look like this when I found it.  Someone had filled the font with nasty moldy looking seashells and had inserted a tipsy electric socket on the top.  I brought it home removed the electrical parts, shook out the shells and now have a lovely antique that just says "New England".  So is it  collector's luck or a good eye that I manage to accumulate such lovely things for so little money?  Probably a bit of both. Oh!  Guess how much it cost. Four dollars!

All this yellow is making me hungry for something lemony.  I think I'll make some lemon squares.  That should be nice and refreshing for a snack when I come in from turning one of the garden plots.  Here's the recipe:

Lemon Squares

Crust:
1 C. flour
1/4 C. confectioners' sugar
1/2 C. butter

Melt the butter.  Stir in the remaining ingredients.  Put into a greased 8 inch pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

Lemon filling:

2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 C. sugar
1 tbsp. flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
3 tbsp. lemon juice

Beat the ingredients together.  Pour over the baked crust.  Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.  Cool and sprinkle with confectioners' sugar.  Cut into squares.

PS:  I forgot to add that we had our first meal of asparagus from our own plot and we mowed the lawn today.  Two things I can never remember doing in March.  We are really enjoying our early spring!