Listening to Pooh

Listening

With the sudden switch to warm weather, the bird chatter on the farm is reaching a crazy level of intensity.  I feel a bit like a little girl, listening in on my parents talking in Dutch around the kitchen table.  I knew they were talking about Christmas presents, or vacations, because otherwise they wouldn’t switch to a language I didn’t know, but the cadence of their words made me wild with curiosity.  What are these birds chattering about? Mating, home building, establishing territory? All the important parts of life.  

Did you know that when you visit our farm, you are entering a realm of wild things?  We have a squirrel family that nests in the tree right where the strawberry wagon starts to roll through the grove.  When we walk towards the male, he chitters angrily at us and sometimes even throws leaves or bits of bark at us.  He’s such a ridiculous little figure that we start laughing at him, and he hides at the insult.  Next time you go through our grove, peek up and to the east. You might be able to see him leaping from tree to tree.  He’s following the wagon to make sure you all leave his domain.  

In preparation for your visit, Dan will (hopefully!) be removing the straw from the rows this week.  We need the soil temperature by the strawberry roots to reach 40 degrees before we can remove straw, and the weather forecast looks promising.  All the buds for the strawberry flowers were set last fall, and protected through the winter by the straw.  

These darling little girls see the kitties and bunnies, and quite possibly a squirrel is running around in crazy circles in the trees above them!

Speaking of crazy circles, my sons have been having a blast on our new sack swing.  Does it bring back memories of sack swings you played on as a child? 

Strawberry Shortcake Scones

“Some things are just certain – death, taxes, mail delivery 6 days a week. And Trevor’s excitement over anything with strawberries.

While away from my computer, and my Pinterest screen left up, I heard with a squeal,”Mommy! Mommy! WHAT ARE THOOOSE????” coming back to see him pointing at these scones.”

Read more or get the printable recipe here…

Please share this email with your friends and family who might be looking for fun ways to strengthen their ties to faith, farm and family.  
 

With deep appreciation,

Sarah Brouwer and family

P.S. Don’t forget that the strawberry season is ONLY THREE WEEKS long! You don’t want to miss this chance for a fun family memory!  

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