April in Maine

If you look for it, you can still see a snow mound tucked into a shady spot here and there . . . on Tax Day. Hmmm.

It's a dirty time of year, so much salt and sand from the winter road maintenance, now left about everywhere it doesn't belong. Trash and other (read: dog poop) once hidden under wintry accumulation, now exposed to the light of day. Spring cleaning commences! Both indoors and out.Organizing the studio, the stash, the art gallery . . . moving things out as much as possible, through all channels available.

This week at the Salty Ewe Farm . . .

New lamb! Mama Rita gave birth last week, and  on April 9th I got to visit with darling, curious, and daring little no-name-as-of-yet ewe lamb. Nothing like having ones fingers nibbled by such an innocent little sweetie.

The following morning (7AM-ish), other members of the flock were looking as if their turn at lambing was just around the corner. The sounds of birds chirping and sheep baaing was a pretty near-perfect soundtrack for my viewing pleasure.

It couldn't have been a more memorable spring visit to the Salty Ewe.

Spring brings with it many surprises and delights. But, never would I have imagined that I would enjoy such an unexpected sighting out through my office window; a chicken egg in an apple tree. Now, I know they don't grow on trees, and neither do chickens fly (or, leave the ground much more than a few feet). So, how did it get there. On closer inspection, I realized it was an empty shell, already cracked open some time ago. Aha! No chicken was involved in this careful placement of shell in tree. Apparently, a squirrel raided my compost pile and carried the prized possession far and high, leaving it where no one would have expected. Thank you, squirrel, for my spring surprise.

Spring Egg