Why so close? Supposedly they hate each other. (Please disregard the mess in the background.)

We moved the suet feeder closer to the window for close-up views of some of the more interesting suet-eating birds. Please help ID this one, Ann and Jim.

I finally got around to making an artisan bread recipe featured a while back in Mother Earth News:
http://www.motherearthnews.com/Real-Food/Artisan-Bread-In-Five-Minutes-A-Day.aspx

You mix up a big batch of dough, let it rise, then store in the fridge- no kneading required! Pull out a hunk of dough when you’re ready to bake, shape and let stand before baking at 450F with a pan of boiling water in the oven to produce steam. This bread has become the JOY of our existence around here. Just look at the crust on this thing!

It took some effort, but we are officially unstuck from the blizzard of 2009!

There are many reasons to have dogs on an acreage, but my favorite is the contant reminder or inspiration that time for play is essential. Not that Jake is playing in this photo, but his paced droppings of sticks and balls near my dismanteled mower deck were the motivation I needed to grab the camera and join him in the field.

Yep, the mower deck broke. Kind of bad timing because the grass is out of control already. I swear grass did not grow this well last year. Someone has been fertilizing without my knowledge. It isn’t terribly broken, but it does need some replacement parts. That will take time, and the grass will keep growing. As will all the pretty dandelions. They really are kind of attractive.

To see more attractive views of growing things and projects, check out the new galleries I added on the right. New ones for 2009 season.

We gots lots of mulch. We were buying mulch by the truck load for about $8.50/yard from Cedar Rapids compost facility. It’s nice stuff. Wood chips. Very dense. Then we decided we would need much more mulch much faster so we bought two truck-loads from Belle Plaine (Pierce Lumber Inc). They were super kind enough to arrange delivery. It’s basswood – a bit stringy, but smells great! We haven’t found anything online that says basswood is bad for grapes, so we hope it will be okay. Jake seems to like it.