Well its nine in the morning here and I have already pulled Deb’s leg with an enormous immensely complicated fake order!

I sent the order to her by email from one of the kid’s miscellaneous accounts asking for very vast quantities of strange things to be sent overnight- Then I went into see her reaction to the order. She was so cheerful about getting us geared up to fulfill an order which would have taken Hercules seven days!

So then, I called her and pretended to be the woman who had placed this order, determined to make it more complicated until she realized it was a joke, BUT she remained unflappable in the face of everything I could throw at her!

The joke was definitely on me!

Finally, I confessed and we all got a good laugh and she has returned to the usual bustle of normal orders- which with all the bad press that products like Frontline are getting has certainly included some epic sized orders of late.

Meanwhile, I am going outside for a bit to move a mountain of my own, a pruning pile from the grape arbor- and maybe think up my next joke!

And before I forget, the Animal Wellness brochures are here. We have them in two versions, one with our ordering information and one without. Call or email if you’d like some and let us know which version you want. Early feedback is good. Mishka supervised my unloading of the boxes and indicated that they met her exacting standards.

So Emily, dearest birthday girl. You may think Ben has gone to Sicily to see you for a fun visit, but that would be a lie. He has gone to get a photo of you so I can post it here.

You see, I have worked for weeks to steal photos from your Facebook account to post a splashy blog on your time in Sicily. Jess, Will, even Ben all gave me tips about transferring your photos to this spot, but when push came to shove, I ended up with misshapen photos. Many of them.

To you, it probably seems we have all forgotten about you. This would not be true. It’s just that I continue to reach my technology melting point just about every day. So please know that every day we think of you and send love and TODAY we send special Birthday Love!

Why, Reina even posed for you with a birthday card.

And while we have this photo of you up on the wall reminding us of your arrival 21 years ago on Easter morning,

all three dogs were willing to gather round for a rousing rendition of Happy Birthday, provided I gave them treats every few minutes.

In truth, the only one of us who refused to join in the North American version of your birthday fiesta was your cat, Mishka.

To put it mildly, she remains miffed at your many month disappearance from her life and when attacked by the Green Hope paparazzi last night to give a comment on your 21st, she dodged the cameras and said, “Let me out of here, away from that pesky white dog!”

I can only say, I am relieved she had a better attitude when it came to the Animal Wellness Brochure photo shoot. And speaking of which, I am just about to haul your younger brother out of his warm bed to go pick up our first truck load of Animal Wellness brochures. Aren’t you glad you’re in Taormina today?

LOVE AND BIRTHDAY CONGRATS DEAR EMILY!

In the now on this small farm, Spring has come swiftly, weeks maybe even a month sooner than most years. I have no idea if we will ever again have a March like this one. My mind can’t quite let go of some primal need to sort and sift and consider if there is a climate change pattern at work here, but the rest of me is quite content to just enjoy the wonderful feeling of being out and about in the gardens in a t-shirt when usually I am still garbed in winter gear.

I do feel badly for friends who depend on the maple sugaring season as a major part of their farm revenues. The maple sugaring season has been a serious bust, as we have had few of the freezing nights necessary and the days have been so warm that the trees are all but budded out. This budding is unfortunate because it brings on late season strange urine colored sap that doesn’t make for good syrup. With my own small sugaring operation, last year I got fifteen gallons of syrup from thirty one maple taps, while this year I doubt I will get over seven gallons from forty taps.

I must say, I happily trade a short sugaring season for the glory of this weather and all the Flowers that have come along so swiftly because of its sudden and steady warmth.


Winter Aconite, as cheerful and bright as a midsummer Buttercup, but perhaps more defiant of convention as it blooms in the snow not the midsummer heat.

Witch Hazel with its explosion of color. What a potent gem.

Here a Hellebore begins its slow luxurious unfurling.

Our old friend Crocus. How happily our surviving honeybees head for its offering of pollen.

The bold Iris reticulata opened today. I would leave the patch to do some garden chore then moments later I would return to find more blossoms opened as if by fast action photography.

And who could forget noble friend, the Snowdrop. Is there any other early spring Flower that brings more pleasure, arriving as it does when winter holds sway?

The Winter Aconite is new in the gardens and this week has just become a Flower Essence for the first time. I need to spend time transcribing its purpose in its own words, but I feel it supports self forgiveness and a swift passage through to new territory when we have faced an old and inharmonious behavioral pattern. owned our role in its perptuation, and desire to begin anew.

I was grateful for Winter Aconite’s arrival this week as I was wrestling with my tendency to micromanage one aspect of my childrens’ lives that was clearly none of my business. I felt the Winter Aconite calling to me in the garden and I was glad because I was quite kicking myself as I saw this pattern more clearly than ever. I wanted to let go and move on without the retroactive remorse that can sometimes gum up the works for me, and Winter Aconite promised that this was a piece of its wisdom, helping us to move on when we see the error of our ways without letting us get stuck in, “how could I have behaved this way” sort of remorse. Like its bright yellow Flowers unfurling from frozen earth, it takes us forward swiftly and cheerfully to new terrain.

Ben is trying to get me to practice my linking skills on the blog, so here I go with this remark: all of these Flower Essences are available and all but Winter Aconite and Crocus are described for you on our Additional Flower Essence list. (And I will get Jess or Ben to upload a revised link with the definition for Winter Aconite and Crocus soon).

The talk of our neighborhood is a visit from this gorgeous bobcat recently. The bobcat sat out on our neighbor’s pond for about twenty minutes enjoying a day of thawing temperatures. It is heartening to know this creature lives amongst us, though I would not be so happy if I was a local woodchuck. Apparently woodchucks are bobcats’ favorite snack.