2026 Garden journal #03 Chickens, seed organization, tangents (March 31, 2026) Northern Wisconsin Zone 4a

 

Hello! Today I put out a garden journal video out over on YouTube. The girls decided to be my live studio audience for a bit, so that was fun.

It's a perfect video to have on while crafting. 😁 Thanks for much for spending time with me.

Surveying my domain

 It looks like I'm turning in to a Sunday writer. Nothing wrong with that, eh? The week was just so quiet. 

Work was quiet. Mother Nature was a bit manic with the temps and sunshine. 

Spring is here, no matter what Mother Natures does!

Okay ... So I basically covered this week in two lines. 

The weekend, however, that's where I got all my stuff done. 

I'm serious. The majority of the weather this week wasn't that great.  I think it was Wednesday that we had sun and a bit warmer. I spent a wee bit of time out in the greenhouse. 

Oh, and I think that was the day I started a batch of fermented radishes. (No photo, forgot to take one) If you haven't ever had fermented radishes you *need* to try them. I use the recipe from Homestead and Chill. 

And since the weather was basically subpar the rest of the week days, I crafted. 

I've been working on "Spring Social" by Brenda Gervais, I'm making steady process. 

I've also been working on my Armande Cardigan. 

Thursday night I started working on a cross stitch chart I've had in my collection for about a year. "Furbaby," by Sambrie Stitches. 

Friday I finished it. 

I was optimistic when I woke up on Saturday.  Unfortunately, it stayed chilly for the day, until it was about 3 p.m., maybe? 

So we ran to town in to the a.m. Since I was a passenger princess, I brought my sock and got some knitting in. 

After returning home I decided it was a great time to *finally* shred the head of cabbage sitting on my counter, and make some sauerkraut. 

Thanks to Sarah for keeping me company.

When the wind finally died down and the temperature rose I went out to the garden and puttered around a bit, tidying up the greenhouse a bit, cleaning out some stuff that needed to be thrown away, and just enjoying the nice weather.  I sat down for a bit and was pondering moving the fountain to a new spot this year. Where it's currently sitting I can't hear the water as well as I'd like. 

I swear ... as soon as there is the tiniest bit of nice weather, my mind starts kicking into overdrive with ideas and daydreams. 

I spotted this turtle that I've had for several years now.  He needs a fresh coat of paint on him. Do I do it, or do I ask my favorite son to do it for me? Maybe as a Mother's Day gift? 

Today I decided the "big project" for the day my cleaning up the back deck and setting up the table and chairs so I have a spot to sit and enjoy the warmish temperatures, until the mosquitoes come out and start being a menace. 

I swept and moved things around and washed the table and pulled up a chair and sat down and enjoyed the view. 

Granted, there isn't much to see just yet.  There's still a lot of snow on the ground. There areas that aren't covered in snow are covered in pine cones and branches from that last wind storm we had. 

*sigh* I've got a lot of work ahead of me if I want to whip the yard in to shape. I should say we, because I know my son is going to be all over cleaning up the pinecones as soon as possible. And who know what plans my husband has up his sleeve. I'd say we've all officially reached the point of being tired of being cooped up and we want to be outside and doing something. 

Yeah, my brain is definitely in a whole different mindset right now.

Unfortunately, the weather is not going to cooperate this next week, according to the weather app. Rain, cooler temps and clouds. Blah! I'm hoping that the app is wrong.  I'd like for nice weather this upcoming week, and it would be good to have nice weather for Easter. 

Okay, is there anything else? I'm not sure.  It's getting close to bedtime and my brain is tired. 

So, for now, have a good night.  Be kind. (To paraphrase a retired newscaster from my area) 

Spring is here!

 Yesterday was a gorgeous day. 

What, don't believe me? I have proof! 

 I haven't seen a temperature like this since last fall. 

Back on Monday, outside looked like this: 

What things look like this evening:

What a difference! 

I went out and spent some time in the greenhouse, up-blocking a few more seedlings. 

I got to wear my new rainboots! I ordered these earlier this month but haven't had a chance to break them in until now. 

Even Feffer enjoyed some time out in the garden and sun. 

My son brought Feffer out there and let him run around a bit.  Feffer enjoyed it.  Then stopped and started cleaning his *gasp* wet paws. Oh the horror! I can see his winter coat is starting to blow out. 

My husband took the tractor out for a spin and started doing some branch clean up from branches that broke off during the winter storms. 

He got a new toy for the tractor and it works wonders.

So, yeah, it was a great day and I see the light at the end of the tunnel that is winter. 

Then we come to today. ... Today was decidedly less than, if you know what I mean.  Woke up to grey skies, much cooler temps, and wind. Please refer back to the earlier photos I shared on this blog post. The sun did finally pop out for a bit, about 5 p.m. 

There is not much to say about today. Other than I puttered in the craft room for a bit, cleaning up, clearing away and finishing a project.   I did do some knitting. I knit a bit this morning, before doing housework and playing in the craft room.  I also knit late this afternoon and evening. The knitting bug has grabbed me recently. I'm eager to get this Armande cardigan done. 

Working on the cardigan makes me wonder if I had the same wonderments and questions about this pattern the first go around that I made it. Are some things supposed to be intuitive? I was cruising along on one bit before stopping and wondering "Was I supposed to do what I just did, or cut the yarn before continuing on? After staring at the pattern for 5 minutes I decided to break yarn and continue on. 

Temperatures are going to be lovely this upcoming week. Well, better than what they have been. 

This past week flew by. Which seems to be a running theme with me lately. I do have a few photos from the week and I will share them here. 

Monday evening I was intently working on the Armande cardi. The cardi looks so golden yellow in this photo that it reminds me of a yolk in a farm fresh egg. Ha! 

Fabric and floss for a new project.  I dyed the fabric myself.  Can you believe that when I was looking at this photo I completely blanked on what project it was? I think the fabric turned out fabulous. If I was a professional I'd probably know how to replicate this colorway. Alas, I'm measuring everything with my heart, and not being scientific at all. 

Tuesday I had a doctor appointment. 

I felt like such a country bumpkin, with the snow on my car and no one else had any. 

Lake Superior still has ice close in.  

Out in the open lake there is none. 

Friday morning a lone deer decided to stop by.  He, or she, was pretty skittish.  About 10 seconds after I took the photo the deer trotted back off in to the woods. 

The hens enjoyed being out on Friday. I brought out some food scraps for them and they were happy to get some treats. 

The lake by me still has ice, as of yesterday.

Flosstube #41 It's a quick one!

Thank you so much for sharing your day with me! If you like what you see, and want to see more,  please subscribe and click the notification bell. 

Email: AmniconStudio at gmail.com

Instagram: AmniconStudio 

Read my writing at www.AmniconStudio.blogspot.com

My free Patreon for project cards https://www.patreon.com/cw/AmniconStudio

Current Works in Progress (WIPs)

* Flea Market Flowers, by Lori Holt

   A CAL with my friends Alison @MrsAZsoo, and Mair @sincity_crossstitcher

New Future Starts

* Lucky by Primrose cottage

   Called for DMC

   Dyed fabric

* USA 250 by Wrought Iron Stitching

   Called for DMC

   Dyed fabric 

*Farmyard Friends by Lori Holt

   Called for DMC

   Dyed fabric

   A SAL with my friend Alsion @Mrs.AZfamilyzooStitchesAlison  starting April 1.

Knitting

*Vanilla sock update

*Armande Cardigan

Shoutouts to: 

Jackie - Cross My Stitches

Robin - Thrifty Artist Stitching

Eda and Amy - Born to Stitch

Narnia has returned ... prepping for the next storm

 Thursday, when I last wrote, I said something about "I wonder what I'll wake up to tomorrow morning."

Well, at least 10 inches of snow is what I woke up to yesterday on Friday morning. More in some areas, because of drifting. It snowed ALL morning and in to the afternoon. Eventually the wind died down. 

My hubby and son drove to work together. I received reports on road conditions along the way. The roads were crap, for the most part. 

Look who was peeking at me from the woods. 

Photos were taken shortly after first light, hence the blue hue to everything. 

I didn't take too many photos and video.  I got out and made sure the chickens were okay, and watered, did a quick look around, and hightailed it back in to the house. 

Not too much else to report for the morning. I did work for pay, and then went out about 11:30 a.m. to plow the driveway and make a path around the house, and clean off the back deck and front porch.

This is the front yard, about when I went out to start clearing up snow. 

I did as best I could. Which wasn't good enough.  The snow was packing and it was a bit of a mess.  I managed to forget how to start the snowblower. Doh! Then decided to call it until my hubby came home. I checked on the chickens again and when I opened the backdoor to go in the house, I almost ran smack in to my son.  

Turns out my boys came home early. 

I made a quick pot of coffee and my hubby got ready to head out and get the tractor going with the snowblower, and clean up what I couldn't plow and clear away.  My son cleaned off the deck, front porch and a few other spots. 

I think he was like a kid in a candy store. 

What would have taken me a couple hours with the snowblower and plow, it took my hubby significantly less time with the tractor and snowblower. 

And then ... a few hours after he ran the tractor and snowblower it stopped snowing and the sun came out.  No kidding. 

*And then* ... we heard/read about the storm that's supposed to come to the area, starting tonite about midnight. Fun, fun. ... 

This morning we made a run to town to pick up a few last minute items. 

The sky was so pretty. I took photos during the drive. 

After running errands we returned home and finished preparing for what could or could not be the worst storm to hit the area in a very long time.  A lot of the local weather people are erring on the side of caution and saying at least a foot of snow, but could be anywhere up to 36 inches. 

I watch Sage and Stone Homestead. In a recent video she was commenting on weather in her area and how she doesn't like to see really nice weather before a storm. I think she said it means the upcoming weather event is gathering more energy and will be that more worse. 

Lovely. 

You wanna know what today's weather looked like? Gorgeous. ... 

So that's where we are now. Waiting to see what will happen tomorrow.  As of 9:46 p.m., give for take a minute, this is what the radar looks like. 

Well, that's all I got for now.  I'll post an update as soon as I can.  

Preparing for a winter storm ... I guess

Yesterday or the day before our local forecasters started talking about an upcoming winter storm. Lovely. 

This coming after a fresh six inches of snow on the ground yesterday. I did a really half-a**ed job of plowing the driveway and clearing some snow so I could walk here and there in the yard. I have officially reached the point of being *so sick* of the snow. 

Then the sun same out and maybe could have taken care of what I moved around. 

With a sky like this, it's hard to believe a storm was moving in.  Later this afternoon the sun went away and the sky greyed up.

The wind picked up a bit ago and there's some sort of precipitation falling from the sky. Anyone want to leave guesses as to what I wake up to tomorrow? 

I thought I'd write an update post tonite.  I think there's a barometric shift, or something, because I've been tired all day. 

That's all the news from Moose County for now. 

The first day after spring forward

 Last night I thought there was no way I was going to fall asleep when it was technically an hour earlier than when I usually go to bed.  It didn't take long to fall asleep. I can't tell you how many times I woke up, though. Ugh. 

Right when I was finally back in a decent sleep routine and waking up feeling good, Spring forward happens. 

To my credit I wasn't very cranky this morning when I got up for the day. 

Oh, something I saw when I first got up ... 

It may have been changed to rain by now. My husband said the forecast calls for 6 days in a row of rain. Hopefully not all day rains. 

Silly me thought it would be a good idea to get some knitting in before I started my work day. 

I watched the newest video my friend Patty put out while I knit a bit on my Armande. 

Knitting made me a bit sleepy. I wound up resting my eyes for 5 minutes before going on with the rest of the day. 

Work was work. Nothing remarkable there. 

This evening I pulled out a cross stitch chart that I've had kitted up for quite a while and put the floss on floss drops.  

A while back I purchased one of those floss winders from R and R woodworks. It makes the process so much quicker. 

And then I worked on my Flea Market Flowers for a bit. No photo, because I don't want to scoop my most recently recorded flosstube. 

I was on Youtube just a bit ago, to check if I had anything that needed attention, and I noticed something funny when I was looking at my channel. 

Look at the thumbnails. Without trying I managed to replicate the thumbnail I've created for my flosstube videos. Ha! 

Anywho, that's all I got for now. This evening I started thinking about what needs to be done this week.  Something that I've been dreading to do, but can't really be put off any longer.  Gah. If there's any decent breaks on the weather, I have a few garden things to tend to. 

Not sure when I'll write next this week.  I think I may try to rattle off a few things on the back end, so if it goes longer I won't be struggling to remember quite as much as I did this past week. 

This week flew by

 Wow this week went by quick. 

Monday was my last day of vacation. Instead of being an irresponsible, lazy slacker, and crafting away the day, I was responsible and did responsible adult things. I.e. I cleaned the house and caught up on laundry. 

Tuesday was my first day back to work and I started my day with 190 emails. 190 emails. I haven't come back to that many emails in a very long time. The work day went *zooooom* and was a bit of a blur. 

I managed to squeak in a bit of cross stitch that evening.

The rest of the week has moved so swiftly. 

Wednesday morning this was my view of the front yard before it was fully light out.  I was so surprised to see a deer laying down in the front yard.  Especially so close to the road.  It's funny how comfortable they feel around the house during this time of year. 

Wednesday I ran to the office and took care of a few things. 

This was my windshield in the a.m. 

The weather completely flipped by the time I got home. The girls were enjoying the food scraps I tossed out. 

To be honest, I don't remember Thursday. 

Some of my seedlings are doing quite nicely. 

Friday was a grey and dreary day. I was ready for the weekend. 

I started a new cross stitch project. 

Can you tell what it is? 

Isn't that wee little roo needleminder adorable? 

Using one of my new floss beds.  Seriously, how did I cross stitch without these? 

Saturday we did our usual errand running. 

One of the stores we went to was Sam's Club.

I wound up stocking up on yeast and vanilla extract, among a few other things. 

When we returned home my husband finished the project he started earlier in the day.  He was working on a tractor a bit, giving it a bit of a glow up. Can you say you are giving a glow up to your tractor? 

I also released my newest flosstube. 

Sunday was Spring Forward day (yuck) and was cool but sunny. I spent some time in the a.m. cloud watching. I can't remember the last time I sat and stared up at the sky. 

My hubby gave me a refresher course on how to run and drive the tractor. We have a delivery coming up next week for something that is bulky. Depending on the delivery driver and what he decides he can or will or won't do, I may need to use the tractor to pick up and move said delivery. 

Pretty nice glamour shot if I do say so myself. 

The girls weren't too thrilled with all the ice in the yard. Slim pickings out there.  I saw them pecking at what they thought was grass.  I think it was a branch with pine needles on it. 

I also spent some time up-blocking some of my seedlings that sprouted.  

I made a video. I haven't looked at anything yet, so the quality of the video is unknown. I brought a tripod out there with me, so the angle *should* be better.  If I decide the video is worthy of loading I don't know when I'll put it on Youtube.  I'm at a weird spot with videos right now. I've got my next flosstube recorded and almost ready to go. And now I have another garden video almost in editing process. I've never been ahead before. Which is causing me some wonderments about how to weave together my blog writing and the videos.  I may end up scooping my videos a bit with what I write on the blog. Does that matter? 

Anywho, that was my week. 😃