Spring has sprung in Munfordville. Everything is green again and the village just had it's 1st Saturday in May annual yard sale. The farmers market is now open again on Tuesday and Friday mornings.

I plug along in the garden. Look at the red azaleas in the rose arbor.

I am now cleaning out the weeds in the yellow iris bed.

We talked on the telephone to Glynis when she and Ken were in Calgary and she sent us this email about the drive to date, "We are stopped in Dawson Creek, BC for the night. It is mile zero for the Alaskan Highway, and we start on that in the morning. So far in Alberta and BC, there's not been a whole hell of a lot of any interest on the road yet. Kinda been like hundreds of miles of Kansas (ugh). At least we started to see trees and hills today. Will update more later. We are looking at about 4 more days on the road right now."

Sunday my good little helper was able to come in the morning and we worked for 2 hours in the garden and I was able to get a lot done. She then worked for 2 hours in the house and she was a great help to me. The white iris are coming into their own.

That afternoon we were invited over to George and Barbara's for a Cheese Fondue dinner. George makes the best cheese fondue perfectly just like the Swiss do. It was wonderful. I had not had a Cheese Fondue meal since 1988 or 1989. He served a lovely Cava with it. Delicious, delicious!!!

Our niece, Linda Colburn, sends us this news. "Here are Emma’s Stats:

Emma Grace Barry born April 20, 2008 at 1212pm

7 lbs 2 oz / 18 inches

She is a really good baby but she suffered a bit of Jaundice at 3 days old and had to be on at special light belt, she looked like a little glow worm for the first week of her life. She has lost some weight, she is down to 6 lbs 7 oz but the docs say she is eating well and should start putting weight on soon. I have a hard time putting her down when I am with her but try not to spoil her too much.

We will be Christening her on May 17^{th at the Lutheran church that I attend. Ginger did a great job on the gown that was made from my wedding dress.}

I have a hard time putting her down when I am with her but try not to spoil her too much.

Jessica just had her first ultrasound and got to hear the baby’s heartbeat this morning. She is still due around December 10th so she is 8 wks along right now. I fly out to SC on May 7th to help her and Christian drive back to the west coast. They need to check into Camp Pendleton in San Diego by May 26th. I am looking forward to the drive and spending some quality time with both of them. By the time I get back my father will be here. He is coming for Emma’s christening. It will be nice to have him here for a few days. He has never been here. Michael’s parents will also be here for the big event.

Well need to get back to work so I will close for now. Hello to Uncle George and Aunt Barbara.  Linda"

GreenThumbArticles. Com has again announced that Arlene Wright Correll of Munfordville has won their April writing contest for the most articles written on organic gardening and she also won their second contest for writing the most original organic gardening articles. This is the third month in a row that Arlene has won both their contests. GreenThumbArticles’ Mission is to create a community information database for organic gardening enthusiasts, professionals and educators to share their knowledge and educate others about the benefits and how-tos of organic gardening. GreenThumbArticles hopes to help others turn their "lawns into gardens". As a result, many will create their own food supply and self-sufficiency! Their Contribution: For every 10 approved articles, $1 will be donated to the LACMG scholarship fund to assist in teaching low income individuals how to grow food organically for personal consumption and environmental sustainability. GreenThumbArticles announced May 1, 2008 that Ms. Wright-Correll continues to be one of their featured writers and in April she wrote a total of 25 organic gardening articles with 25 of them being original content on subjects never before published on GreenThumbArticles.com.

"Arlene's Strawberries©" is a 5" x 7" watercolor painting with an India ink background. It is strawberry time now and I was inspired to try and capture a few of them on paper.

I finally finished "Chicken Feed" after 6 weeks of working on it. Mostly off than off doing it between my other paintings and taking it with me to my weekly painting lessons.

Rosie and Sam Hays shares with us the latest news in their "simple life"...Waldhof News April 28,08

..".you would think we would have a website by now or something nicer than my way of writing. Actually, Sam and I took a course to set up our own website. We just are too busy to do anything with it right now. Indeed, I have been pretty grumpy because there is simply too much to do and I have the calluses to prove it. Mostly ladies in my age bracket have flabby arms, huh, I have got muscles. Sam, who has the patience of several saints, tells me to take courage, we will get it all done soon.

We spent way too much time late winter and up to last week clearing a couple of acres of brush by hand. The piles we have accumulated amount to about the size of a house. We did break down and hired a dozer to clear the "pasture" above the pond and though it went fast, it also upsets the soil so much.I am apprehensive and do not feel good about it. It took Sam three solid days with our little farm tractor to seed it, spread organic ferilizer, then try out different methods to settle the seeds into the ground. Let me tell you, proper tools are half the work.

Lately I have been working to get terrace garden number two done. Those who know our place are aware that it consists of steep little hills. You have to take care that it does not erode. Up from the house were a couple of badly eroded places, One has been turned into a small terrace garden and the second one is half done. We utilized an abundant resource to lay up retaining walls,namely used tires packed with dirt and stacked. Then the area is covered with layered brush and then with a thick layer of woodchips. I need to spread about 8 more pickup loads of chips. We are planning to put strawbales on top of that to grow watermelons . It worked great last year in terrace number one.

I got a good start on my herb gardening. Sam tilled me a place that is in full sun up from the studio. Part is done. I have one bed in chamomille, one in St. Johnswort, one bed of lemon balm, of course volunteer alchemilla, which likes it there. Most of my herbs would not like it in a such a pseudo- mediterranian setting. I will plant lavender, rosemary and thyme there; the sage I planted last year is thriving. If I were doing it right I would have planted a hedge of boxwood around it, but what am I going to do with so much boxwood besides trimming it, and it is expensive. No, I have planted a hedge of 30 some rugosa roses, famous for rosehips and vitamin C.

Stinging nettles, the real MaCoy, not what is called stinging nettle here but the real Urticara dioica is well established out of harms way, thriving so far.We have made several "messes of greens" of it. I try to give the plants a place they feel comfortable with. In one area I am trying to establish ramps (northern exposure, dampest place on the farm); hope they grow. The Sweet Woodruff is growing like it was at home here and I am thrilled every time I look at it. It smells wonderful and is the stuff used for flavoring maywine. I also love it in sachets for linen closets and as an addition in evening teas. Of course kitchen herbs like chives, parsley and lovage go in the regular garden. Peppermint , which I planted temporarily in a place I figured it would like, is overdoing it. We use a lot of it and I really need to establish a good growing area, just do not know where. I know I won't get drying racks done in time, but I am wondering how left over drywall would work for drying herbs on. The first cutting of nettles I put in a barrel to ferment as a tonic for the garden plants. Lanceola plantain needs to be cut and dried now, also raspberry and blackberry leaves. I got some plantain oil started to make a salve. I really do not care all that much for thyme. For coughs I like tussilago farfara much better. But that I have not managed to establish. I have seen that it grows in abundance on stripmined areas and have my hopes up I may aquire some seed.

On Sam's end, he has got three of our little cows to the point they stand still for petting. They were wild things when we got them. Binki was bred to a registered Great Pyr and has the cutest pups. We were planning on keeping two males to help guard our animals. SHE HAD SIX GIRLS. Sam has goose eggs in the incubator. Please do not ask what for. Maybe I will manage to pluck them once they are old enough and make a few down pillows. I am ready to trade in our Momma Goat. She is the bully of the barnyard, thinks she is a pet and I am afraid to lodge the puppies in the goat shed, where they belong as future guard dogs, because Momma Goat would do them serious harm. Bruce, the cantankerous Barred Rock rooster acts nonchalant and goes someplace else.

Fridolin, our lone surviving Guinea fowl (rooster of course!) wakes us up every morning sounding like he is trying to start a two cycle engine. Well, the great ourdoors is beckoning and I have to repair my Birki clogs and get out to the green house, plant carrots, haul a load of chips ( you can not do that all day at my age but have to spread it out). It means we have several projects started, do something hard for a while, then go doing something easy. I would like to move Sam's adolescent chicks into a section of the woodshed, which of course needs to be set up for chickens first. and so it goes....you all have a good day, Frohes Schaffen  Rosie and Sam  The simple life is not simple"

We know Rosie, we are swamped with stuff here, but nothing like you have going for yourselves.