I think it’s rained every day this month.  The sky has been a hopeful bright grey, all the time, but that’s how it stays…  When the sun breaks for a moment, it doesn’t threaten to warm up.  But that’s okay, right?  Buds are blooming, the place is greening up, and we are right on schedule for tons and tons of May flowers! 

I feel like the picture of what’s going on inside the kitchen isn’t complete unless I am also sharing what’s going on right outside the kitchen window (where this gorgeous hyacinth patch is outdoing itself, going from bud to bloom in the past two weeks)… 

And, of course, tis the season for wildlife to reproduce, both inside and outside of our house… Yes, we have squirrels in the attic, and this precious little baby somehow fell out of his nest and came to live in a cardboard box with one of my dishtowels for a few hours last week.  I loved him.  But I was not allowed to keep him.

The Wildlife Rehab experts in Rhode Island are terrific, and we were able to bring him to a local veterinary clinic right away, to be raised and released properly, back into the wild.  But isn’t he the CUTEST thing you’ve ever seen?  I know.

And in the not-so-cute department, this big old dinosaur has been spotted in the pond and the yard again… we think she was making the journey out of pond and across the street to lay her eggs last week… so baby snappers are coming soon.  And that’s cute.

The pond is filled with black painted turtles, too, and they are actually really cute… and they will be trekking across the lawn to lay eggs, soon, too… And baby turtles crossing the street means that it’s time to erect our Turtle Crossing signs; a very upsetting number of babies and mama turtles get run over every year, so we do our best to call the attention of passing cars to their plight.

This year, we have these AMAZING signs created by our amazing artist friend, Nancy, to display!! My wonderfully crafty husband has been coating them with polyurethane to protect them from weather, and we will be posting them soon. The turtles on the bottom look exactly like the real painted turtles that are the subject of the signs.  A million thanks from some adorable baby turtles and from all of us at Turtle Pond, Nancy – these signs are truly beautiful and a lifesaver!

Soon, the Canada geese will hatch their goslings, and we will be deep into Spring with Summer right around the corner.  So, there’s a lot going on.  Our Axel is officially a sophomore (!!) and Eva is finishing her junior year (!!).  Everybody is taking classes this summer, so that will add a new dimension into the usual routine.  We will have two high school graduations in early summer and the usual pack of birthdays, holidays, cookouts and gatherings (Mothers’ Day, Memorial Day, Fathers’ Day, 4th of July, etc.)… so we are going to need some creative menu planning up in here!  We are finally seeing spring and early summer veggies coming into season, our farm share will start up soon, and that will be real cause for celebration!  In the meantime, I’m going to lay two CORN recipes on you to get you jump started into the next season of big, easy flavors that go with any grilled dinner: Cilantro-Lime Corn Salad and Corn Spoonbread.  Hang in there:  April showers bring May flowers and a whole lot of good eats!