Blackberry Winter and Apple Trees

~ Come, sit a spell ~

In the second chapter of the Song of Solomon, verses 11 & 12 it says, “For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle dove is heard in our land.” The voice of the turtle dove hasn’t been heard but the peppers, birds, Canada geese and squirrels are announcing to the world, “Spring has COME!” At least it’s here today. Earlier this week, it was cold, damp, lashing rain, harsh wind, low temps and the flannel nightgown felt mighty, mighty fine! Blackberry Winter is the inverse of Indian Summer when, in April or May (at least in Virginia) the blackberry bushes are in bloom and preparing for summer harvest. Sometimes temperatures can plummet to freezing and, certainly, just above. It’s easy for me to handle the cold, far easier than the heat, and doing chores isn’t a hardship. Come summer, when it’s hotter than the hinges of hell, I’ll do chores early and late in the day and work inside during the heat of the day.

It’s been a wet, chilly spring and if you read this, you know social distancing isn’t such a big deal with country folk. My off the farm times generally mean: post office, feed store, library and church. When I’m feeling really wild and crazy, I’ll go to a thrift store; only the thrift store and church are, currently, off my list and by the time our beloved governor opens churches again, I’ll be out of the habit. Which, come to think of it, might be part of the overall plan. One never knows. A neighbor recently left a note in my mailbox and ended it with name and phone number, “If you need anything, call”. I hear city folks have it a lot rougher and a woman in France told me, “We’re allowed to go outside one hour each day.” WHAT?!! I cannot imagine being compliant, much less being told, I could go outside any hours, much less one!! She ended by saying, “The government knows best and we comply.” DOUBLE WHAT?!!! Seriously? No. Nope. Not happening.

Again, if you read the aforementioned post, the pine cabinet still resides in the barn but I think of moving it every day. One of these days I’ll gather the strength (at least, God and I will gather the strength) and move the thing to the basement.

~ my 91+ year old Daddy ~

Recently, Daddy and I planted three apples trees and the next day I planted two more so now my little orchard has eight apple trees, including a Yellow Delicious. I’m not a fan of Yellow Delicious as they’re too mealy for my taste but I need a pollinator and it was a handy buy and, as someone pointed out, good for apple sauce. Mom gave me some Yellow Delicious and I made apple sauce and it was good but for eating out of hand. UGH. The others include Gala, Granny Smith, Father Abraham, King David and two more I can’t remember the names of but have written down. Somewhere. Hopefully, I’ll find those names before the trees bear fruit; I have a year or three.

I do have videos of us planting the trees and as soon as I get help I’ll put on YouTube. Thistle Cove Farm has a YT channel but it’s beyond me how to combine all the video’s under the TCF heading AND how to take videos from Android phone to YT. Until then, if you click here, you’ll be taken to a YT page with TCF videos, just not under the TCF heading.  If you do a YouTube search for Thistle Cove Farm, you’ll find only one video.(And now, dear folks, you understand the reason WHY everything tech is so dang difficult for me; I am NO tech!)  Gina has tried to explain how to do this but she might as well be talking to the wall; I simply do not understand.

One of the former Blackberry Winter posts has some of my family history; If you’d like to read more, click here.

Housekeeping notes:

I’ve mentioned how no tech I am but have been trying (and as Dave told me one time, “You certainly are!” LOL!) to learn a bit more, to move myself forward a bit more and so:

*I’m learning (haha) how to scan so I can add to the My Story posts of how Dave and I met and moved to the Appy Mtns of southwest Virginia where we established Thistle Cove Farm on a homestead in a valley where his kith and kin settled in the 1700’s. I think you’ll thoroughly enjoy those early photos, especially of Agatha and Esmeralda, The Fabulous Goatini Twins and their antics. After all, it’s a lot easier to laugh when the goats are tap dancing on someone else’s vehicle!

*I’ve changed the method to receive updates on blog posts; if you’ve not been receiving notification, you might want to sign up again and apologies for the mix up.

*If you’re thinking of moving, either to a new house or you want to homestead, you’ll especially enjoy the post on what’s important and how to keep track of all the properties. Location, location, location is important but equally important is water. We can manufacture a lot of what we need but we cannot make water.

If you’ve been patient with me, thank you greatly! As I age (thank God!) everything…farm, work, blog, etc. … becomes more difficult and takes more time to accomplish less. Add to that, the season of loss is constant, especially on a farm and having to put down HayJ, earlier this year, sent me into a downward spiral. I know we’re terminal from the first breath but, sometimes, knowing isn’t enough to stopping the depression. Some of you know what I mean.

What would you like the next blog post topic to be? Buying property/homesteading/farming, money, home/kitchen/recipes, or add your own topic. I’m working on adding to My Story  with, hopefully, scanned photos, but am open to your needs or wants as well.

Take care, be well and warm regards from me to you.