Nelson County Rocks

 

I think our chickens enjoy my sister Eleanor’s visits as much as we do.  Incredible TLC from NYC, including twice-daily poop removal service–our Chicken Hilton really lives up to its name when Eleanor is here!  It’s been really fun watching them together on this recent visit.  We mostly stayed close to home, but did take some local walks, including a visit to the Appalachian Trail suspension bridge over the Tye River.

 

 

 

 

With our flowering weeping cherry, crab apple, forsythia and dogwood, the advent of spring probably offers the most spectacular display of color of the year on our property.

view from our rooftop

 

We had a lovely Easter with Nic and Alison.  Then, with a buffet full of cards expressing the quite extraordinary love and caring of friends and family, we headed up to Johns Hopkins University Hospital for follow-up appointments with Monika’s surgeon and oncologist.  A friend convinced us to break up the trip with a romantic interlude, and we did that at the Mimslyn Inn in Luray, a quite elegant old-style hotel which provided a nice break and raised our spirits.

 

The news at Johns Hopkins was encouraging.  We spent one night with Tim and Megan, who had a pretty full house with Megan’s sister Sharon, her husband Ben, and their two delightful children, Evie and Nora.

 

We stayed with John and family on the way back (but failed to take pictures.)

 

Above: Our view to the north; Coop, kennel and house

 

Full moon setting over snowy mountains

The March snows and cold weather are hopefully gone now.  Spring is in the air, and in the last two days our early-march plantings in the vegetable garden have finally started to sprout: snap peas, cilantro, swiss chard, collards, lettuce, and turnips are all belatedly coming up.