We had a nice heat wave after my last post, but the weather keeps flipping from winter to spring. We got a couple of inches on snow on the 18th, and below freezing weather for several days, which turned my apricot tree blossoms into crispy critters.
We actually got a bit more snow the morning of March 28th - just a dusting though. This weekend it was 85* out on Saturday, and I put all the screens back in the windows. By Sunday, it only got in the 50's, and we had to start a fire in the woodstove!
Luckily the Hellebores (Lenten Roses) are hardy - they have been blooming since late February.
The crocuses, daffodils, and hyacinths have been blooming as well, and the weeping cherries will open any day now. We have had enough nice days, that I have done some outside work, such as deadheading and weeding in the flowerbeds; pruning the blueberries, butterfly bushes and clematis, and raking gravel out of the grass.
The wild violets have taken over in my largest flower bed. At first, I tried to weed them out, but it was hopeless, so I decided to let them be.
This year, I thought I'd try something useful with them, and I made some violet jelly. First I had to steep the flowers in boiling water for 4 hours, which turned it a bright blue. Right before adding the sure jell and sugar, I added lemon juice, which turned it a bright purple. After it was gelled, it was a bright pink color. The recipe stated that the jelly has a "grapey and floral" taste. All I noted was sweet with a bit of lemon. Oh well. I have still been enjoying it on toast!
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