Time to Color Eggs

Dinosaur themed
egg coloring kit

 It's really hard to find a plain box of Easter egg dyes. I remember the small PAAS boxes that contained little tablets, a metal dipper and maybe a few decals. There were no dinosaur-themed kits, no baseball-themed kits, no guitar hero themes, or Justin Bieber theme eggs. The THEME WAS EASTER - Easter bunnies, chicks and flowers.  No luck finding a simple box; I had to go with the dyno-mite eggosaurus edition.

Six sheets of cardboard cut-outs, another sheet of dinosaur stickers and a PLASTIC egg dipper accompanied the five small dye tablets.  The dogs played with the stickers, I got going with the eggs.

Gracie wearing a
dinosaur sticker

Maddie wanted one too.

I always forget how long to cook eggs to make them hard boiled. I'm going to write it down here so I'll always have it handy.

Hard Boiled Eggs

Place room temperature eggs in a large saucepan. 

Cover them with cool water by 1 inch. 

Slowly bring water to a boil over medium heat. 

When the water has reached a boil, cover and remove from heat. 

Let sit 12 minutes.
Transfer eggs to a colander. 

Place under cool running water to stop the cooking. 

Eggcellent!

Maddie
Easter 2011

Maddie
Easter 2010

 Maddie Jo was on her best behavior and didn't make a move towards the eggs. Some of you might remember the tale (or tail) of the missing Easter eggs from last year.  I colored 8 eggs and left them on the counter to dry while I went to water the garden. When I returned there was only 1 egg left and colored specks of shell clung to Maddie's muzzle.

Hunt with the Lions

                             It started last autumn when Pete agreed to take on the Annual Mercer Lions Club Easter Egg Hunt. The event has been going on at least twenty years and it is a great holiday activity for the children in the area.
A few months ago Pete was given bags and bags of plastic eggs to fill with candy, quarters and prize tickets. Thankfully, the dogs were there to help him.  All was going well; a few hundred eggs each day were filled.

Gracie stages her own hunt.

Then, when we were gone one morning, Gracie got into the eggs. Pete came home to find opened eggs strewn all over the house - it seems like she was trying to organize an egg hunt for herself.

Gracie takes out the Easter Bunny.
Easter 2010

She got rid of the Easter Bunny last year, so she took it upon herself to take on his role.











Eventually, all the eggs were back in order and the week before Easter arrived.  The dogs had another opportunity to help out when I started baking cookies for the event.

In the kitchen, waiting
for instructions.

Asher watched my
technique carefully.

Maddie Jo with a face
of flour.

The dogs had a fine time watching, but they wanted to be a little more involved in the taste testing.  Pete obliged them by letting them taste the frosting.

The finished product

On Saturday morning we loaded up the truck and headed over to the school, where the Hunt was being held.

The Bunny Truck

Pete in front of
Mercer Public School

Preparing the buckets
and baskets.

Preparing the bunnies
and cookies.

The Lions have this down to a science. Everyone helps to set up the refreshments - juice, hot chocolate and cookies, the billions of bunnies donated by the Minisans and hide the eggs.

Hiding eggs in
plain sight?

Now they're getting
trickier!

All this time I wondered why the Lions didn't have the Hunt out-of-doors. Last night's snow fall and the stories of kids hunting in snow suits in the early days answered my question.  Having the event inside was great and allowed us to segregate the age groups and assign each their own hunting grounds.

Here come the kids!

A bookish Easter Bunny

At 10:00 children and parents lined the school corridor waiting for the Easter Egg Hunt to begin. There were about a hundred kids ranging from just a few months to 10 in age. The older kids were polite and waited their turn while the little ones (ages 0-3) were escorted by an Easter Lion to the library - their hunting ground. The 4-7 year olds were allowed to search the corridors and the older kids had the wide open space of the lunchroom to claim as their territory  

More eggs than a
basket would hold.

Still looking for more.

The children found all the eggs within 10 minutes or so and then began admiring the loot and eating cookies.  Every child left with a stuffed bunny.

Counting the booty.

Choosing a bunny.

The end of a successful hunt.

Clean up went quickly with so many Lions to help.

Then is was time for the adult post Easter Hunt. The hunt for a sandwich and a good beverage.

Hunting grounds found!

Part of the Bunny Crew.

Thanks Mercer Lions Club!

Easter Snow Bunny?

I know I write a lot about how surprised I am by the snow up here, but come on - snow the day before Easter - when Easter is at the END of April?!?  

We were watching WEEDS Season 6 last night, courtesy of Netflix, when I decided to let the dogs out and opened the door to 3 inches of snow.

I see the culprit.

Who left those eggs?

We woke up in the morning and a wet, heavy snow covered the ground and weighed so heavily on the trees' branches that many had bent completely over. Asher and I went for a walk to assess the damage, but he was more interested in shore patrol.

The Easter Duck?

Eventually, we got to the driveway. I could have sworn it was dry and clear yesterday. Now, it looks like it did for most of the winter.

 Well, a walk in the snow, perhaps the last walk in the snow for the year, was nice, but we've got an Easter Egg Hunt to go to.  Sorry, no dogs allowed at this one.

Gracie - Easter 2010 in Las Vegas

Welcome Wood Ducks

Wood Ducks on Payment Lake

The ice has melted around the perimeter of Payment Lake and that has resulted in a lot of activity just off shore. Ducks, Canada Geese and otters are being carefully monitored by Asher.

Shoreline Patrol

Ducks Unlimited had a fundraiser and I bought a wood duck house.  Pete put it up and we are all waiting for the ducks to show some interest.

Wood Duck house

According to the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) over 10,000 wood duck nest boxes, I call them houses, are maintained by the Department and private citizens - so we're 1 in 10,000, but ours has a lot of curb appeal.

Wood ducks like boxes that are placed 8 to 12 feet above the ground near the water. They won't use a wobbly box, so it has to be firmly mounted to a tree or a pole. 

Ours is mounted about 10 feet up on a beautiful birch tree overlooking Payment Lake with a view of Deane Ferm's lake cabins.  You may be familiar with Ferm's writings including his books on Liberation Theology, Third World Liberation Theologies and Profiles in Liberation.

It's all about LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION!

Come on, we're having an Open House.

Dig In

Gracie and Asher

Last weekend I looked out and saw for the first time in five months there wasn't any snow covering my raised beds. It was time to start the garden.

You can see the soil

Where?

I made a quick trip to one of my favorite local nurseries with a gift certificate from Joe and Gwen in my hands.

Stoney Creek in Minocqua

A slim selection.

I stocked up on radishes, carrots and spinach.  Most guides say you can plant these seeds around April 15th, even in northern Wisconsin. I was a week early, but I decided to chance it.


Radishes will be ready well before carrots. I planted the two together, in the same rows. The radishes will come up first. I can thin them and see how straight my rows are without worrying about the carrots. The carrots will start appearing a quite a bit later, so the radishes won't interfere with them.

I picked varieties of radishes and carrots that grow well in the North. The carrots I planted include Royal Chantenay, Little Finger, Scarlet Nantes and Red Cored Chanteney. I planted Early Scarlet Globe, Sparkler, Cherry Belle and French Breakfast (Mr. French is not sure he approves) radish varieties.

Carrot and Radish Bed

I was a little worried about birds scratching up the seeds, so I tried to bird-proof the beds.

The Clothes Line
Criss - Cross

Finished with
miniature chimes

This functional, decorative feature may keep the birds out, but it doesn't really work if you want to keep out the dogs.

Where are the carrots?

The weekend was great and we were thankful that Spring had finally arrived.

Pete made syrup

Mr. French came out to help.

Asher enjoyed the mild wind
on his face.

Gracie is more of an
Earth dog and
enjoys mud on her
face.

Evidently, this was just a taste of spring - a teaser.  When we woke up this morning I looked out to see my beds covered with a thin layer of snow.

Raised Beds on April 16th

I thought you said it was Spring Time.

We have a spring in our step.

The radio is reporting a Winter Weather Watch. I'm watching now and snowflakes are falling.