Spring is definitely on the way these days. We're seeing bluebirds checking out nest sites and the robins are staking out their territories in our orchard and garden. Our first daffodil opened up Saturday and I noticed some exquisite blue flowers blooming beside our white house that I'm not familiar with. There are some differences between here and our former home in the southern Missouri Ozarks. Michael and I are going to have a lot of fun learning about all of it.

We've had a busy couple of weeks since I last checked in with you. Some folks who have been visiting Dancing Rabbit have been here for tours of the farm. Paul and Sydney came last Monday and Deborah was here on Saturday. We have hosted our own visitors the last week or so. Former intern Jennifer , along with Nexus and Gray(both former members of Twin Oaks Community)were here the 9th and 10th. Rachel and Jai, two college students from Ilinois, are here now and will leave on Thursday. Another former intern, Lisa, will arrive on Monday for a week's stay.

We've also had some social visitors. Our old friends Bill and Diane from Iowa and their daughter,Bea, ate lunch and spent the afternoon with us on the 8th. Alis and Anna came by one morning and our friends Dan and Nancy, from Blue Heron Orchards in Canton, had dinner with us on Saturday.

The pace of life is picking up with the change of seasons. The garden crew is busy with starting and transplanting seedlings. We also planted early lettuce and greens in one of our cold frames. Chad spent the weekend before this last one at Dan and Nancy's helping with pruning and improving his techniques. He's been pruning our trees at a fast and furious pace since his return. Gigi, Michael, Cedar and Chad had a hedgerow and garden cleaning session. Our visitors Rachel and Jai have been giving us a lot of help with landscaping and gardening tasks.

Susan, Michael and I are learning how to make tempeh, one of the food products we sell. Susan and I are also learning the ins and outs of our new staff jobs in the FIC office. We are at the beginning of our fair and show season. Stan, Michael and I were at the Agri Expo in Kirksville last Friday and Stan returned on Saturday, when he was also a featured speaker. Laird left for Madison, WI last Thursday morning. He will be doing workshops and presentations for some neighborhood associations there.

However, we've been having some fun, too. We had back-to-back birthdays this past week. Chad's was on Wednesday and Gigi's on Thursday. Sol and Susan baked some great cakes to go with the celebrations. Susan spent the past weekend visiting friends in Columbia. Gigi helped out at the Rutledge Fire Department fundraiser Saturday and really enjoyed seeing all the folks there. Six of us piled in the van Saturday night and went to see "I am Sam" at the movie house in Memphis. It was a good movie and raised some interesting issues.

I talked to Rebecca after her appointment for a mammogram at the Memphis hospital last Wednesday. She was highly impressed with the quality of the services and really appreciated the friendly, relaxed attitude of the staff person who administered the exam. She would like to urge area women to take advantage of what the hospital has to offer them. We are very lucky to have this resource in our midst.