April
Things to Notice: Peepers!
One evening last week, my oldest son came into the house, yelling for me to take out my earbuds and go outside. He knows me well, and was one hundred percent correct in thinking that I would be absolutely thrilled to hear the spring peepers for the first time of the year. Peepers are the teeniest tiniest little brown frogs that are quite widespread in North America. Their mating calls sound like a very loud, very piercing, almost electronic “Peeep peeeep”. We’re hearing a few this week, but by mid-April, the chorus of them calling is as loud as someone talking in the house, even with the windows closed. They live near ponds and marshy places, and are so tiny and well-camouflaged that often the only way to find one is to watch for a blade of moving grass, and look down it until you might be lucky enough to see one hanging on. (I’ve only ever seen one!) The volume of their sound is incredible for such tiny creatures, which makes me think of other seemingly tiny things in life that can have a huge impact - my attitude toward a particular task, those extra few moments spent chatting with someone, and dropping everything for a few minutes to be fully present and check in with your people.
Another sound I’ve been appreciating this week is the birdsong in the mornings! After so many months of leaving for work in dark and silence, it is so life-giving to be leaving the house as the sun is coming up and the birds are riotously singing their little hearts out. I’ve been hearing new calls almost every day, and I love it SO MUCH.
Things to Make
Coloured Easter Eggs: This weekend is Easter, and even if you don’t have any kids in the house, dyeing or colouring eggs is fun to do, and a nice way to welcome Spring. When my boys were small, before we had our own Easter Egger hens to give us pre-coloured eggs, the least messy, easiest, and most satisfying way that we coloured eggs was to boil a dozen white eggs, and colour on the shells using crayons while the eggs were still quite warm but not too hot. The colours stay bright and vibrant, and you can write names and draw fairly detailed patterns or pictures in several colours. You can just keep them in the fridge and eat them, or keep them out for a day or two and then compost them. If you’re looking to spend some time in a more involved process, there are a million and one tutorials on using natural dyes to colour your eggs.
Flourless Chocolate Cake: Speaking of eggs, we are almost overrun these days. We don’t usually think of eggs as having a season, but right now as daylight hours increase, egg production from the hens is high. It’s also birthday season at our house, and this flourless chocolate cake was requested by my youngest son for his cake. It uses up several eggs and is absolutely smooth and rich and delicious. It would be super cute as an Easter dessert with some candy eggs on top, too.
Someone’s day: Call or send a message to a relative or friend you haven’t seen in awhile, just to let them know that you’re thinking of them. Or drop off a little gift of food or something you’ve made, just because. It’s a small thing that can make someone’s day brighter, and who couldn’t use a little of that?
Things to Do
Open the windows: I’ve been known to sneakily open windows in mid winter just because the air felt stale, and to open all of the windows wide on the early sunny (yet still quite cold!) days of Spring. It just feels and smells (usually - sometimes the farm scents of freshly spread manure waft over, like yesterday) so good to get some clean, fresh air into the house. Bonus points are always earned for opening windows opposite each other and getting the holy grail of fresh air in the house - the cross breeze! (Adam makes fun of me for my love of a good cross breeze. So be it.)
Find some flowers: Whether you have your own garden or not, unless you’re further North than we are here, there is likely somewhere that you will be able to find some flowers in April. Snowdrops and crocuses are up early in the month; coltsfoot and some early dandelions will be coming up in a few weeks. If you’re local and looking for some flowers to enjoy in your house, Lisa of The Flower Bucket has some flowers grown in her hoop house available at Canadian Tire - this isn’t sponsored; I just love Lisa and her flowers.
Declutter: Okay, so this is something that I kind of do year-round… but I’ve been on a proper decluttering kick for the past few weeks; Spring just feels like the right time for it. The Minimal Mom (Dawn) on YouTube has lots of great practcial tips and advice for decluttering if it’s something you’re interested in. Honestly, if I needed another career, professional organizing and encouraging people would be so satisfying to me! It’s fun to have a motivating video on in the background as you empty a cupboard or drawer (or room!), and you might find something you find helpful on her channel.
I hope that you find many things to enjoy in April; it will come and go before we know it. Let’s make the most of it!