THE FIRST DAFFODILS OF SPRING 2026

April 16, 2026April 16, 2026 / joseph elon lillie / 6 Comments

It’s officially Spring. This week has been up in the 70’s and even into the 80’s and that has caused everything to begin popping up.

The daffodils along the side of my sister’s driveway in the front garden are up.

The day lilies and even a few irises have started poking their heads through in the front garden, too.

the day lilies and the garlic are both pushing through in the circle garden by my driveway.

All that said our spate of good weather is almost over. By Saturday we are plunging back into the 30’s and 40’s and there is even a possibility of snow overnight, on Sunday, as the temperatures will once again plunge beneath freezing.

SPRING IN NEW ENGLAND!

WHAT’S THE WEATHER LIKE WHERE YOU LIVE?

PROJECT BURN IT UP

April 9, 2026 / joseph elon lillie / Leave a comment

Last week I posted about trying to burn brush in the rain and how frustrating that was.

This week, the weather has turned and I have been able to burn two days this week so far.

The three piles I have to burn will probably take me most of the summer to burn, but at least I have gotten a start

Spring cleaning has begun!

BURNING THE RAIN

April 4, 2026 / joseph elon lillie / Leave a comment

This week’s project at the Vicarage is burning brush.

Photo by Tanha Tamanna Syed on Pexels.com

Unfortunately the weather has been so rainy all week, getting a fire going has been very difficult and the acrid smoke from last year’s weeds makes my clothes smell soooo bad.

Still it is the beginning of a whole host of other projects. So I will soldier on through the smoke!

PLANNING THE SPRING CLEANING

March 23, 2026 / joseph elon lillie / Leave a comment

LATE WINTER PROJECTS AT THE VICARAGE 2026

March 5, 2026March 5, 2026 / joseph elon lillie / 2 Comments

There is no doubt that the end of winter is near. The air has become increasingly unstable. Our temperatures are fluctuating between 3 degrees Fahrenheit and 50 degrees Fahrenheit. Our New England atmosphere is full of small snowstorms that finish as bothersome ice storms making the shoveling this time of year rather nasty.

We have had two days of shoveling this week and I am thinking that by tomorrow morning we will have another five to seven inches of snow to shovel from the drive.

This is the time of year when I am itching to get out into the garden and yet all I can manage is to stay somewhat even with the everyday chores: Walking the dogs, feeding the chickens, mucking the chicken runs and coops, feeding the wild birds and wild rabbits.

This is the time of year when winter stores are running out for the forest critters and so bird seed and scraps for the bunnies and squirrels become essential for life.

Even our Cooper’s hawk is seeming a bit more desperate these days.

Still we all know Spring is just around the corner and the outside jobs will soon want doing. I am looking forward to the earth thawing out and getting my hands into garden soil again.

WHAT ABOUT SPRING MAKES EXCITES YOU?

THE BLIZZARD OF 2026

February 23, 2026 / joseph elon lillie / 1 Comment

The snow came again this morning. It wasn’t the biggest storm of the year, but I think it dumped the most snow in the shortest amount of time.

PREPARING FOR SPRING

February 11, 2026 / joseph elon lillie / Leave a comment

It’s mid February. I am just getting ready to make cookies for the Library Valentine’s cookie sale. Winter is still releasing its fury over our part of the world, but we are all mindful that its power is coming to an end. Spring is around the corner.

So it’s time to start planning the Spring garden work.

I usually make great plans, but I am not very good about intentionally carrying them out. This year it will be all about the execution. Things are going to begin to shift here at The Vicarage as we come into the Spring.

ARE YOU IN PLANNING FOR THE SPRING AND SUMMER…OR…MAYBE WHERE YOU ARE YOUR PLANNING FOR THE FALL OR WINTER?

THE MAZE OF THE PINK TREES

November 4, 2025 / joseph elon lillie / 1 Comment

The last two months….Wow! is all I can say.

Autumn arrived!

There was a carnival.

And a huge Irish Festival.

Youth ministry has gone into full swing.

Fall Fest happened.

We had our Cornerstone fall DLT mixer, which we call the crockpot cook off, and we baptized three people that same weekend.

We had a men’s conference, a women’s conference and two Volunteer outreaches with the town.

We have also done a fall clean up day at the church.

Meanwhile we have been managing to keep the projects at The Vicarage going.

Brenda started a painting project on the third floor of The Vicarage.

Meanwhile James and the girls have been working in the forest garden cutting away brush to what the girls are calling the maze of pink trees.

The Forest Garden Sept. 2025

September 4, 2025 / joseph elon lillie / Leave a comment

As always happens at this time of year, I look back and think of all the projects I wanted to accomplish in the forest garden over the summer.

I usually look back with a regret. This year not so much. It’s not that I accomplished all those projects, but I did accomplish some and I did a lot of gardening in comparison to previous years.

I think a part of my satisfaction this year, comes from the fact that we have actually used a lot of the produce from the forest garden. We have been making iced tea from this mint all summer in place of Kool-Aid.