1 The grass is turning green and the budding weeping willows are bright chartreuse.

2 The weeping willows are fast-growers and needed a pruning to clear passing vehicles.

3 Chhiring and Phurba trimmed as much as possible from the ground.

4 A fruit-picking ladder was used to reach the higher branches.

5 The tips of the linden tree branches turn a reddish color as they are about to bud.

6 There is much spring growth in the shade garden near the Tenant House.

7 The daffodils planted two years ago are beginning to bloom.

8 These are muscari plants, which will send up deep purple flowers.

9 This long bed of bright blue scilla is a welcome sight.

10 Even the honey bees think so.

11 This is the long daffodil border.

12 Some early bloomers

13 Another section of the border

14 There are even thickets of daffodils blooming in the woodlands. These were planted about six years ago.

15 Bruce Corbett, who built the carriage roads at my farm, has been doing spring maintenance on all of the roadways. Here he is dumping a load of gravel.

16 This machine attachment is a type of surface planer, which smooths the surface and takes out any ruts.

17 A sub-surface layer of bedding material is spread on the roads.

18 A vibratory roller is driven over all of the surfaces to hard-pack them before the top layer of gravel is spread over.

19 The tropical greenhouse is vented during the day because it gets quite hot inside.

20 Chhiring and Phurba had the muscle job of moving the large cast iron fire pot. I keep it near my house during the winter for bonfires.

21 During warm weather, it's moved onto the great lawn.

22 They lifted it up and onto its stone base.

23 We build a fire in the pit to roast marshmallows during summer parties.

24 This is the entrance to my kitchen.

25 During a recent warm spell, I had the storm door glass removed.

26 And replaced with the screen

27 These door panels are held in place with screw locks.

28 My Chow Chow, GK, loves the cool breeze.

29 The same thing was done with the porch door.

30 The glass panels were carried away.

31 When not in use, the screens and glass panels are stored in the basement.

32 I had special boxes made for the panels. There is a box for each building and each panel slides into its own numbered slot.

33 Meanwhile, Wilmer has been busy marking out the vegetable garden.

34 Wilmer has been measuring and marking the beds and top-dressing them with rich compost.

35 The vegetable garden is next to the chicken yard.

36 Wilmer does a very nice job creating these beds.

37 Wilmer also put a layer of compost on the garlic bed.

38 The garlic was planted last autumn and is sprouting very nicely.

39 During the winter, Ryan grew many plants from seed, like this flat of tarragon, an aromatic herb.

40 Recently, Ryan and Wilmer transplanted all of the herbs into larger containers.

41 The herbs were gently removed from the growing flats, keeping as much of the root in tact as possible.

42 Each plant was placed in its own larger pot.

43 All of the transplanted herb plants were moved to the vegetable greenhouse where they will continue to grow before being hardened off for planting outdoors.

44 Lavender plants

45 Marjoram

46 Lemon balm and catnip

47 Oregano

48 Mint

1 Martha Stewart - Inspired by Danish Artist, Tage Anderson. The cage was made of branches from my Bedford farm and brass chicken wire. The egg was spray painted with very shiny "24 karat" gold paint. Current price: $2200.

2 Alice Tams - Alice Tams, an illustrator in London, draws animals in human clothes, using bold colors and clean lines. Current price: $500.

3 Joanne Holbrook - An Alphabet of New York features landmarks, famous characters, foods and sights familiar to children, who can engage with and discover new details at every turn and follow the alphabet around the egg from top to bottom – a mini-hunt in itself! Current price: $2000.

4 Marsha Meredith - New York drips with energy, optimism and possibilities. The city's distinctive skyline belongs to everyone. It's a magical sight, especially by night. Current price: $2000.

5 Paul Wirhun - "As a three-dimensional phenomenon, eggshells offer unique possibilities for sculpture. Each type of eggshell affords me unique opportunities for expression due to the variations of texture, color and size. I endeavor to combine these properties to create a new art, a synthesis of ancient design toward a new worldview." Current price: $1500.

6 Ruth Powys - "The peculiarity of most things we think of as fragile is how tough they are. Squeeze an egg in your palm and it’s as hard as granite; a butterfly can flutter its wings over a flower in China and cause a hurricane in the Caribbean. Hearts may break, but hearts are the toughest of muscles, able to pump constantly without pause, 72 times a minute." Current price: $1400.

7 Karen Gunderson - "The Moon...something always in our lives, and at certain times, as we watch its changing shape, it becomes egg-like in form, and then, depending upon the light, we see the face of the moon as well as imagine the dark side of the moon with craters that, when hit by light, resemble jeweled facets." Current price: $850.

8 Christophe de Menil - "Thawing Tundra - an area of permafrost where growth still occurs. The locust thorns recall growth and the copper double helix is the conduit for it. I accept what is near and work with nature in its manner of operation." Current price: $550.

9 Clifford Ross - "When I had the opportunity to design an egg for Elephant Family and Studio in a School, it was natural to think of - imagery from my best-known series - hurricane waves. Rather than simply transfer a photograph onto the egg, I wanted to accomplish something more interesting and unique - a wave egg." Current price: $650.

10 3D EYE - "Creative liberty is a precious human right, one that I hope continues to flourish in this divine metropolis." Current price: $1450.

11 Marc Quinn - My egg is covered in a network of lines which come from the fingerprints of two people, a man and a woman. The lines from the prints run seamlessly into each other to create a new form, a monument to love. Current price: $16000.00

12 Beatrice Coron - "Egg's cape can be worn by a giant egg or a person. It can be suspended as a sculpture. The Fabergé egg, belonging to a flying elephant, becomes a fantasy egg-scape. The cape depicts people and elephants living in harmony with nature. The cape emphasizes the womb of new possible worlds." Current price: $500.

13 The Prince's Drawing School - "Humpty Dumpty is always a favorite nursery rhyme character. We are delighted to send our Big Egg to the Big Apple!” - HRH The Prince of Wales and HRH The Duchess of Cornwall - Current price: $16000.

14 Beth Katleman - "If Marie Antoinette and Howdy Doody met and decided to make a giant egg, and they happened to have over 600 handmade porcelain flowers, pearls, bunnies, and cast flea-market treasures at their disposal, this is the egg they would create. I’ve always loved the fancy sugar Easter eggs with little bunnies inside." Current price: $3200.

15 Maria Canale - "My egg is an Art Deco Jewel. The black undulating bands interspersed with layers of diamond-like crystal and recessed reveals are a modern take on Art Deco, while the playful tassel, with 60 strands of silver chain tipped with large crystals, is a signature of the Maria Canale Collection, my namesake jewelry line." Current price: $7000.

16 Mark Jump - "The ‘Frying Lady’ is a playful interpretation of the famous Virgin Atlantic flying lady who features on the aircraft livery. The idea is inspired by the brand’s adventurous optimism and proud Britishness." Current price: $2055.

17 Brooklyn Design & Fabrication Inc - James O'Malley and his team - Given their background in cabinetmaking there is functionality in their egg. In the tradition of the Fabergé egg this notion of "the surprise" is invoked by building an environment that reflects its history, but one you'd never expect to find in this impossibly small space." Current price: $5100.

18 Jonathan Schloss - "One of the most famous eggs in history hangs in the background of Piero della Francesca’s altarpiece in Milan. I believe this egg-shaped object is a rare and beautiful, giant pearl. Filled with thousands of pearls, the copper egg is as rare as Piero’s pearl. Take a pearl for yourself - like the egg, a symbol of life." Current price: $1500.

19 Rachel Lee Hovnanian - "The Narcissus Egg - A mouse sits proudly on top of the egg on a bouquet of white narcissus flowers. Inside, white lab mice reside, nibbling away at a wedding cake. My work continues the examination of narcissism, memory, and technology, and its essential fallibility. Relationships are made and broken with the use of technology. Are we the new lab mice?" Current price: $3400.

20 Richard Mishaan - "My thoughts for the world is that we will find a glorious planet near Earth that will be enlightened, filled with positive energy, and meant for intelligence and good will. The colors that ombred and the rings are somehow like the song Age of Aquarius: When the moon is in the seventh house and Jupiter aligns with mars… It is the dawning of the age of Aquarius...” Current price: $2000.

1 This is what I woke up to yesterday morning.

2 With a good stretch of mild temperatures, all of the burlap coverings had been removed from shrubbery.

3 I never anticipated a snowfall like this in the middle of April.

4 A blanket of heavy snow covered everything!

5 Snow on boxwood pulls the branches apart.

6 The sun was on its way up, but the temperatures were below freezing.

7 The sentiments of everyone - enough is enough!

8 This boxwood was splayed by heavy, icy snow! This was April 16th - please!!!!!!!

9 Last November I would have told you how pretty this looked.

10 The sun was attempting to break over the cold horizon, hopefully to melt this unfortunate snow.

11 The sun inched over the horizon.

12 Breakthrough!

13 Hopefully, the boxwood will not have broken under the cruel weight of this icy snow. This is why we wrap all the shrubs so diligently and unwrap them after threat of snow has passed!

14 And to think that in just a few days this table will be set with the Easter repast? Burr!

15 The zigzag shape of this boxwood is pronounced covered in snow.

16 A few hours later, things looked much the same.

17 It remained too cold for the snow to melt quicly.

18 The grass was getting so green - where is it?

19 So many plants were coming up in the beds beneath the long pergola.

20 The large cast iron fire pit was placed in its summer location on the big lawn.

21 The big lawn stretches from the corn crib to the pin oak allee.

22 Looking back towards the house

23 Fortunately, most of the long daffodil border had not yet bloomed.

24 Hopefully, with the freezing temperatures, the buds will still unfurl and bloom.

25 The new Summer House garden

26 Looking towards the herbaceous peony bed and my house beyond

27 The miniature donkeys are not keen about snow.

28 On days like this, they'd rather be in the stable.

29 My home across the paddock

30 One of my big boys

31 The allee of linden - Any crocuses blooming here are certainly frozen.

32 A couple of survivors - a grape hyacinth and chionodoxa

33 The raised beds in the vegetable garden were being formed.

34 Once the sun was high enough, the snow melted from surfaces rapidly.