Anticipations of Spring

The snowbanks are slowly receding. Winter is on it's way out, but it still doesn't quite feel like Spring is just around the corner.

I've been very busy with buttoning up the season at the ski hill, keeping up with the boys and doing a few extra jobs for Mom and Dad. This weekend is the first one I've been able to just unwind. I slept and slept. Clancy worked on the house. There is now a door on the utility closet, and trim around the edge of the one counter top we have installed. It's nice.

Tomorrow, the boys will be in school, Clancy will be at work, and I will have to start in on spring cleaning. What a daunting job-but the good thing is that anything of a solid nature can go out to our storage shed. We are emptying the house out so we can move forward with the sheet rock mudding, painting and flooring.

The chicken flock is doing well, though we haven't let them out of the coop yet for spring foraging. They give us about 5 eggs a day. Not bad for 5 hens. The rooster's days are numbered. He's big and mean now. It looks like all four chicks might be roosters too. As soon as we can tell for sure they will be put in the freezer. I will love a no-rooster flock. I can just imagine the tranquility.

The dogs, which have been shedding faithfully all winter, have begun to shed in earnest. Once again, I'm quite sure I will have to give Greta a hair cut to deal with the way that her fur mats up the minute spring arrives. She never blows her coat in any manageable way. Sally sheds nicely down to half her bulk: very easy to deal with. This will be Meg's first official shed, so I can't say how it will go with her. I'm wishing I had groomed her more as a pup because she can't sit still for the comb. Forget the fur, she needs work on her obedience. She seems to think her tongue needs to be licking any hand that is touching her!

The sheep are in good shape. Unicorn and Bombarde have been leaping like gazelles since January. I was worried they were underfed but I don't think that can be possible with the displays of energy they like to put on. Bombarde is definitely rooing now. Hopefully I'll get out there this week to pluck him clean. None of the others seem to be experiencing the rise yet. Which is great because I didn't plan to call the shearer until it warmed up and dried up. I expect lambing to start around April 12. It's so close and I am not yet prepared. This week (later than usual) I will get the CD&T shots done and gear up. Hopefully I can also crutch Rachel and Anna at the same time. They are bagging up and will probably be the first to lamb. Anna appears to be carrying triplets, Rachel a single. Hopefully they will both just have twins. Rachel is 9? now, so a single may be all she gives me from now on. I asked her for a little grey ewe lamb this morning. She kissed my cheek and seemed to say, "Let me worry about it, honey. You go get me my treat." Yes, ma'am.

I had fun the other day. I bought an entire spring wardrobe from a consignment shop in town. I have not bought spring clothes for so many years...I believe the last pair of shorts I owned were from when my youngest was born. He's almost a teenager now. The cool thing is that I spent a total of $70 for 2 pairs of shorts, 3 pairs of awesome (THEY FIT!!!) pants, 6 tops, and 4 pairs of super cool shoes. I felt like I had staged a coup against the out-of-fashion karma that has dogged me for years. Yippeeeee!!!!!! Not that I'm trendy or anything. But at least I won't be wearing my same old pair of black dress pants to weddings this summer. Now somebody has to get married. Come on...I'm ready for once! :)

I supposed there are a million other things I could go into. But my main goal with this post was to overcome the inertia that had crept up on me and my blog. Hopefully, now that I've blogged, I'll be more likely to write again soon. Love to all of you that keep checking back to see if I'm still here. Have a beautiful Sunday.