Ahh .... Spring maybe...?!!

The seasons just keep marching on... I look out my window by the computer here and I realize that spring is on the move. All day yesterday the snow was sliding off the roof in great thunderous slumps. Water was dripping constantly and when I went out last evening to go to the monthly JCR meeting I realized that there is very little snow left on the roof at all. The paddocks where the animals reside are now blossoming quagmires of sh-- and hay. It is the time to watch for foot rot. Our ground here is fairly porous and so foot rot is not generally an issue. Still, in the spring when the ground has not quite caught up with the sun and the snow is melting but the grounds is not accepting the extra moisture, there is always a chance that my animals will have issues with their hooves.

More of our pine trees are dieing. The pine beetle has had its way with another generation of Pine trees and so now when the sap would be flowing back into the tree and branches would be starting to put out their new buds instead the pine trees are dieing and turning red. It is sad to watch. I look out on the deck and see that I am going to have to start watering the cedar trees that I have in my planters. I won't pull out the old annuals yet because that is an open invitation for the cats to use it as a bathroom. We get stuck just driving into our driveway as the snow turns to slush each day before returning to ice in the evenings.

Yep Spring is in the air.....

In house there is a turn back to the big j.c. as I start spinning once again black alpaca fibre and black wool... I also have been playing on the Inkle loom and have had a terrible time getting that sucker warped.... but I think I finally have it finished. It was fun having some of my spinny friends come by on Tuesday and see what they have been working on. One was working on plied yarn for sox, another was working on an Inkle loom like me and the other was prepping fibre for spinning on a charkha.... all is good on the spinny front.

Meanwhile Duff the big pooch still continues in agony with eye issues.... I am off to the vet today with her in another effort to deal with the problem of swollen face and obvious infection. I will be driving my way down highways that are at last dry.... no snow.... how great is that! I can't wait till the quagmire of my paddocks and yard are clear and dry once again.

It's at this time of the year that I miss my ducks puttering around in the pools of water.
Ducks in our yard in 2005