Blue Skies... Where Are You!

I woke up this morning and looked out the window and as I was looking the sun came up over the horizon and was shining on the bales of hay... It looked so inviting that I got right up and looked for my slippers... (which Narmin sneaks off with in the middle of the night so that he can stick his nose in them) and it is always a bit of a hunt to find them. So it took me a little while to get myself downstairs. But when I got down here the sun had disappeared. It is now cloudy and grey. Still there is a little blue on the western horizon so we might get sun again later.  And with it being 0 degrees at 8:30 a.m. it will probably be a smashingly balmy day.... gotta love that!

Everywhere you look now, signs of spring are coming. The mud is drying and the birds are twittering and even some wood peckers have arrived... I heard them this morning pounding out their mating call on some hollow tree nearby. It's enough to make a person want to buy a new pair of rubber boots and go exploring in the bush. (...and of course new rubber boots are an absolute must for that...) I am missing the early morning checks for lambs this year... that is the hardest part of getting rid of the sheep. I knew that all year long, even though I didn't miss them, that come spring I would have a hard time with lambing season. There is nothing so tickle-me-pink as seeing a new wee lamb being born and the momma nursing it for the first time. Then a few days later when they come bouncing out of the barn into the sunshine... well you just feel that life is good.  I miss the ducks too since they were always funny this time in the year. Our yard has a large natural basin in the contours of the land, each spring there are a few days when the ground underneath has not thawed but the snow on top has, and a natural pond forms that only last a little while... the ducks always loved that and they would be charmed with their new bathing place and would spend hours rousting around in the water splashing themselves and washing themselves. I really miss those wonderful times with the animals we no longer have.

This morning even the trees are starting to bud.  Very small buds that will take weeks for them to fully form are beginning to show themselves, but the trees begin to not look so bare and grey. With the wind of yesterday the deer seem to have decided to leave our bales alone in the efforts of finding the first shoots of green on all southern slopes. For now they have gone away... and I'm ok with that. Jiggs discovered yesterday a newly shed antler among the hay on the ground by the bales that the deer have knocked down. She seemed quite pleased with her find and gnawed on it for hours growling at the other dogs when they came to investigate her new treasure. For a day or two the buck that threatened Narmin last week, will be carrying a lop-sided head and I hope he enjoys his days of discomfort... because he was such a nasty bugger.

As the days get longer I begin to think of the garden... I am soon going to have to think about getting some planning done for that since we have to move more soil and spread the remains. That means thinking about my raised beds and trying to lay out a plan for that It also means that I need to start thinking about the hot beds and where I'm going to put them. A south facing wall would be best if I'm going to have successful tomatoes. I am hoping to use the old sheep feeding boxes for the hot beds... they are wooden boxes that are about tenor twelve feet long, about 18 inches wide and about 2 feet deep... perfect for my tomato plants and for growing beans and peas. Up against a south facing wall I can maybe get them in the ground about a week or two... maybe even three ahead of schedule.

Well since it is only March 10th maybe I'm starting to get a little ahead of myself. Hey... I just looked up and now even the blue skies on the western horizon have disappeared too.... poop! Maybe I'm hoping for a sunny day that just won't happen... but then you never know. I'm off to spin... yes I'm actually going to get back at it today... for real!

I hope you're having blue skies where ever you are.... see ya!