Sunny day before a (small) storm
Although it has definitely felt like spring is close at hand, we are months from it really taking hold. I was excited to hear that we are allegedly going to get a few inches of snow tonight. So I took the camera around to capture our snowless landscape.
Two inquisitive hounds in the front yard.
The chamoile in our herb circle has apparently re-seeded itself to the point where this year it will be a “chamomile circle”.
Some of the garlic and onion sets we planted in the fall are showing significant signs of life.
All’s quiet in the front field. Removing that ugly old fence is on my 2024 list. Our first year I tried to spiffy it up a bit by whitewashing the wooden posts, but the ugly metal fence posts and generally gnarly wire isn’t working for me. We aren’t planning on putting any animals up here in the near future, so we can just pull the fence and leave it open. Another thing we are planning is adding trees along the house side of the driveway on this stretch. This will help block not only the neighbor’s traffic on the driveway, but also the property across the street (which has some really strange “compound” vibes.)
Ready for some horseshoes.
We haven’t been able to have any fires for ages. By the time the summer burn ban was lifted it started getting rainy/windy, and all winter it hasn’t really been right for a “snow fire” either. Hopefully soon!
Bee hives are super quiet, waiting out winter. We will crack open the hives and drop a little extra sugar inside on the next warm day. We know they are both still alive, but pre-spring is a very common time to lose hives because they stay huddled up and cannot get to their own food sources.
Last few weeks of the “donkey shed” before it turns into the “goat house”.
Lovely shot of the donkey shed manure pile. We will tractor this pile down to the compost behind the hen house when the goats arrive and start the process all over!
Serena comes out with me every time I do chores, but usually Josie prefers to stay inside by Steve’s side. But every once in awhile (generally when Steve is not at home) she follows me around. Neither dog will go into the pasture with the donkeys, however, because the donkeys think the dogs are predators, they chase them relentlessly. So Josie prefers to just patiently wait outside the gate.
Donkeys keeping an eye on things in the background.
Extension cord allows us to keep the chicken waterers heated all winter. We don’t run any electric down in the summer.
Nice shot of the back field.
Montana creates “hedges” out of tree limbs and sticks. The donkeys pick at it now and then for fun, so it’s a little un-tidy from their winter boredom.
Oh dear, the compost pile is a bit of a mess. The last things dumped here are the hanging baskets and some leftover pumpkins. When we bring the donkey manure down here we will use the tractor to properly turn this pile over.
Sarge the Rooster is showing off his impressive wing feathers.
Chickens semi-patiently waiting for a fresh bag of scratch feed.
My life - Carrying buckets of water down to the chicken run every day. Some day I dream of having a water hydrant down there - that would be amazing.
Poor Bruce the Spruce! Those darn voles have messed around with his roots and he has now tipped over pretty significantly. We are waiting for the ground to thaw enough that we can dig him all the way out and transplant him to another spot on the property.
