It's spring! But not really.

It's hard to believe we'll be getting 1-3 inches of snow tomorrow.  This relatively mild March weather has got us onto garden prep and all sorts of things outdoors.  Hopefully the tiny arugula and radish sprouts in the greenhouse won't die...

If they do, my consolation prize will be my new favourite wine:

I know this isn't a food or wine blog, but sometimes I just feel compelled to share our good finds with anyone who cares to read.

Yesterday I went to my TRC shift, and we finished much earlier than usual.  So I was very glad to rush home to G and the farm. G was away in Denver again this week, but was able to stay home on Friday.  We really are grateful for any extra time together.

 I wish he had three day weekends every week.  

I groomed Oakley while he stood calmly, blissed out, soft eyed, with love.  It was just what I needed. Then of course when G and I did our typical Friday night pasture walk and the boys came with us, Oakley found the barest spots to roll in, and covered himself in mud again.

Since G has been recovering from his cold he's started helping me with some of my work:

Herb garden expansion

That black soil is the product of 3 years of work! 

The trellis panels are my recent Craigslist find.  Exotic hardwood scraps from Indonesia--not sure how ethical their forestry is for the furniture industry (likely not very) but these were going to be sold for wood chips, just like many pallets are.  Such a shame....I've started staining them with boiled linseed oil. It will take many days to finish them, but it's worth it.  I'd thought of using regular pallets for this project, but they are really heavy, and not beautiful like these.
 Photos when I'm finished!

Chillin' with a hoppy beverage after a long day.  The goal with the trellises is to hide the ugly electrical box, air conditioner and satellite dish. G suggests that I try growing some hardy kiwi on them as well.

Not in focus, but still a precious photo for me.  Fern, and Granny Rose. 

This is the sort of stuff I'm pulling out of Granny Rose.
 Almost 100 mL, once a week is what we've been taking out, for her comfort.

Spring means that hormones are raging in all of the animals, and it's become most apparent in the ducks.  There was a huge fight the other day, and what came out of it was a very lame Daisy duck. Not something I like to see at night lock up, when I'm on my own, sick, and just trying to get through the day's work.  The next morning I caught her and was surprised to see that she'd torn one of her claws off.  This has happened before to the back claw of some ducks if it get's too long, but Daisy's weren't.  I was glad to see that it wasn't a hock injury, as muscovies are apparently prone to them. I applied liquid bandage and gave her some pain medication.  But she's still in quite a lot of pain and limping after several days. Her mom 'Tank Duck' has been staying with her while the others go out ranging.  Hopefully she will feel better soon. I might continue to medicate her for pain if she wasn't in the middle of a moult.  But the risk to her blood feathers is too great, and I already damaged one when I caught her the first time. Maybe she's not the most stoic of ducks. It's still not nice to see her like this.  And now she's afraid of me.

*****

The maple sap has been running, and we've made our first small batch of syrup.  The trees are blooming with the most beautiful little red and yellow flowers. It would be an important pollen crop for early flying bees, but it's too cold for bees to be flying! Snow....it is still March, after all.