Monday Musings

I am going to trade in my Carharts for a pressure suit pretty soon.  All these ups and downs.  Then there's the frost heaves.  Feels as though I've been on a mechanical bull marathon.  Wheehaw!

As is usually the case when the weather turns, it is lovely during the weekdays and then stinky on the weekends.  Between the high winds and pouring rain, most of the snow is gone.  The wind does help dry it off and I am happy enough with mud.  Even the mud that practically sucks your boots off! 

Exactly eight years ago today, I signed my life away and received the keys to the Little Lucky.  It is (and was) my first all-mine house and I was delirious with happiness when I fit the key in the lock, opened the front door and went inside.  It was a beautiful Spring day, warm and sunny, with soft breezes.  I walked down the road and there were hundreds of pollywogs in little ponds by the side of the road (now long gone, thanks to clear cutting and gravel truck traffic).  My parents met me after the closing with the only furniture I owned at the time - a double mattress & box springs and metal frame.  Donated by them, the sweeties.  I had a few sticks of furniture - two chairs and my Great Aunt Edie's (she of the knitting prowess and one-Scotch-one-cigarette-a-day fame) side table.  The inside and the outside of the Little Lucky has been a work in progress.  Come to think of it, so have I!

I have been reminiscing over the transformation of the LLF - from the arrivals and departures (my original 'flock' of Icelandics, Flora, Cocoa and Bart) to my short-lived but much adored Guinea Forest Hogs (Kate Miller and Ethel Merman), it's been fun remembering. 

I also managed to squeeze in some spring cleaning of the LLF-related type - I raked up all the dessicated corn cobs from the chicken yard, cleaned three quarters of the goat barn, shoveled the discarded sunflower casings from all of the deck that was not still encased in ice and snow, started to dismantle the hoops in the front beds, pruned the plum trees, wrapped the willow bush hybrids in netting to dissuade the deer from eating the new shoots, and went out and communed with my sheep.  As adorable as my goats are, I absolutely love my Icelandic sheep.  L.O.V.E. them.  I am working on Norman, but he is the jumpy sort.  Linden and Juno are like large, woolly Labradors.  And it's so nice to spend time scritching Linden behind the ears, instead of chasing him around with a paintbrush loaded with noxious chemicals.

Today is also Cookie's 14th birthday.  Scrappy turned 14 on March 10, and we celebrated all week.  Cookie is thrilled with lap time in the morning - time usually spent knitting.  This morning, the knitting went by the wayside and Cookie and I spent an enjoyable hour of lap-sitting time.  Then I slipped him a little cooked chicken and he purred so loudly, his nose ran.  Nut.

I can't believe how wonderful it felt to be outside - even in the wind and sleety rain!  I'm planning on getting my cold frame ready for spinach this week, and seeds will be started indoors.  A week from today, Lovey is due to arrive, so there's plenty to do to get ready.  Woot!