When Optimism Feels Like Work...

It was definitely our prettiest snow of spring--and had it happened in winter, it would have been the prettiest winter snow.

For 12 hours, the wind seemed to stop and allow the snow to fall in big, loose flakes. It clung to gates, fences, tree branches.

And, the spring bird song made the event surreal. How can there be so much bird song in the calm after a snowfall?

The best part about it? It was April 2, when the sun is higher in the sky, and the ground is not frozen, and the temperatures would rise above freezing. So, by afternoon, it would be gone.

I try to enjoy it's loveliness, but instead, I find myself scanning blogs from early April in years past. Was the grass green? How green was it? Surely, the daffodils will bloom, the dandelions will come to life, and spring will be here to stay.

When Ma Nature Gives You Snow...

Lambs are to be born into sunshine and the promise of green grass, not freezing winds and snow.

But this has not been a normal winter.

With lambing season days away and a weather forecast calling for high winds and below freezing temperatures, I find myself in the barn, figuring out how to find space for 10 pregnant ewes.

The sheep and horses spend most of their time in the pastures or under lean-tos that provide protection from rain and west winds. They seem happier having space to move around--and I am not spending hours mucking manure from stalls.

In normal springs, I don't worry about ewes delivering lambs outside. Only once have I had a lamb chill in the spring winds--and a hair dryer dried it and warmed it.

Freezing winds will chill a lamb quickly. So, I've tucked the ewes in groups of three and four in horse stalls for a few days, just in case lambs don't want to wait for sunshine.

A Yard Solution?

Some people have their ah-ha moments while in the shower. Mine happen when cleaning horse stalls or mowing.

The longer I'm doing one of those tasks, the better, or more outrageous those ideas become.

Our house is surrounded by pastures and fields of hay, soybeans and corn. Because we don't like stepping outside and into a corn field, it has a large yard.

Over the years, we've planted trees, which provide windbreaks and shade. They also lengthen the mowing time.

Last fall, while mowing and battling pine needles and cobwebs, I had one of those ah-ha moments.

What if we turn the sheep into that section of the yard?

The electric fencing netting arrived this week.

Time will tell if it is a brilliant idea or a big fail.

Earthworms on Christmas Eve

I'm singing Christmas carols to remind myself that it's Christmas Eve.

Ma Nature is telling me otherwise.

It's been a warm winter, so far, with several 60-degree days. We have yet to turn on the furnace. Fires in the wood-burning stove keep the house plenty warm.

We still have lots of wood in the shed--and lots of hay in the barn. The horses and sheep are still relying on pasture for most of their calories. It takes little effort for them to find green grass.

This morning, thanks to yesterday's thunderstorms, I saw hundreds of earthworms while walking the dogs.

But I miss the cold weather that encourages me to spend evenings reading by the fire.

And I miss the frozen ground that keeps the horses and dogs mud-free.

And I miss wearing Christmas sweaters.

But I'll keep singing Christmas carols and dreaming of a White January.

Merry Christmas!

If only the rabbits were like Louie...

My grass-growing project is going amazing well.

This morning, I brought the grass container inside so that Louie the Cat could graze.

After Louie ate Lily earlier this summer (click here for blog), I grew a plot of rye and wheat for Louie's dining pleasure.

It sits on the back porch, next to the containers of basil and spinach. Once it grows several inches tall, I bring it indoors and present it to Louie.

Over the course of a few days, he grazes it down to a few inches tall.

Then I take it outdoors where it grows again. We've repeated this process three times in the last month.

If only the rabbits could graze like him.

This morning, I went to water the lettuce I planted a few weeks ago. When I reached the spot between the asparagus and parsnips, I stopped.

Where was the lettuce?

I oriented myself -- a necessity when the sunflowers and tomato plants are taller than me.

Yep, I was where the lettuce was supposed to be. Kneeling down, I examined the ground and found little green stems even with the dirt.

I will have to plant again... or learn to love wheat and rye.

Louie Ate Lily. I am now growing grass.

The lilies are blooming.

But I'll just be enjoying them in the flowerbeds.

Last week, in a moment of domesticity, I cut several and brought them indoors.

Louie, the indoor cat, ate them.

Lilies are toxic to cats.

While he threw up lots of lily leaves, I had no way of knowing if he regurgitated all of them.

So off to the vet we go.

He is fine.

I am now growing grass.

The indoor/outdoor dogs and cats leave the lilies alone. They have a smorgasbord of green (and other unmentionables), so they have no need to eat lilies.

Louie doesn't have an opportunity to eat greens.

So, I researched what is in the "cat grass" that is sold in pet catalogs and found it was a combo of rye, oats and wheat.

So, I pulled out an old litter pan, filled it with potting soil, and planted some landscape mix (50% rye grass) and threw in some oats from the chicken's scratch grain. The wheat will have to wait a few weeks... as it's ripening in the field.

Louie's little plot of grass is germinating on the back porch. In a few weeks, I'll bring it indoors. And, I'm hoping he'll find it more palatable than lilies.