Spring, Spring, Spring -

I love, love, love season changes. I get simply miserable living in a place where there isn’t 4 seasons. That transition period is just so exciting and everything feels new. I am especially excited about Spring in Vermont. I’s like the earth woke up after a long sleep and threw a big raving party. Spring is by far my favorite season. Everything goes from quiet and still and dreary to bright and cheery and 55 degrees feels like a heat wave and you just want to spin around in the hills singing like Maria in the Sound of Music. In fact, Spring is like a musical all in itself. It positively SINGS! But, pretty much all the states I’ve lived in, spring comes in a blink and a week later it’s gone. Of course, there will be moments where the weather backtracks, but for now it is glorious and we are all sneaking moments of soaking in the sun and I am enjoying every moment ahead of green grass growing and blossoms on trees and flowers popping up.

Tyler has become obsessed with the melting of the snow. At first he was out everyday checking out the roof to see how much the snow melted. Assessing the progress inch by inch. I’ll be eyeing the green grass popping up and he’s staring at the roof. Then when the roof finished melting, it was all about the snow on the ground. Everyday he wonders why there’s snow still on the ground if it’s 60 degrees out. But you can’t blame him his impatience. After all, he grew up in Florida.

But a good majority of the snow is melted and with it little sprouts are popping up. And I can’t tell you how excited I am to see what appears. Almost every plant in my 16 acres is a mystery to me right now. I bought some flower seeds and vegetable seeds (along with insect infused potting soil, apparently as I opened the new soil and an infestation of gnats flew out) and am ready to start my garden. I have more garden space than I could ever possibly know what to do with but I’m starting off semi small but bigger than what I’ve done in the past, so hopefully I can get a good feel of what grows well and possibly try canning some things.

With Spring the animals have also woken from their slumber. The other day, Calvin came down and announced “there’s an army of turkeys outside.” Which got me all excited until he then said “well, at least I think they are turkeys.” Which was enough to convince me that there was probably a murder of giant crows outside that he mistook for turkeys. But sure enough, right out front was a pack of turkeys, walking their turkey ladies across the road. I tried to catch a photo but by that time they had retreated into the trees so you will have to zoom in to see them.

We have had our third mouse encounter. This time things got personal. I’ve been slowly working on putting all my food in containers but started with the long term foods first. I opened my candy drawer (drawer for treats and teas for me and only me) to find my bag of reeses had been chewed through. Now, I have full respect for the critters taste in gourmet treats. But this drawer had jelly beans and plain hershey’s kisses that I would have been far more willing to sacrifice. But instead, like a thief after the crown jewels, he had eyes only for the good stuff.

In a way I’m relieved. I was beginning to believe the first two mice were a newlywed couple enjoying wedded bliss in their new farmhouse only to have a family of giants come in and brutally murder them. Now that there is a third, I feel that is unlikely. Today we caught the/a mouse and released it on the other side of the river. Tyler sent it off with a parting gift of a reeses and wish it a good journey. Of course now I am imagining it sitting in the moonlight, singing “Somewhere Out There” American Tale style, wishing to be back with its family.

Farm life is emotionally hard on vivid imaginations, people.

Meanwhile, we have been trying to contact a carpenter. Mostly to discuss some of the renovations we want to make and so he can tell us any problems we might run into or that we are completely out of our minds. But true to Vermont ways, so far the carpenters we have contacted are booked out until fall! I still have yet to know if the businesses in the area are slow, understaffed, or just so good at their job that they are in high demand. Likely a combination of all three. But getting things done around here is painfully slow and we may be spending the next several months doing nothing but painting walls until we can get someone out here.