Often the promise of Spring is enough to get one through even the most bitter of Winters. And let me tell you, this past month has been a test of this from Mother Nature, as she continues to dump snow on us, attempting to freeze us and despair us with the coldest of days we’ve had thus far. February was the winteriest of months we had all season, but I do believe there is an end in sight.
This past week the temperatures dropped once again into the harsh negatives. Minus forty below to be exact. And while everyone on the farm has grown accustomed over the months, its hard to deal with once you’ve had a taste of warmth and sunshine. But we continue to trudge on, as we enter March, and hold on to hope that Spring has to be getting close to that corner, right?
The animals seem to have no indifference to the cold spells anymore, but on a warm sunny day everyone is out and about soaking it in while they can. We’ve just about figured out the perfect number of bales needed for Winter, as we start to see the corners of the hay shed and trailer where they’ve been stored all Winter. With the sunshine today, I’m feeling like it should be no time at all before everyone is out on green pastures. In reality, we still have the season of MUD to deal with when the weather starts to cooperate.
The beginning of March brought with it National Pig Day, which we celebrated by sharing some before and after pictures of the Three Little Pigs on our social media accounts. The first collage is the day we brought them home from the rescue, nearly three years ago now. The second collage is a collection from this past Summer and Winter. Looking at these photos makes my heart ache for those little pigs we first met, how scared and unsure they were, how scabby their skin and thin their hair was. Then I look at the boys now, at how far they’ve come and I am proud. I love those little pigs, and the love shines through in their little smiling pig snouts, their thick hair coats and their little adventurous eyes as they roam their little home in the woods, living their best pig life!
We were able to get out to check on the beehives on a warmer day. It’s hard to know what’s happening inside the hive when all you can do is look from the outside and listen. One of the two hives is definitely very bustling, as you can hear little wings buzzing inside to keep warm. The second hive has notable noise, but not as strong as the other hive. Bees can be see around the entrance, dragging out the dead, on a warm sunny day. All we can do is hope that the cold is done with, the warm weather will soon be here and that our little bees have enough food in the hive to make it until then!
February may have been the coldest month on the farm, but it was also a time for all things love! Valentine’s Day had me in the kitchen baking all the sweetest little heart sugar cookies I could. I always have so much fun with sugar cookies, and the best part, getting to use my “new to me” Pyrex bowls! And of course none of this would have been possible if not for the handful of laying hens that have not given up on me this Winter. Thank you ladies for continuing to provide me with farm fresh eggs!
All this cold weather isn’t a bad thing when you want to hide out inside and complete all the projects! My mom sent my a beautiful puzzle which I worked on over a particularly chilly weekend. The 500 piece, quilted picture took me two full days to complete, and let me tell you, puzzle pieces aren’t what they used to be! This one had pieces of any shape and size you could imagine. Today, I tore that one down and started onto the next one!
I’ve also been taking advantage of cold days stuck inside to finish up and work on some new knitting projects. I am currently working on the second pair of socks for my Mom. After having to frog my last one (that means I had to rip apart the entire sock due to one silly little mistake), I am back to where I left off and almost done the first one of the pair. I have yarn for a pair to knit for my brother’s girlfriend as well, then I want to start trying out some different patterns for my own. After a little weekend away in the city, and some retail therapy at a little local yarn store, I am set for a while on sock yarn! I love all the beautiful skeins available and it is always so hard to choose. I also may have made a pit stop at Michael’s for yarn for my newest little side project.
Because all the cutest little patterns come in crochet only, and I cannot for the life of me seem to figure that one out yet, I had a friend make me up the cutest little pattern I found for free through the We Are Knitters site. This little alpaca was too cute to pass up on, and she did the most amazing job!
Of course my other passion during these cold, cold days is reading, and being stuck inside has made it possible to put a good dent in my must read pile. We just had our third book club meeting at the end of the month of February, where we discussed The Hazel Wood. It was such a good read, with a unique writing style and an out of the box approach at fairy tales. The next book we are reading is American Marriage and, while this one is definitely going to be more down to earth, I am looking forward to diving in. A recent finish for me as well was the Tattooist of Auschwitz, which I finished in just two days because I couldn’t put it down. A heartbreaking true story from the Holocaust this one is a must read for everyone! Another book I have on the go is from one of my favourite authors right now, Ruth Ware. Her thriller style, murder mysteries hook me from the first chapter and always throw me for a loop before they finish. Currently reading The Death of Mrs. Westaway, and again, not disappointed!
With hopes for Spring’s arrival we have also began to start seeds for the garden this year. Getting a head start on some of the veggies makes sure we can enjoy them fully in our shorter growing season. So far we have started tomatoes, peppers, cauliflower and cabbage. Having little seedlings popping up on the kitchen table also makes these last few days of Winter a little more bearable, and gives us something to look forward to this Summer. In the next few weeks of March we will start more seeds; including onions, pumpkins and watermelon. I have to admit, it gives me Spring fever to think of gardens and playing in the dirt.
If you’ve made it this far, thank you for following along with us here on the farm. We love sharing our stories and photos of our little wild farm life for all of our friends and families.
