Winter Into Spring

Winter has finally given way to spring, at least according to the calendar. And not a moment too soon if you ask me. Having survived the grey days and long nights of a typical, albeit mild, Ohio winter, I am ready for spring like you couldn’t believe.

I feel like the flora and fauna is a little jazzed too that the days are getting longer. Songbirds have already started scoping out nesting sites, and determining who gets which spot. We should have a full house…er, porch by the looks of it outside my office window.

Work (job #1) for me has been overwhelming, leaving little time to paint in my studio (job #3) or take walks outside. I still did manage to get out the other day, during a warm late winter day and was pleasantly surprised to see leaf buds on the peach trees. The chokeberries actually had small leaves starting to form, and there is a multitude of thorny wild bushes with leaves on the already. Not enough to cast an emerald fog along the driveway yet, but soon enough.

Out of spite, we did get a blanket of snow to greet us on the first morning of spring, but I won’t let that bring me down.

The bees are flying, and soon their hive will be shed of its insulation blanket and top.

Lastly of note, our friend Dave dropped off several bottles of the the maple syrup he made from the sap he collected this winter. Some of the maple trees he tapped were on our happy friendly land. So we’ve got our first maple syrup. Self sustenance is definitely a viable option out here in my opinion. It’s pretty neat being out here.

Oh, one other thing…of course I had to stop by Tractor Supply and brood over the baby chickens, wishing I could bring some home with me. There was a little black one with white spots that jumped up, as if to say “hi, I’m Cluck, take me home“. I could have, but I have no where to put them (you have to buy them by the half dozen). I do have that pile of leftover wood by the driveway, I just need to figure out what I’m doing. Part of me says just buy a coop, the other part says I need to design and build my own. Meanwhile all I can do is look at all their fuzzy little happiness and wait. Technically the wife wants guinea fowl to eat the ticks, and we’d have to special order those. Regardless, any new mouths to feed would need a shelter that we don’t have yet. I do like the idea of have some domestic animals running around outside, just need to find the time, energy and money to make it happen. The eggs though…honey, syrup, eggs…

The birds are picking out their nesting sites, and cleaning them out already. We might have a full house by April.

This is “Boo” or “Cluck” depending on who you ask. He wanted to come home with me on Sunday. Alas I left him in the Sandusky Tractor Supply. He was going to follow me around the yard and we’d play fun chicken related games n stuff. I just know he would have loved the estate.