Slow Spring

Spring is slow in coming to my region this year.  Ice is still visible and predominant in the lakes. Snow stands in the shadows in the deep, cool heart of our woods, beneath cedar boughs and fallen trees.  Nights are cold, but the mornings are fresh with birdsong and the wind smells like spring. All through the cool afternoons, spring peepers fill the air with a wild chorus that welcomes the season.

My sons have been building woodland shelters, while robins make their tidy nests.  I have been pulling the remnants of last year's garden, pausing to listen while a Tom Turkey raucously calls for a mate.   The soil is too cold for planting as of yet, but just right for earthworms to revel in.

Daffodils are slow in rising this year, but some precocious yellow pansies at the end of one garden row are blooming brilliantly.  Love those cheery little faces.  Love their eagerness to bloom despite the weather.

Where ever you are, whatever the weather, I wish you joy and an eagerness to bloom.

photo by Aisling, over-wintered parsnips April 2014

Unplugged

We are nearly "unplugged" at the farm these days. It is peaceful... and leaves time for reading aloud and playing guitars. It is, however, an adjustment.

Several times, I have wished that I could "pop online" to look up a fact, but other than that I am not minding the absence of internet in the house as much as I expected.  I find that by using public internet... having to drive several miles and make a plan to spend the time online... I am using it more "mindfully."  No longer can I sit down on the couch to "spend a few minutes online" and then suddenly realize that an hour has gone by.

Having said that, I miss my blog circles... Bloggers have been my neighbors and companions for many years now. I wish I could find that sense of being kindred spirits more often in my day to day experience.

We are waiting for spring, as patiently as we can.  The temperature at the bus stop this week has ranged from a high of 8 below zero to a low of 20 below zero.  It is difficult to remain patient for spring at those temps!  Won't it be a beautiful thing one morning soon to awake to the sound of melting snow dripping from the eaves?!

Where ever you are, whatever the weather, I wish you comfort and joy.

Quick Note

We don't have internet on the farm currently.  Writing this quick note from a restaurant.  Thank goodness for "free wifi for customers!"  Trying to figure out when and from where to blog.  All is well!

Saturday Snapshot

I see dissarray.  We are painting the kitchen ceiling, so all of the kitchen furniture is in the living room where I am sitting.  The clutter makes it difficult for me to relax... so I take a deep breath and ignore it!

I hear the noisy percolator.  The coffee maker chatters and gurgles as it makes my morning cup of hazelnut.

I smell the blended aromas of wood smoke and coffee.

I taste a wedge of un-frosted carrot cake, left over from dinner last night.  It tastes satisfying with my first mug of coffee.

I feel content, enjoying the quiet of morning before the busyness of the day.  

Wherever you are, whatever the weather, I wish you contentment and warmth.

Healing...

One of my poems has been reprinted, with my permission, on this lovely blog:

http://healinghamlet.com/healing-quotes-and-poems/a-farm-style-fairy-tale/

Take a peek, if you wish.  I have found the content of the blog to be very lovely and uplifting.

Remants of Autumn

 Remnants of Autumn remain

 As Winter hangs her art in unexpected places.

 I wonder who walked the woods and fields before me,

 leaving footprints and artifacts behind?

These photos are from yesterday, when the balmy 31 degree F thermometer reading lured me outdoors.  Today, an arctic blast is settling in... and I am settling myself in indoors with a woodfire crackling and a tea kettle humming.  Let the wild wind roar!

Wherever you are, whatever the weather, I wish you comfort and joy.

New

For just this moment, the sun is shining. Sparks of light glint off the many inches of snow that blanket the ground in these crisp-cold days of early January.   In the past few days, I have noticed with joy the lengthening of the days, but until now there have been no blue skies to revel in.

I am beginning the new year with a round of deep cleaning, setting aside items to donate or pass along as I work.  I am trying to begin with a clean slate.

Looking ahead, I expect to try collecting sap and making maple syrup for the first time in February, just before launching into this year's gardening season with seed starting in all the sunny windows of this old farm house.

For now, I will sit quietly and enjoy this brilliant light.  It is a truly welcome blessing in the heart of winter.

Where ever you are, whatever the weather, I wish you blessings and light.