staying afloat
Living in a mountain valley, winter days are often dark. The shadows of the peaks and the low cloud ceiling can begin to feel oppressive. It seems that everywhere, people have experienced a heck of a winter, from east coast to west coast and all points in between. So it is no surprise to see even the most winter loving souls to be pining away for the end of this long winter.
While the calendar says today is the first day of Spring, it seems it began a few mornings ago when we awoke to the drip, drip, drip from the eaves. Golden sunshine streamed in through the windows at that unique angle that heralds the beginning of a sunnier season. The Melt has begun…
We spent most of the day outdoors, collecting bits of bark from the woodshed, twigs lying about from the dogs, and old leaves hanging from the oak tree. And the kids made boats. We checked our creek which has swelled so much that even in the house with windows closed, there is a loud murmuring. Our little boats would not fare well down the creek. However, we were fairly giddy with excitement that there were rivulets of snow melt trickling down the driveway. Just right for floating the boats.
Despite nearly two feet of snow in the garden still, the snowdrops emerged beneath the oak tree in the yard. There is not a more welcome sight than the first flowers of the season! And when we can float little boats down the driveway.
Happy Spring! May you find a quiet moment today, kick off your shoes, and feel gratitude for all the promise this new season brings…we all deserve it!
We have been rendering lard from our pigs that we raised in the summer. It is fairly easy to do, but best made with a specific lard. The rest of the fat isn’t as tasty but makes a great suet. We rendered it down and added a mixture of seeds and berries, both store-bought and collected from around the homestead by Sunshine. I remember how busy she kept herself in the fall, collecting Snow Berries (Bother Berries) and laying them on cookie sheets to dry in our cookstove’s warming oven. Making birdseed was the perfect way to use those precious dried berries.
Sunshine had a great idea of feeding one of the suet cakes to her beloved chickens. We hung one from a tree but our girls didn’t want to get their feet cold in the deep snow, so we moved it into the sheltered winter run. Well, those hens moved on it like you wouldn’t believe! Good thing we have several more suet treats for them.
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