Happy First Day of Spring!

Ugghhhhh!

Finally, Signs of Spring

Despite the 50+degree days we have been having we still have large swaths of 3-4 inches of slushy snow.

But there are some signs of impending spring, if you look hard enough. It took a bit of digging, but I found some rhubarb.

The tree peony has buds.

But best of all are the crocuses coming up in the front lawn!

Last fall I planted 100 crocus bulbs in the front yard. The catalog said they would bloom in late March/early April and it looks like they are right on track. I can't wait to see them blooming!

The Melt is On!

The last few days of 40s and 50s for highs have done wonders for our stream. Three days ago the stream was still completely covered by ice and snow; you could hear the water rushing underneath, but no water was visible. All that changed yesterday. This morning when I went out to feed just about the entire stream is free of ice and snow. What is left is very dirty ice from when the higher waters yesterday during the rain washed over parts of the ice.

That's dirty ice to the left of the bridge in the above picture.

It's nice to see and hear the stream again.

The upper stream is fairly straight, but the lower portion is quite twisty.

We need to work on straightening out this part of the stream since all the sharp bends get worn away and then the banks collapse. It's easy to see how the stream has changed course over the years and we would like to lessen the erosion.

And maybe this year we can get some ducks to swim in our stream.

Ice Sled

With the snowy winter we had there was no way to get the tractor and cart back to the animals.  I began using the blue sled above on the left to haul hay bales, feed bags and firewood.  I realized other people might have the same problem and there may be a better sled.  Then I found the Viking sport sled.  This thing works great.  I can haul 2 bales of hay by myself, or three 80 pound bags of feed, or all this firewood.

I can easily get more firewood in the sled.  I just wasn't sure how much I could physically haul. But with the tow rope against my hips the power is great.  I wish I had found this sooner.

Let the Great Thaw Begin

The air is full of the sounds of dripping water.  Its 40 degrees here and the news is filled with stories of porches and roofs collapsing. If I can think up something to worry about I will, so the thought of our roof collapsing under the weight of 18 or more inches of snow was keeping me up at night.
What's a girl to do? Why, go up on the roof and start shoveling.
The newest addition has a very shallow pitch roof that I could reach from two sets of windows upstairs.  It has a minimum of 18 inches of snow on it.

After climbing out this window I was able to get a good bit of snow off the oldest roof in the house.
The rain this morning also helped to make the snow even heavier.  I became quite warm up on that roof. I feel like I moved a half ton of snow.
Here is the pile of snow that came off the roof.

According to the weather forecast, our highs are supposed to be in the 40s and 50s until Sunday so hopefully the roofs will have a lighter load and no damage.

More SNOW!

Oh joy, more snow today.  So far, as of 12:30, we have around 12 inches.  They have changed the predicted snow fall to 14-20 inches.  At least it is not -3 degrees like yesterday morning when I went to work.
Here are some pics of the snow so far:

The wind is creating some interesting drifts.

We won't be able to get into the front yard for a while. The snow piles to get to the front yard are over three feet deep.

Cool view to the back of the property.

And my favorite stairs could turn into a tunnel.

ICE

Tuesday night into Wednesday morning we were lucky enough to add a 2-3 inches of snow then 1/4 inch of ice to our snow fall totals.  We lost power on Monday with the first snowfall, 7-8 inches, of this week; and again on Wednesday.  Thankfully, both power outages only lasted a few hours.

Poor birds were not able to get to their feeder.

The ice melted enough yesterday and then froze last night to make a stiff crust on the snow.  You either slide around on top or sink down into a hole in the ice. And the only way to get around without sliding is with ice crampons.

The ice on the trees has melted from the sun on the hillside facing south, but the trees on the north facing slope are still covered.

The fences have created some very interesting ice structures.

But, spring is coming! This month its time to start the onion seeds and the sweet potato sets.

Stream, part II

What a difference a change in the weather makes.  Since the last post about the stream we have had about 2 inches of rain and a 20 degree temperature rise.  This is a picture of approximately the same location as the second picture in the last post:

And here is approximately the same location as the first picture in the last post:

And here is our sluice from the frozen pictures, then today:

Once again our little valley is creating its own microclimate.  It is about 10 degrees warmer in town.  We came home from shopping in Kutztown, which was in the low 50s, to find a car stuck in the ice on the road along side our property.  It took four guys to push it off the bank on which it was stuck.
Now it is still sprinkling and very foggy.  Can't wait to see what tomorrow brings!

The Stream

I have long dreamt of having a stream and the stream on our new property has been a joy.
It is especially interesting in winter.  And the frigid temps we have been having have created some interesting ice on the stream.

Snow fun

Three snow storms in one week.  Lots of snow outside. Sledding time!
Our property is mostly hills, we are in a little valley with the stream running through the lowest part. Should be some good sledding.

The goats liked watching the girls sledding. Or maybe they were just waiting to get fed.

Of course we had more trees fall out of the game lands today.  About 4 or 5 are laying across the old road and into the upper pasture.

Just what we need, more firewood!  Here is a picture of our current wood pile.

We probably have enough right now for three seasons.  Guess we need to figure out something else to do with all this wood.
And here are some pretty pictures of the snow.

Snow

We had snow followed by ice on Sunday and into the night, then 3 inches of snow on Tuesday, and more forecast for Saturday.  I hope enough sticks around for Christmas.
The snow does make some things easier.  Maddy and I used an old sled to take the hay out to the goats.

Of course, if there was no snow on the ground I would have just driven my Forester down to the goats.
But look at the pretty view from my kitchen sink!

Everything looks prettier with a coating of snow.

The Groundhog was Right!

Even though its 26 degrees outside and we had a nasty mix of ice and slushy snow yesterday

inside and in the hay house it is spring.
I was greeted by this sight this morning when I went out to feed:

One of our Mottled Java hens has been missing for a while.  We would see her about once a week or so and then nothing.  Now we know where she has been.  These 2 chicks were the only ones that hatched from her nest.  I finally found her nest with seven rotten eggs.  Not bad for the coldest part of the winter.  We'll have to see how well she does mothering these two chicks.  Since she was one of the chicks that was raised by our broody hen last spring she may be able to do it.

Snow in the forecast!

I am sitting here with a cat on my lap writing this blog post secure in the knowledge that our little place is a s ready for the coming snow as we can reasonably be.  Yes, I would love to have all the leaves raked up, shredded and spread in the chicken run.  And it would be great if the poplar tree was not hanging over my garden, cantilevered out 15 feet in the air on the root ball of a large walnut tree.  But the goats have new hay and straw put away in their hay hut, fresh straw bedding in their house, and new clover hay in their manager.  The turkeys have a place to get out of the wind and snow and the chicken coop is snug as well. There is a wagon load of firewood on the patio and lots of kindling by the wood stove.

All the plants I brought from the old house are now in the ground.  The last seven Rose of Sharon shrubs were planted by the stream this morning.  And I didn't find one rock, stone, or pebble while digging the holes. I even did a few test digs in the area I want to turn into my raspberry patch and that was pretty nice digging as well. The soil here continues to amaze me.

I found a butcher for my five old laying hens who've been busily cleaning up the garden at the old house.  They are nearly three years old and have pretty much reached the end of their productive lives.  They will make great stewing hens since they have only ever eaten organic feed and garden plants and produce.  He even butchers turkeys so one of our males will go along for the ride.  Last Tuesday night two of our tom turkeys must have gotten into a fight. One of the toms was not doing well with multiple gashes around his face and neck.  Maddy butchered him, with the help of a friend, on Wednesday and he now resides in the freezer.  The other two tom turkeys had to be separated when they started fighting.  Never thought I would have to break up a fight between two turkeys!  The most dominant turkey also had to be separated from the chickens since one chicken was relentlessly pecking at his back side and he was starting to bleed.  He is fine now and enjoying having his ladies to himself.