This is the part of the year where we actually start counting the days — as best as one can — until the ‘official’ start of Spring, which by our standards, is usually marked by the day and week when temperatures begin to go up again. Neither Liz nor myself much cares for winter weather, and as much as we both hate the cold, it’s the snow (and ice) that makes things really difficult. I’m sure anyone who has livestock can relate to the seemingly endless trudging back and forth between house and barn for the twice-daily feeds. Some years are worse than others, of course, and this winter has seen fit to keep three to six inches of snow on the ground nearly the entire time. Of course, by now we have paths worn down, but we are still very much looking forward to the spring thaw and watching as our mountains of snow-covered ice begin to give way to grass and, yes, even mud.
We’re nearly halfway through the month of February now, and we’re looking forward to seeing a break in the cold starting next week and, hopefully, for good and for certain, within the next month or so. To be fair, this winter has been easier in some ways than most since we bought our farm in 2006 due to the new stalls we built this past fall (a project which I’ll detail later), but warm weather is still far preferable around the farm than cold.
Only a little bit longer…