Happy Spring!

Last week Spring gave us a little sneak peek at what we've been missing all Winter.  It was beautiful and wonderful!  Unfortunately, when we welcomed the first day of Spring 2010 on Saturday, it looked like this outside:

Last week:

Now:

At least we got a little reminder last week of what it feels like to not be freezing all the time.  And I really mean ALL THE TIME, except when I'm standing right next to the wood stove, but I can't really stand next to the wood stove all the time.  I've realized now, living in this old country farm house, how spoiled and out of touch with nature I was in the city.  Sure, it was nice having a house that stayed a constant 70 degrees every day of the year and never having to go outside when it was below freezing.  All in all, I definitely prefer roughing it out here where we have to go outside everyday, even if the wind chill is 20 below, because there are animals out there who depend on us.  I really don't mind heating with wood only.  It promotes togetherness when only one room in the house is warm.  The biggest downside is the freezing cold bathrooms.  When Spring finally feels like Spring, I will definitely enjoy and appreciate every minute of it!

She wasn't impressed with the first day of Spring either.  Poor girl, she was brave enough to try to go outside the coop, but got a surprise when she stepped on the ice/slush/snow!

These were the only ones that braved the elements for a moment this weekend.  They stayed outside a whole 2 minutes trying to figure out where Spring was.

P.S.  We are keeping a close eye on the incubating eggs!  They are supposed to start hatching soon.  I hope I have some good news for my next post.

Snow Much Fun

We got our second good snow of the season and everyone is loving it.  It measures 10 inches in some places!

 

Last night we woke up to horrible wailing noises from somewhere outside.  We're guessing it was coyotes. It was a horrible howling/screaming sound.  It also sounded way too close for comfort!  This morning we went walking around to investigate and look for tracks.  Just as we started looking, Buddy caught the scent of a rabbit.

Unfortunately for him, it got away when his back was turned.

We continued on with our mission to find the coyote tracks.

We found numerous tracks, but the snow is so deep, it's hard to tell what made them.

The tracks that closest resemble coyote tracks were circling the chicken coop.  Good thing the girls were all locked up tight!

Here are a few pictures I took on our hike that I think are pretty cool.

 

Back at the house, we finished up the daily chores.  The girls love the new (expensive) alfalfa hay. 

 

The chickens said, "No thanks, we are NOT going out there today."

I got a surprise when I opened the nest boxes.  I wasn't quick enough with the camera, but she was curled up in a next box.  I guess she got locked in there last night and had a nice warm spot to sleep in all night. 

 

Just another morning on our farm...