good things about March

• Usually when it comes in like a lion, it goes out like a lamb. Since I'm expecting kids at the beginning of April let's hope for this year that is the case.
• Maple Syrup season!!! Have not set out taps yet; soon, very soon!
  
• Army Wives (on the Lifetime network) starts! Cannot wait to see last nights episode later today! Can be watched online since we gave up cable.
• beginning of Spring!

I'm sure there are lots more, but since the weather spoiled my plans for today I'm very grumpy about March. Just wasn't meant to be today I guess.

a beautiful winter sunset

Ice fishing 2011

Three years ago Faith and Andrew were invited to go ice fishing for the first time with by my dad and a friend of his who has an ice shack on a nearby lake. Thinking it would be the last thing Faith would want to do I was surprised when she said she was really looking forward to it. Andrew enjoys at least trying new things was really excited about this as well. I brought them to the lake (and walked out to the ice shack with them) then left not having any appropriate winter gear. They had a blast! Last year it became a tradition and I did not participate again due to lack of winter gear. This year having winter gear I had no excuse when they asked if I'd go too, dang it! So I drove them out to the lake, donned on my winter gear, grabbed the camera and headed out with them. Mind you there was a windchill factor of minus 15, yes, that's right -15 degrees which was crazy cold!! I was so thankful for the huge glasses I'd grabbed as I left the truck, they blocked a lot of wind as they covered a lot of skin! I pulled my hat way down and put the hood up and was thankful I'd had the foresight to buy hand and toe warmers before we left town. Oh. My. God it was c.o.l.d.!!!


Mr. Harold came to meet us and give the kids a ride out, they loved that!

One of the several traps the group had out.

Several baskets for carrying traps and gear.

Making sure the bait was still on the hook as they weren't getting many flags.

Sick of waiting on flags Faith started 'jigging.'

As did Andrew.

Finally a flag with another small pickerel, they were happy.

My nephew thought he needed a picture taken with the fish as well. Won't his mother be proud?! After this shot was snapped he sent the fish back down the hole from whence it came.

In all honestly I had a nice enough time, but will also add that ice fishing is one of those things I've done as an adult that I can cross off never need to do again list. Just not my thing, but I'm glad my kids enjoy it and hopefully next year will have one of their own traps and a chance to go more than once.

running out of space!

I'm really hoping that Spring is on it's way, as I'm very quickly running out of places to put all this snow! I got an email this morning that showed some places in South Dakota that had a lot of snow, and maybe it was real maybe it wasn't I don't know, never been there nor have the desire to go there especially if in fact they did get all that snow! But it got me to thinking about posting these pics...

Most sections of our rock wall have been covered and are no longer visible!

Coreah, (the white dog) is a fairly large dog, like 85 pounds! She's dwarfed by this snowbank!

The actual view from the school room door! I'm not making this up! Yes, part of this snow is what I spent over 5 hours shoveling off the roof the other day and 2 hours I spent shoveling today after Ron came home, just in case.... Who needs a gym membership?! Nearly 8 hours shoveling in three days plus all the time I spent snowblowing yesterday, I'm thankful I have the time and ability to do this and don't have a "job!" We don't use this door in winters like this, for obvious reasons, but just had to take a picture.

So do you think we've got enough snow here? Would you like some? If we do end up getting more snow, like they are predicting, I'll just have to think creatively as to where I'll put it!

because of the bulkiness

One of the reasons winter is not my favorite season is because of the bulkiness of it. It takes up too much space in the yard with all the snowbanks, shoveled paths and several feet of snow piled up on the lawn, ugh! The animals have less room to run and one of my greatest fears in the winter is that Garlic will slip on the ice and... I don't even want to go there! But all that aside it not only takes up all that room outside, but it takes up far too much room inside as well. I've got to soak beet pulp and alfalfa for Garlic and that takes several hours so I prepare it in the morning for the evening feeding. Those are 50lb bags that are used twice a day and have to be stored somewhere, and since the water is inside, it kinda makes sense to keep it in the house, as much a pain in the butt that might be.* Then there are the frozen water buckets. The waterline in the barn is not one of those frost free ones - yet, and because it freezes when it gets cold outside and this year it was early December, I'm lugging water at least twice a day, 4 5 gallon water water buckets. The good news is my arms are getting really strong! Then there is the clothing, the hats, gloves, jackets, carharts, scarves and boots. It's just a big bulky mess and really makes me appreciate the beauty and simplicity of spring especially when the pipes thaw.

*It also helps to have a kind and patient husband who despite the bulkiness of that stuff knows how incredibly gloriously happy the barn makes me and has learned how to deal with it and for that it makes me appreciate him even more.

How did it happen?

How did it happen to be that I was blessed with wonderful amazing children? I don't what I did or if it even had anything to do with me, but I'm pretty damn proud of my children tonight and wanted to share that with y'all.

It's been snowing here all day and Ron's car is what I call an itty bitty matchbox car, but he says it's "midsized sedan!!!!" He doesn't like it when I pick on his car apparently... but I digress. Either way, it doesn't have much snow bank clearance, especially Maine winter snowbanks, yes, this is one of those things we learned the hard way. In an attempt to avoid the car being stuck in the snow at the end of the driveway he called on the way home from work and asked if the snowplow had been on our road yet if we could clear the end of the driveway. No problem! The kids and I bundled up and I donned on my fancy new WARM boots and headed out. I started the snow blower and headed to the end of the driveway. This storm produced lots of light fluffy powder so it was taken care of quickly. While the kids were helping me clear our driveway I glanced over at the neighbors driveway and saw that it had the same huge pile of snow at the end of it also, this is unusual for them as they are usually out there early and often. I figured since it was going so quickly with ours that I'd send the kids over to the neighbors and asked them to just clear their end too and then to come right back.

It's not fun having to shovel your way into the driveway immediately after getting home from work, trust me, I've done it. One time while we were moving in the winter I had to walk through snow over my knees to get to the house, unlock the door grab a shovel and start digging so I could park in the driveway, then I had to do some packing load the truck and drive home. I was not a happy woman that night.

Since it was light and fluffy and they used a snow scoop and shovel and they worked together they got it done quickly and were back in a flash. Andrew came up to me and asked if he could go back and shovel the entire thing for them, "just to be a nice Christian boy." At that moment I was certain my heart would pop right through my chest I was so proud of him. I smiled at his eager willingness and said "yes, go grab your head lamp and zip up your jacket." So he and Faith walked back over and quietly went about the task of shoveling the driveway. Come to find out their snow blower wouldn't start, according to Andrew. It's not as long as our driveway, but it's lengthy. Our neighbor was appreciative of the effort and gave them a bag of homemade cookies to take with them when they left. My kids came home tired and hungry and felt good that they had done something to love their neighbor.

they're not made with women in mind

We've lived at this address for just a hair over 4 years, it does not in any way seem possible! Garlic has been here almost as long and every winter I trudge to the barn to do chores and nearly freeze to death, so when it's really cold I work really fast! Now mind you this is all my doing, I'm the one who wants animals in the barn to have to go out to take care of, I'm the one who is super picky about clothes or rather outer gear but for valid (at least in my mind) reason. You see, outer gear; coats, boots, hats etc. tend to be expensive and I'm really a more frugal person, I don't want to spend gobs of money on something if it doesn't work for me. Makes sense, right? Well take for example boots, I had winter boots when we moved here, well I should say that I had the same pair of winter boots that I'd begged my parents for back in high school. They worked for a bit, but were not barn boots, not for a Maine winter on a farm, so I got rid of them. Then I wore hiking shoes for a while and believe it or not they were warmer than the boots! However, when I had to climb up onto the roof to shovel several feet of snow off I figured I'd better have something that would work better... Oh crap! I don't have anything! I knew what type of boot I wanted and they just don't make them for women! I'm not sure why, but I've just never been able to find them and I've looked EVERYWHERE!! I even tried boots that would have worked, despite the fact that they had that girly fuzz around the top. Ugh! Who wears that anyway? Fuzzy topped boots for shoveling manure??!! really!?! So after one trip to a 4-H meeting in them I took them back because I couldn't feel my feet in them after the meeting was done, and they were 'winter' boots. But the roof was not shoveling itself and I was out of options. I grabbed a pair of thick wool socks and put Ron's boots on and went to work. They worked despite the fact that they were huge!



Now I had another problem, no snow pants and the wind just whips right through jeans and wind through wet jeans pierces the skin and bites to the bone! Since the snow on the roof was thigh high it made for some very cold legs! Thermals will work in a pinch, but every time I bent over to shovel or what have you my underwear kept falling down and we all know how pleasant underwear (or "skibbies" as they're called here) issues are... and going commando while out shoveling snow is just not an option! I need all the layers I can get!



This year all that has changed! Yea! I got a couple gift certificates to a favorite place of mine to shop, Tractor Supply!!!! Yea! :: insert angelic aaaaaaaa here:: I was SO happy about that I mean c'mon really I can shop there without guilt! :: more angelic noise here:: A few days after Christmas I headed into town on a mission with gift cards in hand! I walked in and headed straight for the winter coverall section. I looked around thinking I'd get a one piece snowsuit thingy, hearing they are really warm and long lasting. See a pattern here, I'll spend money on something that works for me and bonus if it wears well. Not seeing anything like that in the women's section I ventured to the men's rack. I grabbed a couple off the rack and headed to the fitting room. I tried the smaller of the two on and went to zip it up, got about chest high and the zipper stopped, damn! Clearly men's clothing was not made with women in mind, especially not a large chested woman. I adjusted the girls and tried again, I managed to get it zipped up but could not breath never mind bend over, damn! So I took it off and tried the other one, I cinched in the waist and rolled the legs and arms up and was able to zip it, but the crotch hung down almost to my knees and I pondered this for a minute and thought can I live with this? I walked around in the fitting room, (finally a place to try on clothes that's bigger than a coffin!) and the whole combo of rolled sleeves and legs and low crotch which incidentally was starting to chafe my thighs was more than I could deal with so in frustration I took it off.

I walked back over to the rack and hung them up feeling a bit defeated. Just for sheer curiosity I looked again through the women's section. One thing I knew for sure is that I was not about to buy pink coveralls to wear in the barn. My option was a bib type pant in a plum color or brown. So I tried those on and to my surprise everything was where it was supposed to be and I had room in places I need room, no chafing, and there were lots of pockets for treats, and if (ha ha ha yeah right!) when I get them covered from the barn it won't show as much, bonus! At first I didn't think this would work, as I'd really had my heart set on a one piece, but the more I thought about it the more that this seemed like a better idea after all, I mean when I'm up on the roof shoveling or snow blowing I tend to get hot and this way I could take the jacket off and just wear the coveralls, and not have frozen legs! Hey this might actually work! So I decided on the brown pair and walked out the store a very happy woman!

**I really look like a dork, but I'm warm and will stay that way, and besides now I have snow pants to play in the snow with my kids so I'm a happy dork with happy kids!

I got home, put on my new winter gear; including the hand knit socks that my sister gave me for Christmas that actually come up to my knees, but so warm and kept my toes so toasty, Ron's boots, my barn jacket and gloves. Then in the midst of this Andrew says to me Mommy, you need to put this hat on too! So to humor him I did, I think these are the ugliest hats and have no intention of getting one, but he thought I looked "cute." That said one night last February I'd have given just about anything for one while I was out in the barn milking in below zero weather.

I went to the barn and did what needed to be done and all this outer wear worked great, it was bulky and took a bit of getting used to but I was warm so I got used to it really quickly! When I returned to the house and shed all my layers I felt like I was floating, all that winter gear is heavy! Now for the boots, yup! I've figured out what I want, I think, and three other hardworking farming women I know and trust wear this type of boot, my only hang up is that they're about $80.00! Yikes! All three women when I asked about this particular boot sang it's praises, and no fuzzy tops, so I'm headed in the right direction I think, now if I can just find my size...

A cold winter sunrise on the farm

My new best friend

Right now it seems as though it's snowed here everyday for the past three years. I'm sore, (from falling off the ladder while climbing onto the roof to shovel it off), tired (of many things, including the snow) and ready for spring. However, I am so thankful I was able to get the snow blower fixed this fall because I know I would be all of these things tenfold if I had to shovel all this. Moreover, I'm moved to tears in appreciation to my children, because they've been right out there with me helping without complaining and I never even asked for their help.

I'm going to peruse my stack of seed catalogs for about three minutes before I drift off to a much needed night of slumber. Here's to hoping the sun comes out tomorrow!

Farm kids having fun

I think Katie is looking at me thinking seroiusly??

Now thinking I'm glad I'm being held in, this might actually be fun!

Buckley thinking get me out of here!!

No Way Maaaa, I'm not doing thisssssssss

Yippee!!! I like it! It is fun after all!!

like money in the bank...

I've been at the wood pile for a while now splitting and stacking and this is the result as it stands currently. Having purchased a new chain for the chain saw helped speed up the process immensely! Lola, (my axe) worked wonders, took a bit of getting used to but works wonders just the same. I love the feeling I get when I split a foot+ diameter chunk of wood in half with one swing of the axe! It's powerful! I've still got a bit more to do but I don't mind, it's kind of therapeutic! While reading this past summer I came across a saying, I do not recall exactly how it went but I remember thinking I completely understood the sentiment. It went something like this..... '.....having extra hay in the barn, wood in the shed and ____________ is like money in the bank......'

The above picture is just part of the loft full of this years hay, what a long hard couple days of work it is, but what a sense of peace that comes along once it's done.

I must really love them...

My mother has asked me on occasion, "Now why do you do this?" referring to farm life, clearly something you're either cut out to do or not. She's not. To which I answer, "Because I love it!" I truly do, there is something magical about trudging out to the barn in February in this much snow carrying 5 gallon water buckets and being greeted by the warm nicker of my horse, the hum of the llama and the bleating of the goats. No seriously, it is the reason I do this. I cannot explain it to those who are not cut out for it, but those who are understand. Yes, it's cold and the snow on this particular morning was well past my knees but it's the greeting from the barn that motivates this non-morning person to crawl out of bed before the coffee is on board and do the morning barn chores.
Well, as my mother would say, you must really love it. I do.