March is here!

Well, March is finally here, but really so you would notice. The first day of March held some indication of spring with a high temperature above freezing and some rainfall. Thunderstorms were near enough to hear thunder in the distance. Winter was not to be shoved aside so easily, as this first picture indicates. March 2 saw a day of snow and wind, with drifts closing some rural roads and making travel miserable. This morning, the temperature stands at only 7 degrees.




February was cold and snowy, in fact, it was the fifth coldest February on record and the third snowiest. Nearly half of the month so lows below 0. Cabin fever begins to set on because there was only so much you can tolerate to do outside when the wind chills are 40 below 0 and the snow is knee deep. The girl snuggle up on the couch to keep warm, trying to catch a little heat from the fireplace. Our woodstove does a nice job heating our house most of the time, but when it is below 10, the cold begins to creep in from the walls and the house heats rather unevenly.




The animals survive the best they can, sometimes casting a woeful glance into the house, wondering where the kids are and smelling the wholesome smells of supper cooking and bread baking. The eyes of this cat don't show up in this uploaded picture, but the little angry slits seemed to indicate an intense jealousy for those basking in the heat of the fire. I don't mind pets, but I can't tolerate them indoors. The chickens handled the cold quite well. We lost none and they continued to lay between 30-36 eggs each day.


After working the shop, I enjoy coming in and reading to the kids. Sometimes I will sit in my Amish hickory bent rocking chair, but if its chilly, I'll lay on the couch and get underneath a blanket. The kids pile on as listen as I read to them. In this case, I was reading one of the books in the Little House on the Prairie series. They are delightful stories and it had been a long time since I last read them. When I was a youngster, I was fascinated by the Old West and often dreamed that I had a nice little homestead somewhere. Maybe if I was honest, I would confess that I still do!

Given my past knowledge of March, I anticipate that one day it will warm up and the snow will begin to warm. I need to start thinking about pruning the apple trees and raspberry bushes. We have 20 new little chicks and I need to make a new pen for them when it gets a little warmer to keep them separate from the rest of the chickens. I've thought seriously about getting a hive of honey bees, but I haven't quite decided on that for sure. I love honey, but I am kind of afraid of bees - and I really hate being stung. I was reading an article on raising bees, I read that even a gentle bee keeper will "inevitably get stung." Hmmm.

Pa Ingalls went out into the big woods and loaded the buck board wagon with honey from the big honey tree. Upon cutting down the tree and scooping out the contents, he commented that "Bees never sting me." Well, Pa, if I get bees, I hope I am like you!