Farewell February

 When you walk as one with nature, nature speaks to you.  We were meant to live on the earth in this manner, but somehow we drifted away from nature.  We dove into the man-made world - and drifted further and further away from nature.  As a result - for many, nature stays silent.

I am awestruck by the animals of the wild and their ability to predict the weather.  Nature speaks to them and they always hear.  When last we chatted on Friday I showed you some photos of how busy our bird feeders had been on Thursday, and wrote "This kind of activity level usually portends wintry precipitation."

Friday morning, we were greeted with this:

We had a wintry mix of precipitation, which left everything covered with a blanket of white, which was subsequently followed with freezing rain, which left everything covered in ice.

Lovely, yes.

Thankfully, it melted in short order, because these upper-house girls flat-out refused to venture into it.  They've had enough.  "We'll take mud up to our knees... but no more ice, please!"

The hens from the lower house simply walked around the corner to the coffee shop, where they spent their time, awaiting the sun.

I often wonder what the goats think about being surrounded by a bunch of gossiping hens!

By Saturday, the snow was gone, and Sunday brought a sunny day.  The ducky boys have been spending their outside time visiting the girls through the fence.  The girls seem to enjoy their company, especially now that they are not constantly under attack.

Since there is very little nutrition left in the pastures, the horses get extended grazing hours.  By the time we return and ring the bell for them to come to the gate, they are all ready to return to the barn and come running down to meet us.

Carrot treats are given out and everyone is clipped back onto lead ropes for the trek back to the barn.

Life has been very slow here these past days.  Jack is still under the weather.  I have not succumbed.  I did a home test yesterday and am still testing negative.  For that I am very thankful.  Illness makes doing farm chores difficult.

For part of the weekend, I insisted that Jack stay indoors and not help with chores.  Of course that was met with protest.  By Saturday evening, he had had it with house arrest and insisted on helping with chores.  It's hard to keep a good man down... or so they say!

As for me... I've started shawl #4 (Shawl #3 went to a good home) -

This one has a unique color work and shape.  

I also spent a little time practicing painting.  Two steps forward, three steps backwards.  I know that many hours of practice are in my future.

I also finished up a project (with a bit of help from Jack) that I started earlier this week.  I had finished this live-edge black walnut plank and attached risers to the bottom.  Then, with some help from Jack, we added the handles to each end.  This will serve as a base for dining room table decor.  

Our dining room table is extra large.  This makes finding the right sized elements for table decor difficult.  I love the look of live-edge wood, so I came up with the idea for making this tray.  Today I will change out the candle jars for black iron candlesticks with beeswax tapers.

Today we bid February "adieu!"… the last full month of Winter.

With March comes the beginning of another garden season.  I can hardly wait!