I cannot begin to say how sick I was of snow. Snow, rain, more snow, lots of wind, flooding, rain and more snow. Uck. I had the ultimate case of cabin fever there for a while. Something about this last storm, which was long and miserable, just about did me in. Maybe I don’t want to live somewhere with all four seasons, after all?
But then spring sprung, and we went from highs in the 10s to highs in the 60s (!) in two days. The crocus jumped up overnight, and I can see daff and tulip green tips so thick it looks like grass in some places. I now have a hundred outdoor gardening chores to do, but I love that, so it is okay. If I can find time to do it!
Frank let the queens all out when it was actually still snowing, but that was better than doing it in the rain, I guess. All of the hives look healthy and strong, and now that the weather is better, the bees are flying madly. They look like they are mostly headed off toward the village, not into the woods, but that makes sense, as there isn’t much blooming in the woods yet. The crocuses are covered with the bees, as are what few maple trees that we have left around us. Since all the hives have plenty of drawn comb, pollen and honey, we are hoping the queens are laying eggs straight away. We will now leave the hives alone for 21 days, when we’ll go into check for brood. Go, bees, go!
I told Frank I wanted my own chainsaw, and thought he’d think it was a waste of money or something. He didn’t, though, and we went out to get it that very day. I wanted one that I could start, and that wasn’t as heavy as his, so I could actually use it for more than ten minutes before my arms gave out. This one is sweet! When we are dropping trees, there’s a lot of limbing to be done, and I usually have to wait for Frank to do it, while I run the chipper. This way, he can concentrate on dropping trees, and I can limb myself. It is much more efficient that way.
We are clearing madly, trying to catch up from losing that week of outside time. We have so much to do before it is time to go get the horses. I can’t even describe how panicked I am. So much so that I am looking to see if there is somewhere I can board them near us. The mare is with foal, so we have to get her here soon, and we only have a two-horse trailer, so waiting until after isn’t practical at all. I’m also trying to convince Frank to just buy the lumber for framing at least, instead of milling it all ourselves, but he thinks that is a mortal sin or something. The mud and snow is still covering the entire area we want to put them in, as well as trees, so even getting out the logs feels impossible to me.
Valerie is coming over tomorrow to help with shearing and clearing. The sheepies are panting and all very ready to get those fleeces off.
