late january 2017 and maybe I'll update it soon

in late january of 2017 I started a blog post that waited for me to finish, here is what I wrote.

"walking in the morning, with the sun rising up over the tall grasses. the ground frosty underneath my boots, the dog running and leaping like a small deer over the field, hoping to scare up mice and bunnies.

we sit under a migration path. every day we see flocks of thousands of birds flying overhead. they create a smoky looking trail in the sky, in a ever twisting changing line in the sky from one horizon to another. occasionally they drop low, and we stand looking up at their white bellies or red wings in full flight, the sound of a thousand wings creating a quiet roar in the air.

this is the point in winter where it becomes just a wait for Spring. when we start seeds, when we dig up the ground, these are still ahead. the chicken coop has newly built nests, with a fence on the way.
like our home in NM, we burn wood to help keep the house warm. but unlike in NM, here when we cut the trees down, we are also planning where to plant trees too."

Here it is early April, and Spring is definitely arrived. We had days and days of cloudy rains. We began to feel quite dreary as we watched the rain gauge climb. But with sunshine now, I've found peas, carrots and onion seedling coming up, the redbuds are purple-d out, iris are beginning to bloom and the lilies mom has planted everywhere have become bushes of spring green. The wheat in the fields is lushy and growing high. 

where all the food will grow

The four 6-month old hens (two Plymouth Barred Rocks and two New Hampshire Reds) we purchased last month, have made themselves at home. they peck and scratch and lay all day, and roost themselves away at night. 

We have goals and projects all over the place. Fixing up a pen/coop and getting chickens is complete, getting seedlings started and a garden planned, is in its ever continual process. While we are constantly overwhelmed by what we need to do, want to do and how much time and money it will all take, we remind ourselves often of what we have accomplished, and what we get to enjoy by living on this place.