Spring!

Busy Spring. Wet Spring. Melting Spring. Chicken Scratch Spring. Cat exploring spring. Grass growing spring. Mouse tunnel remnant spring. Mud spring. Northern MN Spring!

The seasons are finally turning and spring is here! I’ve been a bit too busy in town to truly experience it yet (grr). But the birds are making it hard NOT to notice. The woodcocks are busily “peent peent”ing and the snow is mostly gone in the yard. There’s still quite a bit in the woods, but the sun is INTENSE. The garden is even showing itself again!














The chickens (and cats) are eagerly searching for green grass. I’ve been helping things along with a little planted wheatgrass. The chickens LOVED it (or so WF tells me- I was at work during the great sampling) and we’ll get better eggs.

















WF actually emailed these pictures to me at work... we're such tech/chicken nerds. I toyed with the idea of growing sprouts, etc for them in the winter, but it didn’t happen this year. A friend has been providing some wilted greens from the co-op, and a few of the hens will literally throw themselves at the green goodness and inhale before the roosters barge in. Always exciting in the coop these days!










The melting snow is revealing evidence of some very industrious rodent winter activity in the lawn. Good thing we have both cats AND chickens who might be, ah, interested in said rodents. It’s true… I watched a chicken consume a Lutsen-cat “leftover” last year… an apparently tasty headless mouse. Mmmm! I’ve heard of chickens catching mice themselves, but I’ve yet to witness that. Better watch out, rodents!!

We’ve also been noticing some pouring rain and a meltwater-filled septic tank, with the accompanying huge draw on the house batteries to pump it out. No showers, no laundry, catch sink water in a bucket and put it outside. I experience the “clash of expectations” again: our “regular suburban” house that lulls us into complacency suddenly rebels and makes us act more like the majority of the world, living with less amenities. I do tend to grumble at the rearrangement of my schedule, the need for clean work clothes NOW. And then the sun comes out and we’re back to “normal,” with the solar array. WF was home yesterday and got lots of solar-assisted tasks done while I was in my grid-powered cubicle.

In-town work will be a bit less busy soon, and I’m hoping to take some time off and get house tasks done. AND bask in the sun and search for green things myself… THEN it will really, finally feel like spring.