Spring things....

 March 7, 2026

Well, that was quick. We hustled through ice season, long enough for Hubby to spread shavings over the ice where we needed to walk, and only long enough for the ice cleats to be on our boots for about two days.

Now, we are in mud season, and almost all of that visible ice has melted. 

Last week started out cold, the minus temperatures conducive to defrosting the freezer by just setting all the contents outside. It didn't take long before the freezer was clean, back on, and all the contents re-inventoried and back in. The very next day, the temperature rose and things started to melt. 

I shovelled the snow off of the hot frame in preparation for use.

The soil inside was unfrozen. The sun soon melted the residual frost and snow away,

and the path to the root cellar melted off, bare ground surrounded by snow. That spring sunshine sure has some power in it!

This was the snow depth on the last cold morning, March 3,

and after a couple of mild days, and then a day and night of rain, here is where we were at on March 7.

The rainy day was a good day to make another batch of soap...jasmine scented this time.

Today I planted some seeds!! I have geraniums on an heat mat inside, and broccoli, cabbage and onion seeds in cell packs sunk into the soil of the hot frame where the temperature of the soil within is reading 50F.

All will be well in there unless we get some very cold nights, of which there are a few in the forecast, when I'll add some extra insulation over the top. We are back to keeping a sharp eye on the temperature fluctuations. I had to clear out some weeds in there that were showing signs of growth before setting in the little pots. 

Figgy has been brought out of his hibernation in the root cellar, and is up in a south facing window. 

 This morning, the usual flock of Chickadees that swarm us when we go outside, were not in evidence. They seem to hear the inside door opening, and are waiting on the railing outside when we open the outer door. We looked around....and spotted a Northern Shrike up in the crab-apple tree. There are hungry critters everywhere. These wild canine tracks were along the edge of the road last weekend, heading down to the winter deer yards to the south.