We woke this morning to snow on the ground and in the wind.  It swirled patterns onto our trees’ trunks and created a veritable wonderland for Vega this morning as we walked along the perimeter path. It’s definitely a morning for a fire in the wood stove and one more cup of coffee! It’s also a good morning to write out a long “to-do” list because we’re at that point in early Spring where we definitely have our choice of projects for the day! Or for the week, or for the month, or for the entire season…

Project 1 ~ Hope for the Future

John and I have heard often and believe strongly that planting trees is planting hope for the future, so we’re going to plant lots of trees! Our first orchard trees have arrived ~ five apple and four pear trees. They’re just baby trees starting out in pots on our back porch; we’ll put them in the ground as soon as it thaws enough so we can dig their holes! We already have the metal posts and deer netting that we’ll use to try to protect them, and we’re trying to learn about all the pests that attack fruit trees and how to protect ours without using chemicals. It’s not easy reading, let me tell you. 

 Next year, we’ll add peach and cherry trees to the orchard, but the orchard isn’t the only area that we’re planting. This year, we’ve already two redbud trees on the back porch, and we’re going to add a few red oak trees, too. Maybe a few maple trees this year, and, oh, one or two Mountain Ash trees to shade what will be our little space for the Rainbow Bridge to begin. 

In many ways, I feel like we’re creating a place for The Lorax to return to. We don’t have Truffula Trees, but the ones we plant will definitely shade the animals, give them homes and food, and help them breathe clean air. 

Project 2 ~ The Chicken Coop

I was totally surprised to find out that rehabbing the chicken coop has been the hardest project so far. I’ve had to remind myself frequently that chickens are a vital part of our large interconnected vision for our farm and our Sanctuary. I have needed these frequent reminders because as I’ve been doing various pieces of the demo work, I’ve had a few mis-haps. Let’s just say that I’m EXTREMELY grateful for Neosporin, gauze pads, and Emil von Behring, who, I found out, in 1890, led the team that discovered the Tetanus vaccine.  

Thankfully, the demo work is almost done, and I’ve begun the construction portion of this particular program. (And my arm is healing nicely.) The interior wall is almost constructed. Next, we’ll design and build the interior door, I’ll build window frames that are more secure than the current ones, and finally, we’ll build a ladder of perches for the chickens. I’m actually excited to build this part; I’ve an idea in mind, and I want to see if it will work!  Stay tuned!

Project 3 ~ The Little Barn’s Play Room Wall

Every morning I walk through the little barn, feeding and thanking the cats for their good work overnight, saying good morning to the future animals who will sleep there, and, I must admit, admiring the work we’ve done this past winter building the stalls. This past week, we started building the wall that will safely enclose the Little Barn’s playroom.  This will be space for the animals to stretch a bit during the day when the weather is too icky to play outside ~ I can’t imagine any creature wanting to stay in their bedroom-stall all winter long! We’re going to build a table so they can jump on it if they want ~ or maybe hang a sturdy platform swing from the rafters! And I’m hoping to have one or two large tires filled with straw so they can either sleep in them or play in them. The playroom wall is the last piece we need to build before we open on May 1st ~ and it looks like we’ll make it! 

And the List Goes On…

Picking up the kindling-sized sticks that have fallen over the winter, walking again through the quarantine pasture to make sure we’ve found all the loose wire half buried in the ground, cutting out more barbed wire fencing…and in between sticks and pieces of wire, watching the clouds race across the sky as the wind picks up, whistling back to the birds as the males stake out territory and court females, smelling the last bit of wood smoke from a neighbor’s farm.  Spring. What a blessing!