Late Winter on the Farm

It took winter some time to settle in this year with January succumbing to bouts of loathsome wintery mix and that dreaded freezing rain, but now in late February we’re blanketed with a couple of feet of snow and are turning our faces to spring.

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Lambing has been a great success this winter with nine born so far (I think — it’s hard to keep track!) and all surviving. Stephen culled the older ewes, which made a big difference. The younger ewes not only have hardier lambs, but they are more energetic about tending to them. (Can’t really blame the old ones for being “so done” with parenting!) In any case, it appears that lambing will be over before sugaring begins, exactly according to plan. (Don’t jinx it, don’t jinx it, don’t jinx it…)

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Stephen finished up a logging job “off campus” and has been skiddering around the farm, taking a couple of large offshoots from a sugar maple tree that had been blocking the view of the mountain from the farmhouse (not taking the whole tree down — it’s a prodigious sap producer). A smaller maple had to come down as it was too close to the driveway and people kept bumping into it… with cars.

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Feeling the tug of spring, Stephen also began clearing pathways to the various strings of sugar maples that will soon be donning their sap buckets. He told me that he’d carved out one path to avoid a perilous stream crossing. (Gathering can be an extreme sport!) He also has amassed quite a mountain of logs that I assume will end up as firewood for another winter. The sugar house is waiting patiently.

I was struck by this collection of horse-drawn haying machines. They seem to blend into the ground at other times of year, but in the magic hour of dusk, emerging from the snow, they spoke to me. Booty Farm used to have working draft horses, mostly used for logging. They hauled out of the woods the trees that Peter milled to construct the farmhouse, Granny’s and Grandad’s retirement home, and the Little House. Diane would love to find someone who could put these machines to use. Sigh. (I know she feels the same way.)

The snow shoe path from the farm to the Little House is well trodden at this time of year. It’s my preferred route for visiting with folks down there, picking up the mail, or meeting up with Diane’s dog Pepper for a walk. (We lost our Beau the day after Thanksgiving and are taking a dog break. I don’t think I’ll last long, still feeling so lonesome for him, but having access to a terrific loaner dog — smart, enthusiastic and sweet — makes the wait a lot more bearable. See the photo at the end of the post.)

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The snow is beautiful now, blown into elegant waves in the meadow alongside our house, but it’s sinking in the warmer weather. Our firewood supply is dwindling, too, and the roads are slushy. They’ll be muddy in no time. Then again, we might get more snow this week. As long as there’s sun behind it, we’ll be happy. Who knows? There may be a few more sled runs yet to come.

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