Awaiting Thy Spring

I've said to myself that when the view out my window no longer matches the snowy scene (minus the rockin'-rad red barn) on my header that I will change it. I'm still waiting. Good God enough of the cold already! I'm ready for some outdoors.

I've received my seed catalogs. I look at every variety of vegetable and flower and then I spend a few moments daydreaming about where I will plant. This year my darling husband is going to build four square raised beds for me. He's excited about it, which means it may actually get done. He likes the construction and I love the planting. I want to make a big square with 3x3 and 4x4 squares, then I'll put three foot mulched paths between the squares. The real kicker will be a picket fence around the whole thing. Ooh, I get all giddy just thinking about it.

I also received the catalog from The Cackle Hatchery. Lordy, how I do love some poultry. This year I'm going to order two turkeys! Gobble gobble! I kind of want a peacock, but I can't get a consensus on that, so I'll wait. I'd like to order some different varieties of chickens this time. We've been very fortunate that our flock has remained disease free. We still have 21 hens and that gawd awful rooster. Oh, and on that note, yesterday we watched a flock of 13 wild turkeys peck around in our back yard. Ed, our rooster, was having a fit. The turkeys didn't seem to be effected by his carrying on.

I read the most delightful book The Land of Milk and Omlettes, by Ken Kraft. It's a biographical account about the author and his wife, Pat. They bought a farm 43 miles west of St. Louis and taught themselves how to be small acreage farmers. I was so sad when it ended. If you like reading books about farm life, gardening, house renovations and funny country folk, this book will not fail you. I don't even know if it's in publication now, my sister gave it to me. The pages are yellowed and brittle, even more reason to love it.

And lastly, we are still sporting runny noses and coughs around here. We've used four boxes of Kleenex, toilette paper, napkins, the inside of t-shirts and of course the back of our hands to stem the tide of mucus.....yummy.