Sure, it's still February. And I know that we often have several 'teaser' days of spring weather so we sure can't count winter out just yet... but it sure is nice to see the sun and have some days above freezing here in western Pennsylvania! Just this week we've gone from overnight lows in the single digits to 50 degrees and melting snow. I hate the muddy, sloppy mess caused by the thaw but it's something we have to get through each year so the sooner we start the sooner we (hopefully) dry out a bit.
Here are a few of the signs of spring we've noticed in the last several days:
- Sunshine (a rare sight in our area over the winter)
- The days are getting longer which means more time for farm chores and hanging out with the ponies
- The boys are spending more and more time staring at the girls' field and daydreaming... silly boys
- The girls are beginning their annual fence testing routine in an attempt to find any possible weaknesses that would let them escape their boring winter field in favor of a fresh paddock to dig out any grass they can find
- No winter coat/gloves needed at chore time!
This winter has been a bit less relaxing than some, given that we started calving season early and last year's freezer beef program bled over into early 2021. So it's been startling to find that time is flying and spring is sneaking up on us. I'm secretly hoping for a few more yucky days to force me inside to finish up some of the winter projects that I haven't quite gotten to, such as ordering supplies for the breeding season and getting our record keeping system prepped for 2021 updates. But before we know it foals will be arriving, stallions will need collecting, and we'll be off on the hectic schedule of spring/summer on a breeding farm again!
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