March Came in Like a Lamb

The chickens are laying prodigiously again.

But February 28th was wild and tornadic! Imagine sending your children off to school in a cloud of brownish murk and wind and severe weather? I did tell my husband to turn back, if necessary. As it turns out, the next county, where our children attend school, was under a tornado warning at the time! Yesterday was fair and beautiful, the calm day after the storm, and today dawned clear, cool and sunny.

In the meantime, I have seen full-blooming croci in Somerset (near asphalt so they have an extra bit of warmth) and daffodils are popping up in our yard with their small encased blooms-to-come. There are even tinges of green grass around the farm!

March and April are going to be fun, busy months around the farm and off the ridge. I will certainly keep blogging, even if for a few moments or in photos.

I need to get out and do some garden projects before it gets too hot––and it will. It is such a gift to have several months of beautiful spring weather here to do what needs to be done before the heat overtakes us (and when you only really want to get outside to garden in the early morning or early evening).

And I'm really itching for greenhouse season to begin. Last season I made a few new discoveries near Crab Orchard, Kentucky that I can't wait to check out––by the time I arrived, in mid-April, much of their inventory was gone but I could tell that they offered the kinds of plants I often seek out.

Meanwhile, the cottage is coming along inside and I will post photos when we're finished. We have many baby calves on the ridge and the birds seem to be back and looking to nest.

Mother Earth is waking up and losing her winter crankies! And this Persephone is emerging, too. So will March go out like a lion or a lamb? Only spring will tell. [My friend Teresa mentioned on Facebook the other day that Kentucky folklore––as also mentioned by the writer Janice Holt Giles––says that "thunder in February means frost in May." My friend Anna confirmed this!]

And did I tell you that we had roast lamb dinner on Sunday (which also happened to be my mother's 72nd birthday, so we fêted her from afar)? And then lamb leftovers on Monday. Divine.

You come back when you're ready!

Catherine