Frank looked out the window just in time to watch Prince and Pearl blithely step over the fence, wandering out into the frozen swamp. He was worried about the depth of the ice on the pond and whether or not it would hold up two excited Percheron horses. They so love being naughty and get giddy with excitement. He followed them out with the dogs. They were having fun staying 100 yards ahead of Dad, but they got too close to the deep, scary forest, and swung around, and came running back home. They love to run — they were only walking because they liked being chased.
The sheep were very interested in watching from a distance, then they got jealous and wanted out there, too. They all called out and went running down to test the fence themselves, but came back sadly when they were still too short. They weren’t, actually, but Frank made it back to pull it up before they got there. Go Frank. Those are all the girls. I think there are actually 22 of them, though the photo only shows 21. One of the black ones was missing, but she has since been accounted for. She’s the one still healing from a broken leg last fall, and moves slower still.
We ended up with a total of 70 taps out there, just the same as last year. It promptly got cold and snowy again, but we did catch probably 24 hours of a nice sap run. Hopefully we picked better trees this year. They are all within view of the house, which should make a faster pick up when we do a sap run. I am hoping to be able to boil alone, but I’m not sure when I’ll be able to pick up a bucket. This shoulder surgery is slow healing, and I’m way sick of being in a sling already.
I realize that there actually is color in my world, but I am having to look hard to find it. The sheep are subtle colors of cream, gray, brown. The geese have bright orange beaks and feet. The tap lines are a pretty shade of blue. The sky is often brilliant blue. My seedlings are barely popping up in the basement, and they are tiny bits of green on a dark brown mat. Still, I am longing hard for spring. That little taste we got of a few days makes me ache for actual bright colors.
Maybe that’s why I bought purple Wellies! It sure is the season for them right now. It’s a slushy mud pit underneath the snow. Frank was up to the top of his Wellies in the pig pen the other day. Ick! Poop soup out there and it’s disgusting. I was able to get his Wellies clean really easily, and his barn coat went straight into the washer, as did his jeans. I didn’t have anything near as exciting, but the mud on mine won’t budge. Boo.