My Journey in 2011 – March

3/1/11

Well, what a clear morning! Beautiful blue skies. Welcome March…coming in like a lamb and not a lion. I like that! Very cold but very beautiful outside. The crows are beginning to be loud in the morning. I love to listen to them! They are most likely looking for baby squirrels….

3/2/11

Yesterday’s beautiful clear skies changed today to cold, dreary and snow flurries. Expecting 1 to 3 inches of the white stuff. How disappointing is that?
Noticed that the resident rabbits have been having fun in the hay I left out in the goat pen last night. Their tell tail signs are all around it. Not too much different in other animal sightings here.

3/3/11

Bitter cold this morning. 4 degrees, but beautiful sunshine! Water pipes were frozen for a brief period, but with a heating pad and blow dryer, they were unfroze in 10 minutes!  Listened to a few Sparrows chirping which gave me a bit of hope for Spring’s, hopefully soon, arrival!

3/6/11

A warm 31 degrees this morning and going up to 48 degrees!!!
Then the horror is about to come….predicted 8 to 10 inches of snow before morning!
The unpredictability of the Western Catskill Mountains. Oh Spring…where are you?
Our resident rabbits went scurrying around in the pouring rain as we disturbed their hiding places while feeding the farm animals this morning!

3/7/11

Well, the winter storm dumped 2 1/2 to 3 feet of snow on us! Not the eight to ten inches originally predicted! Snow well past my knees! No snow plow all day on our dirt road. A pickup truck with a snow plow made a path down our road to the main road. After all the falling snow left us, the sun came out and the shoveling began. Not fun. Although my husband shoveled three times during the night, the labor was still back breaking.

About 3 pm, just standing out front of my house, while my husband was shoveling, I watched a tree full of blackbirds just chirping away! What a wonderful sound. Then, over head, a flock of migrating Canadian Geese came flying by in their usual V formation, honking away. Boy did they pick the wrong day to come home! All in all, those two things reminded me that Spring is really on the way….move over snow!

3/8/11

Oh what an amazing day it was today! Not a cloud in the beautiful clear sky. No wind, and the temperature was a nice 35 degrees. As we continued to shovel out and await the arrival of the real snow plow, the quietness of the area brought to me the different chirping and calling of the local birds. Sounds like music I thought.

One of our chickens, a Silver Spangled Hamburg named Ginger, decided to venture out of the barn and fly up to a low hanging branch to perch and bask in the sunshine. She was so cute sitting up there enjoying her perch, but when it was time for her to go in for the night, she refused to come down! I thought if I tossed empty plastic water bottles in her direction she would get the idea. But no, she just enjoyed her perch. Needless to say, I had to climb up to reach her. I was not pleased!

3/13/11

We here in the Western Catskills are now experiencing major melting. All the rivers are now rushing and cresting. A sure sign that Spring is on its way! Our geese and ducks now enjoy venturing up and over the hill behind our home to a wide open field where they go exploring. Today is the first trip for them. It is tough getting them back home again!

3/16/11

At the top of the hill, on County Road 29, new Berlin, NY, I spotted my first Robin of Spring right near we are to build our new home. Also, I spotted my first Red-Winged Black Bird in the same area. These two birds always give me a lift in late winter when I spot them since the are so abundant here in the summer. It gives me hope that these barren trees and muddy fields will soon bloom into a vibrant green very soon!

  

3/20/11

Ahh, finally, the first day of Spring has arrived, and what a beautiful day it is too. Not a cloud in the sky, temperature in the 50’s. Birds chirping and wild bunnies just romping all over. Welcome Spring!

3/21/11

OK..who pulled the plug on Spring? I woke up this morning to cold, dampness and 3 inches of snow!

3/23/11

Winter just doesn’t want to leave the Western Catskills, that’s for sure. Today we received a total of 6 inches of snow. Again, daily routine was cancelled. Better days are on the way.

3/24/11

Beautiful sunny day today, cold and the snow is a full covering over everything as if it were still February! Checking out all the bunny tracks in the yard this morning. They must certainly be confused! But, as I went out at my usual 7 am animal feeding time, I did still hear the Spring song of the wild birds. There is hope that Spring will come to stay soon!