Sat. Jan. 24th… Clear, Cold, Windy… Yet, Just another day……

Another day of winter, but once completed, it will surely place us closer to that March 20th earmark we are all awaiting. SPRING!!!! Yet still, I never find it difficult to see the beauty of winter, even though we tire of the cold winds, the inconvenience of the old and dirty snow. Perhaps one day soon, it will snow just enough to renew the fresh, clean appearance of an undisturbed snowfall in the yard…… covering the millions of footprints made by deer, rabbits, fox and crows as they bid for ownership of any morsels left over from the squirrel feeder or bread we toss out for the birds. Many times I have found squirrels emptying the bird feeders…… hanging upside down from them to retrieve the bird seed, even though the ground is littered with zillions of seeds the birds splash everywhere as they eat. I have found deer browsing under the bird feeders, eating tiny seed with the dexterity of a brain surgeon…… truly amazing, the things you see in the outdoors. We have come home to find our chickens feeding amongst deer, turkey, squirrels, birds and rabbits all at the same time in an area the size of our side yard……… all munching and dining on something pleasing to their individual tastes, as peacefully as siblings of the same species, inhabiting the same area.
The wind is forever moving…… carrying scents and air currents across the nation… the air we breath this morning may also be present to another, that will breath it again, in New Jersey or even Florida later in the day… or tomorrow. As surely as the wind will carry Canadian winds to us here in New York, so then will the south west, deliver milder air, as the currents change from a winter pattern to a spring like pattern soon. I smile when I see the currents moving from Ohio and Tennessee, across Pennsylvania, for I know their temperatures will be felt here sooner or later.
Although we love the winter, with all it’s beauty and tourist pull for skiing and other winter outdoor activities…… we also love the summer activities available here and this spring will be especially exciting with the arrival of the Alpacas, the building of the hospice gift shop, the return to trout fishing, river fishing in the Hudson and later in the summer…… arrival of our Angora rabbits.
We have almost received the official declaration of having “farm status”, which will help us monetarily with farm business and we continue to deal other legal ramifications that, when achieved, will ease the problems we now have before us.
We are setting up bookkeeping procedures and cataloging our activities and listing our receipts for the three entities here……
The Cluckin’ “A” Critter Farm, LLC…… then, Nature’s Friend’s of Hospice, Inc…… and then, there is just the plain old, Vicki & Skip.
In the next two days we are preparing for the eleven day visit of our great friend, Robin, from Georgia. Somehow, yesterday she fell and broke her ankle, but she called Vicki last evening and told her that she informed the doctor that took care of her, to put a cast on it and pronto…… because she was going to New York on vacation Monday! I hope she doesn’t have a lot of pain while she is here. We are masters at managing pain after Vicki’s herniated disc episode last summer, so we’ll make her stay as comfortable as possible. We’ll pick her up at the airport on Monday sometime.