This is the sister post to our last update, because while there is plenty of wondering and occasional concern, there is a lot of excitement for what’s about to happen to break through the cabin fever. The boys have taken to creating interpretive dances while stuck inside. The latest is called ‘The Tiger and the Antelope.’ It looks a lot like wrestling. Most of what they do looks a lot like wrestling.

Moving on, here’s the low down:

The goats are getting fat

For now we’re choosing to believe that it really is because they are pregnant and not because they are getting too much grain. Late March (and milking) is coming fast! Even bigger evidence of this: Pepper is building an UDDER! Can’t get much more real than that. This is really early for a doe that has never delivered before, so I may be imagining it. I opted not to chase her around and try and get a picture at the right angle to prove it, as I’m sure not everybody wants to see that. You are probably willing to take my word for it.

The ducks are about to lay

We’re only 2-4 weeks away from this one. At long last, we just might have some eggs. Some people, my wife being one of them, love barnyard poultry. I do not. And they do not love me either. We more or less tolerate each other’s existence. The quiches, custards and brunches that we get from them better be pretty darn good is all I have to say on that subject. The next order of business is to make sure that we get some nesting boxes into their space so that they have a place to put them. And speaking of nest boxes…

Hester and Elinor both have them

I don’t actually think that they will be delivering this time. They were both wholly uninterested in their mates when I paired them off 27 days ago. Rabbits do NOT breed like rabbits, let me just say that. Ours can be maddeningly reluctant. They may surprise me (it has happened before), so they have nest boxes just in case.

We’ve picked out seeds for our garden

We used the Baker Creek Hairloom Seeds catalog to make our choices. These are organic, non-GMO seeds, and all of them are varieties that cannot be found at the supermarket. The varieties found there are primarily raised for the purpose of one thing: yield. As we know yield = money. Also of concern is the ability to hold over for a long period of time, and that the produce doesn’t bruise easily during shipping. Taste isn’t often a concern on the larger scale of agriculture. When picking out our seeds, taste was our first concern. Yes, yield is nice because the better the yield, the better the savings. However, if given the options of choking down veggies because you don’t like them, not eating them at all, or eating veggies because you enjoy them, I’m going to pick the last option.

We’ve been the recipients of sugar maple taps from relatives

Our grandparents from out of town and an uncle from the West Coast have each sent us taps to use on our sugar maples. We’re blessed to have amazing families on all sides who are generous and thoughtful. Some of these taps are over 100 years old and still useful! I’ve been a little blindsided by the fact that maple sugaring season is so close. I keep thinking that it’s a spring thing, but in reality it’s more of a late winter thing. So, we’re only a month out. Yikes! Time to build an evaporator!

Winter is supposed to be long and dark, but here it’s flying by and in some ways it feels like we’re running out of time to get prepared.