Spring Rituals in Winter (and other stuff)

Yesterday I began one of my homestead spring rituals. I plugged in the incubator and set chicken eggs for an early March hatch. Normally, I try to shoot for a St. Patrick’s Day hatching, but this year they’ll be about a week earlier. Sometimes you just have to get the eggs when you can and since I’m down to two roosters in the flock, I had to beg eggs off one of the neighbors.

Listening to this weekend’s weather prediction, it’s hard to believe that spring will be here soon. They are calling for a ‘possibly’ major ice storm and more snow. Today will be spent filling water jugs and buckets, just in case we lose electricity. Cooking is never a problem as we can use either the woodstove or the firepit. It’s forecasts like this that make me glad we heat with wood. J

I now have tomatoes and luffas started in tiny peat pots. Maybe at some point this afternoon, I’ll do hot peppers for containers later. I am so ready for a big garden and fresh veggies again.

We are again a family of four as two of our adult children have moved back home. This should get interesting, as the rules that applied when they were teens no longer suit the situation. Not that there won’t still be some rules, i.e., helping with household chores, etc., but curfews will no longer apply and I promise I won’t be up waiting for them to get home. I think that’s going to be the biggie…can they come and go without waking us up at night? After all, we’re the early to bed (8-9pm), early to rise (4:30am) type. Daughter Dumpling is already good at this, now we’ll see how Son Child is. (See, MichaelM…they might go off to college, the military, etc, but they always come back)

For now tho, it’s time to go fill water jugs.