Can you say Spring Fever!?!

Today it (finally!) reached a glorious 40 degrees and the sun was shining! February weather was kind of a bugger and we’ve been looking forward to some warmer days.

This morning we had a couple visitors stop in as we finished up chores. It tends to slow up chores when we have company, but we love to visit, so we really don’t mind.

Roger, a gentleman in his 80’s, stops in pretty regularly to visit and see how his Jersey cows and young stock are doing. We enjoy his visits and he keeps us up to date with the latest coffee shop news.

Neighbors of ours also stopped in for a visit. They, too, were heading to a farm auction this morning. We haven’t been to a sale in awhile, and while this sale bill didn’t hold many items of interest to us, one thing piqued our curiosity.

A brooder house.

We have a dozen or so laying chickens that roam free around our farm. In one of our buildings we have some nesting boxes for them to lay their eggs in, but a brooder house might make a better home for them.

Well, they had quite a crowd at the sale. I think everyone was ready to get out of the house and get some fresh air.

Since I now live an hour from where I grew up, I have found that sales are often a place where you will see friends you may not see very often, and have time to catch up with what’s been happening.

Today I had fun talking with Ron, a friend of mine from my hometown. I used to work with his wife Dawn and it’s always fun to hear what’s new going on in their world.

They run a fun little operation called Country Boy Salvage and I love keeping up with them on their blog. Check it out when you get a chance.

The brooder house they sold wasn’t quite what we had in mind, but my friend Ron was confident he knew where I might find a couple for sale. Woo hoo! Networking strikes again (smiles!).

After spending a couple three hours or so watching items sell, catching up with friends and enjoying the fresh air, we headed back towards home.

On the way, we stopped at Norby’s, the local farm and home store, to get some supplies. I didn’t get twenty feet inside the door before I was mesmerized by the tall display of new seed packets!

Oh…. the possibilities  🙂

Ya see, seed packet displays are almost as fun as book stores! It’s hard for me to break away from the force field once I get drawn in!

I stand there looking at all the new varieties that I didn’t even know existed! Snake gourds? Miniature pumpkins on a stick? Gourds with necks as long and straight as canes? Those would be fun to paint!!!

And along comes the dream of an acre of garden… covered in pumpkin vines, gourd vines, melon vines, rows and rows of carrots and grean beans and peppers and tomatoes, and not a weed in sight!!!!

Of course I’m just dreaming…     sighhhhhhhh. If that was all I had to do. Dan just shakes his head at me. And smiles.

That didn’t stop me from picking out a dozen or so new adventures, though!

A girl has to have hope, right? And I always hope, year after year, for a nice big spot to grow my pumpkins! This year I’m going to hope for enough space to grow all these fun gourds too!

When I got home, the Spring fever kicked in again. I reached onto my shelf of gardening tools and gloves, and fertilizer and pots. And out came my trays to start some seeds. Ohhhh, it’s so exciting!

And I want to get Reed to help me too! I’m super excited about that! I think he will enjoy watching them grow and I know he will love helping me put them in the ground when it’s time!

Here are a couple little planters I picked up at second hand stores last year. Aren’t they cute?

I brought them in and washed them up and started dreaming of what cute little flowers I might plant in them. I have them all ready for when I go to the greenhouses this spring 🙂

While I was at Norby’s they had some spray paint on display. I couldn’t resist picking out a couple cans, not even knowing what exactly I would use them for! Obviously, their marketing is working, haha!

Here are a few things I also had stuck away on my gardening shelf. I think they’re both good candidates for the spray paint I picked up.

The Spring Fever was kicking into overdrive as I imagined all of the things I could decorate my new perennial garden with!

My daydreaming came to a halt, though, as I was finished washing dishes… Dan stuck his head in the kitchen to see if I could come out and help for awhile.

Dan, Reed, Chelsey and Jason had started processing some of our smaller calves. I headed out to lend a hand with the bigger ones as we dehorned and gave vaccination shots. It always goes smoother with more hands and I was happy to help.

It was kind of a rodeo today though, with the pens getting sloppy and the ice underneath where it hadn’t thawed yet. The calves had a little Spring Fever too as they kicked up their heels, running laps around the pens.

In a couple hours we had them all done and it was time for chores. Dan put a new grader blade on my skid loader bucket so I was anxious to get out there and get the lot scraped clean.

It really does feel like Spring is just right around the corner today. And then comes Summer!