Acorn

Warm weather has arrived...and so has the newest Tommy on the farm. Acorn was born last August...and by the process of elimination, he is now officially the resident male. No matter that he hangs with 5 sisters & his mom~~and likely believes he is a girl, in the succession protocol, he is now king. Do you sense the ferocity he exudes? Or can you actually tell he purrs if you even so much as look his way? He is Acorn, "Corn Dog" in the barn, and he now guards our farm. Be afraid, be very afraid!

pieces of my heart

If you do not know already, I am a collector ~ a gatherer.
There are few things better to me then a day of antiquing....junking.

So Friday & Saturday were extra special when friends joined me in an Adventure in MN.
Jani, Nan & Sarah drove up from the Madison area Friday, collected me at the farm....and on we traveled. Nan cheerfully drove through wind & rain & sleet & snow----following a GPS that seemed a bit in over her head (I'm referring to the Garmen here) in the metro area (I ~ 4 ~ 9 ~ 4).

Our first destination...Junk Bonanza! Starting out with a hug from the one & only Ki, we were off, oogling over the beautiful vendor booths, each finding a treasure or two along the way. It was the closing bell that sent us off to our next stop - IKEA. Three hours in IKEA ~ you bet! Saturday was set aside for the Minnesota Flea Market....first of the year. Now, perhaps I failed to mention that the Twin Cities got about 5 inches of snow Thursday night! Did not matter...we are hardy Wisconsinites! Outdoor vendors, sure- they are hardy Midwesterners too - and the sun even warmed us up.

I am lucky beyond lucky to have such fab friends. They laugh with ease, aren't afraid to get dirt under their nails, travel 5 hours to hang out, and can carry on meaningful conversations about anything....anything. The car was full on the way home, packed & repacked. And as they turned left at the end of my driveway....pieces of my heart traveled home with them. How ever did I gather such friends?

there's an eagle in our orchard

The day called for antiquing. Winter seemed to be arm wrestling with spring, and by all accounts, was winning. So we got in our little blue car and headed south. By south, Tomah, maybe Oakdale, in our sights. Lunch out, chit chat by phone with Ian as we traveled, and antiquing. Just an hour away, and less snow....appeared that spring had even won in Black River Falls.

Home by supper, still chores to do, still snow on our ground. Plans that had waited all day were getting checked off our list. Finally appeared that perhaps the day would come to a close with a bowl of popcorn, a warm blanket & HGTV as the final to do to be done.

Looking out to the orchard as the popcorn popped, a golden movement in the snow. The neighbor's golden retriever (nemesis to our animals) is heading back to our fenced goats. Dave heads out with snow shovel in hand. That gets settled, popping begins again, and from the kitchen window I see Luna, our sable barn cat, climb up a fence post to check on a bluebird house.....she contentedly sits atop the post between the pasture and the field. Scan back to the orchard to see something distinctly white & black against the snow. "There's an eagle in our orchard"....and a cat atop a nearby post. Dave heads out again. The eagle flies off.

Snow is to blame for it all. That is my conclusion. We (animals included) have all lost patience. Dogs & cats are seeking sport. Eagles are seeking prey easily spotted against the white. And I am thinking about a long extension cord & a blow dryer! And Dave is hoping I stay away from windows until spring truly arrives.

a deceptive spring

Just out of reach, that is how spring feels here in Wisconsin. The snow melts, then falls again. Each morning I hope to see some sign of warmer weather, all I see are the poor birds ~ migrating back to "yuck". We throw thistle seed across the apple orchard to keep them fed. Flocks of robins, nuthatches feed...waiting, too, for spring.

I saw the swans...

Tundra Swans, migrating to Canada, hundreds of theses graceful birds stopping by to rest outside of Fall Creek, Wisconsin. I stopped along Highway 12, a country byway that will get me from my farm to my office in Eau Claire. Afraid to frighten them, I stayed in my car....rolled down the window and watched. It was poetry...still snow around the "ponds" they had found in the farm fields, misty rain, gray skies...it was poetry. The kind of picture you know will be painted forevermore in your heart, the kind that brings tears to your eyes with the pure beauty. And I sat, letting the clock tick, letting the office wait, watching, reading the words of this unwritten poem over & over. I saw the swans. I was surprised that no one else stopped, only one other car slowed. They couldn't or wouldn't see. The clock pushed them forward, the rain blurred their vision. "Look", I wanted to say....look at what you are missing. The swans are here for but a day or two. I saw the swans and their poetry. They were hidden in the mist.

we will take it, I guess...

rain, rain, rain
Sure beats snow, snow, snow.

Feel like we are working way too hard at this "waiting for spring" thing.

The good news is that the rain is quickly turning the remaining snow into...well, mud!

Come on warm days, when gardening is the only item on my "to do" list.

little Barn Sale reminder

Just a little note to say....we will be hosting just one Barn Sale in 2013
 ~ ~ on October 12 & 13!

Details? Check out "Barn Sales" under Chapters to the right.

Also....a little birdie (named Marie-aka Olde Lady Morgan) tells me that the Barn Sale appears in the spring issue of Flea Market Style Magazine (as it did last year too). Although I have yet to get my hands on a copy...I am feeling just a bit proud.