Hausfraus

I was amused down in the barn (as I am so frequently).  By the entrance to any number of burrows, there are ragged remnants of the winter's supply of blankets, those diaper wipes pulled from the bucket last fall and taken underground to keep the mice and ground squirrels warm.  One industrious little mousewife has thrown out the dried grasses she had chosen instead.  Obviously I'm not the only one stricken with this spring-cleaning fever.

Nature opted for the blue dress after all yesterday, but kept an underslip of cold air.  It was warm enough to sit at the end of the deck with a book for awhile after chores.  Bess moved from sun to shade and back again.  Pearl joined us and took the opportunity for a bath.  Is there any creature more hedonistic than a cat?  Long, luxurious, licking strokes, followed by an arched back and big stretch, then curling up for a nap in the sunshine.  And they say dogs have it good.

In the afternoon, restlessness took over and we all went out to the front yard and I dug up the stand of dead mullein.  I'd grown so used to seeing those six-foot sentinels, my horizon looks strange to me now.  As long as I had the garden fork in hand, I went ahead and dug out the rest of the wild grasses in the herb garden.  Everywhere I go outside, clumps of daffodils are pushing up, and there are even a few paper-white narcissus blooms.  It's still too early to rake off the blanket of leaves, but that is moving up on the To-Do list.

When a wood stove is the source of heat, one has to plan ahead and light the fire before the temperature drops at sundown.  I'd made a late run to the feed store and by the time I'd unloaded the goat chow, chicken feed and bird seed, it was close to dark.  The stove has to be monitored while the vents are open and the fire catches hold so it doesn't overheat and start a chimney fire, so I can't leave the room for half an hour or so.  That would have to wait until the kids were put to bed.  When they were all tucked in, the house was cold.  Ah well, a hot toddy while the embers caught made it all better.

It was a good day.