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First day of spring?

    I know today is officially the first day of spring, but I think I must have woken up on April Fool’s Day instead. Everything is still completely covered in snow. Usually by this time of year I’ve started cleaning up the yard and the perennial beds, but this year I can’t even find them. Somewhere, buried out there under too many inches of snow to even guess, is my garden. But instead of lamenting the delay of the spring weather around here, I thought maybe I’d take you for one (last?) walk in the snow. Want to come along?

    IMG_4763 copyFirst, we need to put on our snow shoes.

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    Don’t worry, I have an extra pair you can borrow.

    IMG_4766 copyWe’ll walk out back, first past the goat shed. See that fence? It’s normally about 5 feet high. See that low spot? It’s only 2 feet from the top of the snow. I wonder if the goats will be able to get out.

    IMG_4781 copy Out past the goats, we’ll walk along the fence through the woods.

    IMG_4771 copyWe’ll wander toward the hidden orchard.  Shhh! Don’t tell anyone that it’s there. Only us and the deer know. 😉

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    We’ve lost another peach tree from the weight of the snow, and the plum trees aren’t looking very good either. So we’ll try to remember to order new trees to plant once all the snow melts.

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    It is beautiful, isn’t it? On a cold morning, we hear popping sounds from the trees as the sap freezes. We listen to the pops on this cold morning, the only sound we hear other than the birds.

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    The evergreens look dressed for a ball, wearing their snow white gowns draped so beautifully.

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    At the bottom of the field, we’ll duck through the trees back into the forest, giving our eyes a bit of time to adjust to the dim light after walking in the bright sun.

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    Oh, I know you can’t tell right now, but this is where the creek flows when the snow begins to melt. In the summertime, we’ll walk down here and play to escape the heat. But for now we’ll just enjoy the quiet.

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    Now we’ll walk back up the path, having made a big circle, and we’ll think about what the plants might be doing underneath all that snow, as this is where the corner garden lays.

    But before we go inside, we’ll peak in the back yard. Oh, see that?

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    Looks like two of the goats are out. This is what happens when the fence is so buried by snow. We’ll put them back inside the shed where they’re safe. Just a bit of grain and some extra hay should get them in quickly.

    Our walk is over, but you should come inside for a cup of coffee or tea, or hot cocoa if you’d prefer. Thank you for joining me. It was such fun.