How I Know Spring Is Really Here!

This is my favorite season!  I love spring.  Okay, that is not entirely true.  I love summer when the wild flowers are in bloom!  I love the colors: blues, purples, yellows, oranges!  I love the days fishing out on the lake.  Then there is fall.  The cooler days and the changing color of leaves.  The smell of wood smoke and the beauty of the morning fog slipping silently through the tall pine trees.  Of course winter is beautiful when the first flakes begin to fall.  I love rosy cheeks coming in from the cold to huddle around a mug of steaming cocoa.  I guess the truth is that I love each and every season, but it is spring, so right now I love it the most!

My favorite part of spring, besides the warmer weather, is the way things seem to wake up around here, as if everything is casting off the blankets of winter.  I get excited to see that first crocus poking its head out of the ground.  I smile when I see the lilacs begin to bud and later bloom.  The grass seems greener each day and life seems to take on a different sense of busy.  Around here it is time to really dig in and do that spring cleaning.  There is such a sense of accomplishment when I can throw open the windows and clean away the grime.  I love the sounds of birds chirping while we sort though seasonal clothes and put winter away.

Life is busy in other ways too.  There are plans to make!  I can’t wait until we can clean out the flower beds and plant new flowers.  Paprika wants to really dig in and make the yard pretty and deer resistant this year.  Dan has been making plans for some spring brush cutting and thinning, much to the disappointment of his work crew.  Cinnamon and I talked about garden improvements.  Allspice?  Well, he is making plans of his own.  Mostly they involve building a paintball course and friends coming over to join him.  Somehow that just doesn’t seem like the type of planning I was talking about.

We also have new arrivals which definitely add to the chore list in a good way!  We got our chicks a few weeks ago and they have already entered the scraggly not-so-cute stage, but they are still fun.  On Sunday, new baby pigs entered the barn!  They are about four weeks old and absolutely adorable!  I look forward to this part of spring more than any other!   This, all by itself, is why spring is my favorite.  I love the day the pigs arrive.  That is when I know spring has finally come!