As Gracie and I worked, yesterday morning, hauling out fork-fulls of winter bedding and spreading it across the corridor field, flock after flock of geese flew overhead, crying out with their distinctive melancholic call. But they were flying North. No need for melancholy. They have decided that the warm-up is on its way. I am on their side.
I saw three fat Robins yesterday and heard the call of the Red Winged Blackbird. Spring is on its way. TRUE!
If you are in the same hemisphere as The Farmy: pat yourself on the back, I will help – Pat, Pat, Pat!! I think we made it to the other side – us warriors of the winter. There will be more weather but winter has lost its grip. Spring is on its way!
Am I pregnant yet? 
We don’t know Poppy, darling. Time will tell and all that!
Poppy went into Standing Heat yesterday morning. It was not a perfect heat, but My Pig Mentor and I decided to breed her anyway as the semen waiting in its little bag was not going to last much longer. Tane the little boar did his job well, snuffling with her and getting her excited. In fact HE got a wee bit excited too and puddled out to see if Tima might want to share his excitement, he began to butt her in the side (pig foreplay) and she turned on him showing her teeth, squealed, spun like an eel and bit him. He backed off in a hurry and went straight to bed. 
When the girl says no she means NO. Pigs know these things. And apparently Tima is still a virgin.
The tiny glass house is in full production, plants everywhere. And the tomatoes are already coming out to harden off in the weak almost spring sun. 
The promise of summer is like a drug. We are drug along in its wake. In fact – like yesterday – we run ahead of it!
Albeit very, very slowly.
Gracie has gone. The things she has seen this visit! And now- She has climbed back on her train for Wisconsin and the university. She and I are hoping she can make it back one more time before the term is over and she goes back to Korea. Then, she has decided to try and make a roof top garden on top of the apartment building where she lives in Korea. She is going to make her boyfriend carry bags of potting-mix up in the lift. We both had a wee giggle about that. She loves the farm.
Oh I almost forgot to tell you. I was standing scratching Lady’s head and saw her belly move. Her calf was dancing a tango inside there. I kept double checking with my brain that I was seeing what I was seeing but it was definitely little hooves jigging in there. Lady A just watched me solemnly and leaned her head in further for a scratch. She loves her head to be scratched behind her ears. But now we know she has a live calf in there and her udder is starting to fill out ever so slightly.
I have given them both the lecture about NOT calving while I am in Portland (the 27th – 29th) for the weekend but they just blinked and gently cited Murphy’s law. Have you seen a cow blink. It is like a tide. Closing in and then seeping out. Liquid. Ordained. “What is, what is… relax” – those eyes say.”Que Sera Sera” (Are cows multi lingual?) This is how a cow thinks.
Time to get to work.
I hope you have a lovely day, Oh I wish you were here.. all of you.. we would have the winter cleaned out of the barns in no time.
Your friend on the farm
celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
52 responses to “Spring Sounds”
How funny, using Tane as bait – good luck Poppy 😉
Just discovered your blog and now I can’t wait for more!
Poor little Tane! And he was only trying to help!!! xo
Poor tane! That picture of him tells it all. Could you imagine if we all turned up at the farmy, in loads of buses, cars and bikes. The noise! The chatting, laughing. We would soon have those barns ship shape, like a whirlwind. Either that or drive you mad! x
It would be a delightful whirlwind, then we would all lunch under the trees in our work clothes! c
What a lovely thought 😀x
Spring has Sprung
let the good times roll https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35W5V6SQn94
You write so beautifully – every post is a treat to read ! (And I majored in English Lit. in college… so I know good writing when i see it!) Thanks for taking us along on your splendid journey. For a few moments each day we are there with you on your wonderful farm. On another note, spring is always such a joyful time and never more than on a farm. We used to love it when the Snow Geese and Canada Geese flew over our farm in Quebec each spring and stayed, for the night, in the St. Lawrence River just below us. What a noise they all made once they’d all congregated. It used to remind of me of a packed football stadium! As soon as it was light, off they’d go – making room for the next contingent of geese to arrive. (Quebec allows the hunting of Snow Geese now because there are so many. We had friends we allowed to hunt on our farm and I have such good memories of serving up Snow Geese breast which I’d cooked in broth, a bit of our maple syrup and some onion. All the people helping us to ‘sugar’ were always fed very well – and the flow of rum never ceased !)
Wow, that sounds like an amazing time.. i have never even seen this process, but i do like maple syrup! And how wonderful to have whole flocks of geese overnighting at your place.. what a sound and a sight!
Hi Cecilia – those times are very special to my heart. I’ve been feeling very nostalgic for all the good times we used to have at our farm. The family in Quebec misses us – and all the company we’d get from the States because life was (not so much in winter…) such a lot of fun with friends and family. The slant of the sun right reminds me of those hard-working but fun days ‘sugaring’ – so I’m missing both the and my husband very much…
Oh yes.. You are having a Missing day.. In understand those – I sometimes I think The Missing means we have good wide awake hearts.. it surely must be healthy.. much love for your sugary memories.. c
I love that phrase ‘Good Wide-Awake Hearts’ !!!!
I’m thinking of writing a post about those times. I wrote a little article when we lived in Malta about sugaring, complete with a few photos. How foreign that must have felt for the Maltese people – there’s not a lot of trees there and, for sure, NO SNOW !!
I get such a kick out of Ton and Boo who always seek out the company of the pigs. I’d just love to know what they are thinking. The plant house looks amazingly chockful of goodies. poorTane! Being used as a tease! He looks mighty sad and rejected. And him sooooo cute.
I think you’ve actually managed to make me miss mucking stalls.
I do a couple of hours a day, at a gentle speed, slowly building up my summer fitness.. I go blobby over the winter!
I just shoveled a half yard of compost and discovered that I’m definitely not in summer shape myself!
Yup – we are on the same page. c
My arms and shoulders are still protesting. I fully intended to spread the jobs out but in the end one chicken coop – albeit a very small one – one duck pen – whooee a sinus clearing for sure! – one goat pen and about three feet of Percy’s packed down hay straw bed in two days. I. Am. Done. For. But what a good feeling when it’s done! We haven’t heard the blackbirds yet but the cardinals and chickadees have been singing and the geese are flying. What a joy spring is!
Morning Celi! the Portland crowd needs to see that picture of Tima and Tane laying in the sun and protected by Boo and Ton! what a grand one!! the doggie Boys just watching life go by thinking “what a great place we have for home ~ we wouldn’t trade this farm for nuttin’ “!!!!! the plants look great! have a great day!!
Your green growing things are very lovely to my eyes!
Linda ★★
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com
https://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com/sherlock-boomer
Geese doing a victory formation, geese at a gala … maybe they’re taking over the world!
I wish I was there to help you, it sounds as though you are a bit closer to spring than we are; we are closing in.
J
What a day that would be if we all gathered together to clean winter out of the barn! I’m sure we’d get it done in short order, but I’m sure we’d have a lot of fun doing it, too! I think it would be a bit noisy!! I’m in!
I am glad your cows are multilingual! Was out walking the dogs with a pal today in the sunshine and we saw blossom on trees – spring is definintely on its way!