As I step outside, I’m greeted with an unsettling silence. We are nestled here in the country side where everything stands frozen, muddy, or bare. It is at this time that I desperately crave the sound of the frogs, crickets, and cicadoideas–the music of the night during summer.

I’m looking around and I see the firewood is stacked, the grass which is dead and fragile, and the garden which stands empty just yearning to bear a rich harvest.

There’s nothing I’m craving more than a juicy summer tomato while sitting on my back deck as the sun falls beyond the westward side of the mountain.

Spring is so close and I can honestly say that this is the first time in my life I have been so aware of the seasons…what’s to come and what has gone with each passing day.

My yard is filled with dead sticker balls–which really really pose a fall risk might I add and there are mud puddles every where from days of rainfall and lack of sunshine.

I am almost anxious with anticipation for spring and all we have to do around the house in preparation.

We have a few fallen trees to haul off, leaves to mulch, limbs to trim, grass to fertilize, and brush piles to burn.

Never-mind the fact that we have already completely re-done our landscaping in the front of our house, re-structured the layout of the garden (so. many. railroad. ties.), raked sticker balls, and raked some more.

We also are in the process of building a cold frame because we’ve realized that we desperately miss fresh greens and vegetables.

This has truly been the year of learning ourselves and what we want for our home in the future which means there’s been a lot of changes.

Like the cold frame.

We know that we want to be year-round harvesters and growers so that we can have the freshest produce to last us through the winter months.

We also are in the process of transitioning non-perishable goods such as rice, dried pasta, and granola out of our small pantry so that we can fill that space with home canned goods this summer.

It is just so exciting the possibilities of what we can do for ourselves this summer.

As I said I’m anxiously awaiting Spring’s arrival. Patience has never been my strong suit.

But for now, I guess I’ll sip my morning iced coffee, snuggle the pups, and type here on this forum.

By the way, thank you for visiting and reading what I have to share here. I have loved the interaction with people all across the world and the experiences we get to share.