A Springtime Update

Well, it sure has been a while since I last posted.  December, January, and February were some pretty tough months for us.  We wanted so badly to get back to Jamestown and finish moving our things and getting the house ready to sell, but the weather had other plans.  Seems like every time we set aside a day to drive back, there was a pretty nasty snow storm that kept us home.  The real trouble is that there is the tail of a snow belt between us and our old house, and we didn't want to chance it.  

If I'm being totally honest though, we needed a break from everything.  We were so burnt out from moving and working constantly, that we barely felt alive.  So most of January ended up being a down time for us, and we enjoyed it very much. 

We went snow hiking and snowshoeing through our woods.

 We sat by the fire with the kitties.

 

 

We looked at cool things out our windows, like the neighbors' Christmas lights reflecting off the icy snow, and the wild life walking by.

 

 But in February, I got a surge of determination and decided we were finishing our house and getting it on the market ASAP.  We got two rooms painted completely (including the ceilings and closets), the hall floor trimmed and painted, the stairs repainted, and the rest of the house touched up.  Then we had our realtor list it and we crossed our fingers.

 Turns out we didn't really need to do that.  The house got so many bids on the first day that our realtor had to present them to us three days after it was listed.  There were 6 bids!  In 3 days!  And we're very happy with how it all turned out.  The closing date is set for April 14, so we have a time frame to get all the rest of our stuff moved.

 Now that we're almost done with moving and selling our old house, I am beginning to look forward to spring and all of the joys and wonders that season brings.  Something I did back in December was to order a rototiller to help me with my ambitious garden plans, and today we went and picked it up.

 

It's way too early to start tilling though.  The ground is still frozen in lots of places, and we even have snow in some places (as you can see in the above picture).  Just having it is a delight though.  We have never had enough room to do a proper in the ground garden before, and now we have so much land that I can do anything I could ever dream of.  Eventually we want a large orchard and an old fashioned row garden, plus a chicken coop with run, but I'm making a small temporary garden this year near the house while I scope out the land and make plans for next year.  

Spring is coming to the Ciderbrook, but slowly.  The red-winged blackbirds are singing their little hearts out, the bluebirds are checking out the birdhouses, and look, we even got some snow crocuses!