Advancing into Spring.

It warmed up to seventy degrees yesterday, provoking more melt and more revelations. We need gravel. We need lots of gravel. The area around the barn we have in mind to use as a sacrifice paddock has turned into a pond with scattered islets of mule turds. These islets are, we know, a foot or eighteen inches high piles. We could go down there with the tractor and splash around agriculturally but, if we don't let the ground by the tractor shed dry, that'll get churned up. Both areas need a gravel base.

It seems that the previous occupants had a thing for stealing road signs, perhaps they were anarchists. So far we've found a "horse and rider" sign, a bend sign, one that's been burned and is unrecognizable and some speed limit signs. At first the "horse and rider" sign seemed a charming thing to have but if all of these came from the same post one wonders if there's now a local bend littered with equine corpses.

Lots more types of birds and bugs have emerged as well as chipmunks and something unknown that sets off the motion detector lights at night. We've seen deer on the roads and there's plenty of evidence of skunks. Last night we were enjoying the first warm evening, no fire, dog slumped on the deck worn out from a romp in a waterfall, cheese and wine and calm. And then, a frenzy of barking, Charlie does do that but not usually with this vigor. I ran to the door to see what the fuss was about, foolishly letting Sid run through my legs. Outside there was a cacophony of yipping and yapping; the coyotes had got something and got it very nearby. Charlie was highly excited and running in circles, a prancing poodle gone feral is a bewildering sight. Sid was under the Element, fortunately he knows the rattle of the treat pot, it'll even bring him running from the barn, so he was easily tempted back to safety.

Perhaps we do need a guard donkey.