Mucking Out

It's hard to believe it's April already, isn't it?  Ski season has finally come to an end, Saturday and Sunday were beautiful days and we had a nice finish to a wonderful long 4 month season.  While we're all a bit sad that it's over, I'm must admit I'm really ready to have our weekends back and I'm looking forward to time outdoors without snow underfoot.   Since Sunday night, it has been raining and misting pretty much non-stop - so the few feet of snow still on the on the mountain isn't in great shape for skiing anyway.   The weather is expected to be beautiful for the long weekend, in the 70's and mostly sunny - I'll take it :-) 

      Once school was finished Wednesday, Nikki spent the day along with several girls she rides with, Mucking Out and cleaning the barn to get it ready for spring, and even though it was still raining here and there, it really needed to be done because the warm up is quickly approaching.   She also managed to sneak in an hour of riding time when the rain stopped and  she shared some of her lunch (unwillingly) with one of the ponies who apparently likes cucumbers :-)  When it comes to horses, I'm alway impressed with her ability to meet the task regardless of conditions (she's sweeping in the rain) and to do it with a smile on her face  - it's easy to see she really loves horses.   Now, if I could only get that same smile when it comes to keeping her room clean.     

After that odd mid-March warm up we had, it turned colder the last several days which allowed for some additional sap to flow from our maple trees.  We collected enough to start our final batch of maple syrup last night and  then pulled the taps out of the trees.  We should get another 3 quarts of syrup bringing out total to 1 gallon and 3 quarts, well over our goal and enough to last us the year.  


We're in for some serious outdoor weekending, starting Friday -  I dare say, they'll be plenty of digging in the dirt, planting - it's time for peas, clearing more brush, grilling and relaxing right here at home....  
Today I'm off to buy new bike helmets for the kids -once again they've outgrown them and  I think they'll be needing them this weekend.  Also, I suspect they're excited to spend a little time here .... 

George and I may have to join them :-O

I can't think of a better way to spend the first weekend in April,

See you back here next week, until then, 

Happy Weekending!