Last week we had unseasonably warm weather for zone 4b. It was in the mid-eighties and it finished off the snow. Or so we thought. Then, on Sunday it snowed. Granted, we have until around Memorial Day for our last frost.
During that warm time I took the opportunity to clean the chicken coop and my chickens got a free range day (I also got in trouble for that). I repaired my goats gate, replacing the deer fencing for cattle panel. I saw the first sprouts of my beans and peas coming out of the soil. The flowering bulbs have also come up. My old beetle car also got sold to a couple that is going to hopefully bring it back to life.
I also have so many things that need to do within the next couple of weeks, I feel like my head is spinning and I cannot pin down on which one to start. I am supposed to start a new job, but am waiting on the background check. My indoor baby chicks are getting too big and need to go out in the chicken tractor that I am yet to fix. I also have my mom’s chicks coming to stay for two weeks.
I plan to revamp the goat shelters as well and have an expectant goat mama who will need to be separated from the other goats. So that also means I have to see how the birth goes, learn how to work around milking her and my new job alongside caring for a newborn goat.
There are also a couple of egg eaters, so I’m trying to figure out how to redo their nesting boxes so that they can no longer eat them. I also will eventually be downgrading their coop so I can move them.
Lastly, don’t forget the garden. I am downsizing that too. I plan to grow mostly from pots. The good thing is that I have at least a month to solidify that. It will be mostly beans, peas, kale, broccoli, onion, potatoes, and carrots. It is not as big or elaborate as I would like. But some of this is dependent on what my landlord will get up to, my job actually starting, my animals and weather.
Ultimately, everything is out of your control. I hate to tell you that, but the more people try to make me think you can have control, something will pop up. I expect my mama goat to give birth behind my back, especially if I’m working. What I don’t know is if she will be a good mama, as this is her first freshening, or if the kid will make it.
I still don’t have my chickens fully figured out either. They still occasionally escape, one had laid an egg in the goat’s hay loft. Then there is the egg eating. The weather comes and goes. Your best laid plans fall through
God is the only one in control. While He does not tell us his plans. We have our hopes for the best outcomes. He will give us glimpses and those might give us hope or dash it away.
The hardest part I think is accepting what happens. When you work so hard just for something to not work out, it is so hard to accept and not get angry. But even in those times, there are good moment. So this little interlude of false spring gave me chances to get ahead on some of my chores. I got to see some problems that I thought had gone away come right back. Just keep looking up and ahead. The past is a lesson taught and looking only down makes you forget that the light that helps you see your path is above you and it holds many wonders of its’ own.
When you get a break in the weather, go outside and get it done. That is forward and you never will have known it was a good thing to do until you look back.
The Black Cherry Azalea 