Back at the ranch

Look at all that snow!!

The birds are chirping, the sun is shining, the snow is melting (slowly), and it feels wonderful to be back at the ranch. It almost feels like we never left. This winter flew by so fast and the piles of snow and the freezing cold temperatures didn’t seem to faze us. Last week we hard the calls from our resident sandhill cranes. They are back, a telltale sign that spring has arrived.

We are proud to announce that we completed our building project down the road!

Last week, Rob and I spent a couple nights at the ranch finishing up a few small renovation projects like trim and paint. Next we are going to tackle the installation of our new cookstove! The original ranch wood stove was moved to the new cabin down the road. This new cookstove will not only be able to heat the house, it will also act as an oven and cooktop. It will be perfect for those times when we might really want to feel like we are living off grid. This beauty is Canadian made and I have no doubt that I will be itching for fall to get it fired up so that I can use it to bake breads and pizzas.

We’re sad to say that we lost one of our kittens this winter. We are still hopeful that she might return to us this spring though. Raco and Lynx spent the winter keeping us company at the new cabin while we completed the build. Both are spending more time outdoors these days and I have no doubt that they will be excited to be back at the ranch.

The focus for April and May will be planning. We need to decide what we want to start with (market garden? chickens? pigs?) so that we can start building the infrastructure needed this summer. We’ll be sure to include you in the process. Stay tuned!