zipping right along

February is zipping right along, that is. Not me.

But I'm keeping up. Just.

We've been having some cold days, but clear, mostly. Cold but not windy, mostly. Cold but sunny, mostly. It's been, in other words, an exceptionally fine February so far.

Which is great, because regardless of the weather, or how I happen to be feeling physically, I'm outside and in motion for a minimum of two hours every  morning and every evening. The goats provide the core of my personal healthcare system, and I'm grateful for the incentive.

red maple, on a day when it was warm enough to hold a pencil

I've started to write a blog post at least four times after evening chores in the past two weeks, and each time have fallen asleep over the laptop. Or, more accurately, under the laptop. Actually, under the laptop and two cats. It's an easy way to fall asleep, I suppose, if one is very thoroughly tired. But it's certainly a strange way to wake up.

So even if this post is only a jumble of random jottings, I am going to post it before evening chores today. And I'll add equally random snaps. Like these:

And these:

vase, view 1

vase, view 2

And in conclusion, two short random notes:

• Good news follow-up: I took delivery of three additional pallets of chaffhaye, and the forklift operator got them close to the barn. This makes every single day easier for me: there's still wrestling and sweating and occasional swearing involved, but no sledding or dragging through gates.Those 90 bales should take us to May Day.

• A happy "find:" the field technician who got my internet and phone line reconnected a few weeks ago dropped his (quite costly) Leatherman tool into deep snow whilst repeatedly to-ing and fro-ing between his truck and my house. He looked, I looked. He thought they would probably be near the pole where he reconnected the line. I thought they would probably be near the stone wall he scrambled over to take a shortcut. Well, I was able to give him some good news this week:

they were in the garden

I hope your days are full of good news and happy finds.

~~~~~

so far so good

Afternoon sun on the Upper West Side.

We've been having some lovely, sunny weather this week. Still quite cold, mostly teens and 20s F, but not windy. Very pleasant weather to be out in.

Moxie surveying her domain.

Bluebird hoping the starlings left some mealworms.

Tsuga in the sun.

Fernie at my fingertips.

The brighter sky in February has been very welcome, especially following the series of snowstorms in late January:

Now the forecast is a few days of warmer weather - in the 30s or even higher - which could melt more of the remaining snow in the driveway. This would be helpful because I'd like to get the next delivery of chaffhaye to the top of the driveway, at least. Each pallet holds 30 densely-packed 50-pound bags. They are large, slippery blocks and I do not find them easy to handle. If the pallets have to be left at the bottom of the driveway this time, every individual bag will eventually have to be brought up with either a sled or a wheelbarrow. The driveway is a hill. I've brought countless items up the driveway over many years, and I can tell you: 90 bags of chaffhaye would be No Joke. So here's hoping for good timing, a clear-ish driveway, and an experienced forklift operator.

Meanwhile, I hope you are having blue skies in your neck(s) of the woods!

~~~~~

right now: goat vote round two

NB: Update at bottom of post

Well, it's the second level of voting for Pen 3.

Here's what the post looks like on FB:

If I understand the system, there are three levels of competition in each "Pen" before the winner of each Pen (there are 4 Pens, and each began with 20 goat pictures!) will go on to - I sincerely hope - the Final round.

So, if you'd like to vote for Tsuga and Lily - before 5 PM ET today - click here to go to the Chaffhaye FB page and leave a comment with the number 47.

Thanks again for all your support, both voting and sending good thoughts :)
~~~

9:10 PM update:

Well, Tsuga and Lily made it through Round Two...
 and will proceed to Round 3!
Thanks again for all your support.
Onward :)

~~~~~

heads-up right now contest alert

NB: Update at bottom of post

Remember the Chaffhaye feed contest that began a month ago?

It's FINALLY Tsuga and Lily's turn for the first round voting!

If their picture gets more votes in this one-on-one round,

they will progress to the next level of voting.

Here's the Facebook page link. A comment with #47 is a vote. 

Voting ends at 5PM ET today.

Here's what the voting post looks like.

Thanks to everyone who has asked me about this since I first posted; otherwise I would have been reluctant to bring it up again on the blog. It seems very me-me-me, but it's really feed for them-them-them! And Chaffhaye clearly wants everyone to ask all their friends to come and vote, so...

(looking down, shuffling feet, twisting toe of barn boot in the mud)

Thanks :)

p.s. If my link to the voting page doesn't work, just look for Chaffhaye on Facebook. There are only a couple of pairs being voted for each day - which is why this contest is going on soooooo looooong - so it shouldn't take long to find the picture.

~~~
9 PM Update:
the voting was close, but Tsuga and Lily will "proceed to the next level."
So far, so good!
Thanks to everyone who voted and/or sent good wishes :)

~~~~~