Spring Chores

Spent part of the weekend giving the "winter shutdown, spring clean-up" to the area around the woodstove. When I do this, it means I don't plan to fire up the stove again until cool weather arrives in the fall. So let's hope I am right and we don't have any more unusually cold nights this spring!

Cleaning it out included cleaning the firebox itself; clearing out the remaining pieces of wood we had brought inside (taking them back to the firewood stack) cleaning the wood rack, the ash bucket, etc. and then sweeping and mopping the tile floor all around the wood stove. Scrubbing and cleaning the window on the front of the woodstove (noticed we need to replace the gasket around the window before using it this fall), wiping down the stove and generally getting the ash residue off of everything.

If you don't own a woodstove, you might not realize they do generate quite a bit of dust/ash in your home. It doesn't seem like it when you are using it, but over time you will begin to notice the layer of ash dust on everything in the room. So it is good to have a time in spring to clear all that out and make it fresh again.

Wish I could post some video on here of the goat kids playing together -- we shepherd the herd out to open areas (since we STILL haven't had rain, and our pasture is getting thin) and the kids all romp and play while their mothers graze. It is like a bunch of children on a playground - they especially like it when we take them into the trees, because they find stumps and branches to climb up and on and jump off, sometimes onto each other. They are so playful and cute at this age. All seem to be doing well.

We are still in a burn ban and high fire risk zone for this month, and it is cramping our pasture management style, but we will live. However, unless it rains soon, this is not going to be a good year for anything. I am 50 years old and can't personally remember a spring with this little moisture this late in the year. April is usually our wet/rainy month, and we've had nary a drop. There were storms in Kansas a few days ago, however, they all missed us (went east). Which may have been a slight blessing, since they also carried damaging hail.

Pray for rain for us, please.