Joyful things as Winter repellent.
This month is historically, after 13 New England winters, not the best time for me, outlook-wise. Too much indoor sloth and near-unlimited opportunities for ponderous brooding, exacerbated by my semi-recent departure from four rollercoasty years of animal sheltering, euthanasia and involvement in cruelty investigations doesn't lend one towards a Pollyanna attitude. Thankfully, a great new career opportunity is on the horizon, the spring peepers will start their nightly swamp ruckus in a matter of weeks and it's no longer entirely premature to allow the 2010 Garden Visions to get percolating in the brain.
It's also helpful to take stock in the good things.
Like...my kooky, little, three-legged sidekick, Sveta. It's trite to say, but she is my best friend....and the first thing and last thing I see every day.
One of my biggest points of pride, my natural history/curiosites collection.
18 years as a veterinary technician plus many thoughtful friends and relatives over the years who are aware of (and periodically indulgent towards) my "proclivities," have allowed me to amass quite a decent little collection. Sometimes I feel guilty that our hermetic tendencies keep it mostly unseen and unappreciated by others. A small peek at some of it...
Though the outside gardens are still in the throes of practically cryogenic slumber, my houseplants keep me in verdant hope. This winter, after at least 4 years of duddishness, my Lipstick plant (Aeschynanthus radicans) finally put out! Even with cat damage (grr!), it still unleashed some glorious, much-appreciated color.
And, after a pretty much eggless autumn and winter from our 5 lovely hens, we are starting to find perfect, beautiful eggs in the nestbox every evening! After the Great Fox Massacre of July 09, wherein we lost 5 poor, dumb, little busybodies to the local fox after a very bad judgment call of us just "running up to the store real quick" while the flock was free-ranging, the resulting trauma seemed to have turned off everyone's egg spigots. I'm more about them as pets and personalities than the eggs they give us anyhow...but it was still sad to think of their stress and loss of mojo. After months of rest and a winter molt, they are back in the egg-saddle. The Fallen Five will be replaced by new chicks come spring, we will be on super fox patrol, and all will be well. Having chickens is a wonderful, simple pleasure, to be sure.....as was having our first quiche in ages this very evening. Iris, Sophia, Dolores and Irene back in the autumn....
And with that, time to bundle up for sleep.
It's also helpful to take stock in the good things.
Like...my kooky, little, three-legged sidekick, Sveta. It's trite to say, but she is my best friend....and the first thing and last thing I see every day.
One of my biggest points of pride, my natural history/curiosites collection.
18 years as a veterinary technician plus many thoughtful friends and relatives over the years who are aware of (and periodically indulgent towards) my "proclivities," have allowed me to amass quite a decent little collection. Sometimes I feel guilty that our hermetic tendencies keep it mostly unseen and unappreciated by others. A small peek at some of it...
Though the outside gardens are still in the throes of practically cryogenic slumber, my houseplants keep me in verdant hope. This winter, after at least 4 years of duddishness, my Lipstick plant (Aeschynanthus radicans) finally put out! Even with cat damage (grr!), it still unleashed some glorious, much-appreciated color.
And, after a pretty much eggless autumn and winter from our 5 lovely hens, we are starting to find perfect, beautiful eggs in the nestbox every evening! After the Great Fox Massacre of July 09, wherein we lost 5 poor, dumb, little busybodies to the local fox after a very bad judgment call of us just "running up to the store real quick" while the flock was free-ranging, the resulting trauma seemed to have turned off everyone's egg spigots. I'm more about them as pets and personalities than the eggs they give us anyhow...but it was still sad to think of their stress and loss of mojo. After months of rest and a winter molt, they are back in the egg-saddle. The Fallen Five will be replaced by new chicks come spring, we will be on super fox patrol, and all will be well. Having chickens is a wonderful, simple pleasure, to be sure.....as was having our first quiche in ages this very evening. Iris, Sophia, Dolores and Irene back in the autumn....
And with that, time to bundle up for sleep.
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