This week has been a bit up and down here, and yes, I’ve been remiss and haven’t posted more photos yet. I appear to be jinxed in that respect because I've just tried to upload one photo 5 times with no success. I will try later this weekend!

So: there is a great deal less snow here now, which is nice because it’s warmer, but it’s also incredibly muddy. Mud is fun outside, just not so much inside when tracked in by people and dog and cats and clinging stubbornly to the floor. 

I can also see some of the garden sites, which is nice (so I can plan), and I’m pretty sure there were tiny crocus leaves coming up in the soil beside the snow the other day. There is also a fair amount of sap coming out of the maple trees - we tapped three trees to try out syrup-making with the kids this year. So far, fun, but I can just imagine how incredibly long the boiling process is going to take!

There are many more birds showing up, and some great sightings here this week - a Pileated Woodpecker on Tuesday morning, Wednesday we saw four Robins in one of the fields and a Great Blue Heron flying overhead, then while picking up my Mum’s tractor in Tiny Twp, three Tundra Swans and two Sandhill Cranes! AND at home there were six Killdeer in the field vying for territories. Very cool. 

Very much not cool, however, was the ermine that made an appearance last week trying to get my duck. My sister was in the barn and rescued the duck but the ermine escaped. Thursday morning, I heard a whole lot of ruckus in the barn on my way over. The ermine came back and killed the girl duck. I saw his little white furry face hiding in the wall, where I had hoped he was trapped; apparently not as he got one of the chickens later in the morning. So, then followed some wall and door work / covering. I am not pleased. That ermine may well end up as mitten liner. 

On a brighter note, Easter weekend is upon us and I actually managed to find chocolates my kids can eat! And we can have a hunt for real eggs, because the chickens are starting to look for new and exciting places to lay their eggs…!