Changing seasons...

We got more fresh snow today, third day in a row. The heavy wet kind, the pines are bending under the burden. I've not seen the bare ground or a blade of grass here since the final week of October. I've been told to expect a cold and wet spring.

The woodshed roof is bowing and needs more bracing. The chicken coop is fine but the summer run has not fared well and will need rebuilding. The deck will need be redone this year, still sound but is going to need stripping and refinishing. Both garage and house will need a fresh set of shingles, though I may convert to a steel roof this year.

Garden must be expanded this year, adding another 20'x30' run. Need to rebuild the smoker, bigger as the one I had just wasn't big enough for what I wanted to do. Winter has been long and deep this year, burned quite a bit more wood than expected. Will need to cut even more, plan is to lay up two to three winters worth by the start of bow season in September.

Dog kennel needs to be rebuilt as well, dogs ended up wintering in the garage as I kept the wood stove rumbling as I piddled. Will build a heated kennel under the north east corner of the deck. They'll still run free as they do, but won't be dragging every carcass, bone and bit of skin they find for miles around into the garage.

I'm also planning on opening up a 25x50 yard area inside the tree line in the back, clearing out that old spring and bringing in a food plot by fall.

So my spring, summer and fall are filling up fast. As the winter groans on I find myself being ambitious, itching to put sweat and effort into the ground, find the rhythm again of the splitting maul. Smell the earth freshly turned, close a day with the sun low and smoke from the fire pit lazily reaching for a darkening sky.

As a season winds down I look to the next, always enjoying each along the way. The saying goes 'To all things there is a season', each filled with its own special peculiarities.