I’m not ready to let winter go.

Certainly the sunshine & warmer temperatures of the last few days have felt amazing …

And the forecast of a potentially large snowfall later this week is rather unwelcome. I am so over snow plowing, piling on the clothes just to go outside to do chores, and constantly stoking the wood stove in the shop to keep the temperatures above freezing …

But winter is my time to read. Stretching out on the recliner with a cup of coffee, the cat on my lap, and a good book – a great way to spend a cold winter’s day!

Among the top books from my winter reading was “The Third Plate – field notes on the future of food” by Dan Barber. This optimistic book looks at where our food system should be going and is going, from a chef’s perspective. Another good one is “In Search of the Perfect Loaf – a home baker’s odyssey” by Samuel Fromartz. The author goes on a worldwide quest to learn about baking the best bread. Along with a lot of books, I enjoy reading magazines, and internet articles. Not surprisingly, many are about farming.

Now with spring approaching, the time for relaxing & reading is coming to an end. It’s time to take what I learned from my reading and apply it to our own farming practises. That’s exciting & challenging! We have lots of plans, lots of new ideas, and lots of optimism for this upcoming season!

I’m ready for spring … but a bit more winter weather would be okay too – I’ve still got a few more books to read!

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Sage update.

Sage desperately wants to make friends with the Flynns. They’re warming up to her – slightly. Then she bounds after them …

Sage loves running on the bales …

… and digging in the pile of wood chips.

We are confident she will be a great dog – eventually!