Getting a lot of fox action lately.  Saw a pale blonde one trotting across the snow this morning.  I love having these guys nearby.

Spent a goodly portion of last night fantasizing about building the new turkey shed.  May have some feelers out for people who have more experience and who can help.  Wandered around the Milner Mall yesterday a bit and salivated over a set of windows from the Yacht Club.  They're already put together and would be great for a greenhouse.  Just gotta get all the scratch together to get this going.  *sigh*

Gotta get the turkeys lined up too.  At this point, looks like the mixed run is sold out 'til June.  Just gotta get everybody on board and go from there, I guess.  Money, too.  Argh.

Thinking lots more about goat possibilities.  Kevin and Casey are getting rid of all of theirs, and Greg and I talked last night about the possibility of doing goat milk next summer.  He was supportive of the idea and I know there's a high demand, especially for value-added products like cheese.  Just gotta hang onto the commercial kitchen.  Looking to do boarding swap with Brandie as a possibility.

SPRINGSPRINGSPRINGSPRINGSPRING!! *boing!*

Been talkin' turkeys with a couple gals here in the valley.  We're looking at all going in on an order together.

I've been perusing Craigslist for rabbits and goats, too.  I know there's a local gal who raises Boers, but worth shopping around a little for, no?  We need to switch out rabbit breeds, too.  I'd love to do a heritage breed and am Just. So. Unenthused about Californians and New Zealands.

On the ARBA page, they also have guinea pigs.  I don't think I've ever seen anything that looks as much like Cousin It as this Peruvian:

It's been a busy couple of weeks 'round here, what with houseguests and traveling to Denver and whatnot.  Zoomed to Fort Collins on Friday to see Joel Salatin speak, which was interesting, then back up the next morning on two hours of sleep to get my friend to the airport in time.  Still haven't quite recovered, I don't think.

But it it SPRING!  Time change, then equinox, then funky Colorado weather.  Today--gorgeous.  Yesterday--gorgeous but cold.  Friday--winter storm with snow going sideways as the wind howled.  Yeah.  Never dull around here.

The critters are feeling it, too.  We've had a plethora of dead skunks and the occasional dead 'coon, making trips into town a rather . . . aromatic venture.  Had some food outside in the Great Outdoor Freezer, which a raccoon decided would be good midnight snackin'.  The cat, apparently, is territorial when it comes to these sorts of intrusions and proceeded to yowl and mrrrrrr at said 'coon until Greg came and chased it off.

Tonight is dinner with our friend Joann, the woman who got us started on turkeys last year.  I think we may split a mixed-breed run of heritage turkeys with her this year, now that she's in a place where she can have them.  Need to put together my article for The Local and clean out her cages to get them back to her tonight, too, so off I go!

Today:  making lacto-fermented sauerkraut--cabbage, leftover whey, salt, and caraway seeds.  Me trying to smoosh the cabbage in a bowl with a meat hammer is turning out to be one of those not-so-easy propositions.  *sigh*

Yesterday, shopping with Greg, I noticed there were flower and veggie seeds on display in some of the stores.  Cue an immediate jonesing for summer.  Ah well--it's already late February.  May will be here before I know it.  In the meantime, I do have some flowers that need repotting (into a brass bin that needs polishing, first), herbs that probably need watering, and a blooming paperwhite.  The other is resistant, for some reason.

It's cold and snowy outside, but we're looking forward to spring.  A friend pointed out that spring is now less than a month away!  Of course, knowing Steamboat, it'll still be snowing like all get out halfway into May.  Not a bad thing, as we've been low on our snow loads this year and we'll need the moisture come summer.

I will say, however, that with the last three years having 100" months in December, January, and February, that it was nice having a little bit of a break this year.  Whew!

We're eyeing our woodpile and scheming where to get more.  I dug out my last two gallons of raw goat milk from the freezer yesterday and am getting ready to make some lovely cheese.  We've signed up for a Front Range CSA, but hoping that this summer will be kinder to our garden than the last.  We've months to go, but I can't wait for warmer weather.