Forget the groundhog, for me the first sign of Spring is the first chicken egg. The last time I bought eggs was before Zeste and Sel started laying them three years ago. Now that I have my own chickens though I get to spend more money per egg and go all winter without fresh eggs. I don’t know why everyone doesn’t keep pet chickens.
This year the hens must be a bit confused. The weather has been beautifully clear and bright, with fresh grass sprouting on the ground and even the occasional smell of flowers on the air. But each day I peeked in the nesting box to find it empty. When I woke up on Valentine’s Day to a blanket of snow I was not expecting to find anything, but there it was, a promise of warmer weather and brighter mornings on the day a sea of slush covered the yard and the mountain gleamed bright white under what must have been meters of snow.
Either Zeste or Sel decided to leave me a present. It was at that moment that a blob of slush slid out of the birch tree and hit me in the face.
The other sign of Spring? Dog hair. The epic coat blow where I’m drowning in hair and I get to sit and brush enough undercoat out of Suki to knit a hat for next winter. We’re not quite there yet though.
What are your signs that Spring is on its way?