The Cold Blue Skies of March

March on the farm has always been one of my least favorite times of the year. Sure, there's baby goats to play with, but now they are half-grown out of their cute baby stage. And to be honest, the novelty of feeding the bottle babies while my bare fingers stick to the glass bottles has entirely worn off. The cold weather of March has none of the glory that January and February's negative temperatures and screaming winds have; rather it is just dull and aching, hovering on the edge between snow and a cold drifting rain. Even the March sun is misleading, the clear skies tell a lie about Spring being just around the corner, and at this point I am actually tired of complaining about the weather. It is this time of year that always leads me to begin creating projects and planning business ventures, mainly in an effort to push myself through until the ground finally thaws enough to start thinking about cleaning up the dog poop that decorates the yard, and turning over the muddy ground in hopes of planting the garden sometime before July. Recently I've ventured into making goats' milk bar soap, which was very successful, and will lend itself to a post when we (a very vague and collective "we," depending on who stops by to help out) decide to make another batch. This batch smells of toasted honey and warm oats...hopefully it will lather and wash as well as it smells. I've also managed to create, with the help of my amazing daughter, Hailey, a very nice batch of powdered laundry soap, which works wonderfully in our vintage (yes, it is actually belt driven) washing machine, leaving our barn clothes smelling lovely and feeling soft. I am planning to make another batch using essential oils, so stay tuned for that post. The most immediate plan is to make and photo-document a batch of cheese (coming soon to a theater near you...). For those of you that don't follow my (insert the adjective of your choice) life on Facebook, I spent many years working with our family farm and cheese production operation, but we (the big farm and I) recently parted ways, and now I am returning to the land with the full intent of keeping things small and personal. Is there a suggestion box on this thing??!!? If you can find one, feel free to comment, contact me, ask questions, and make suggestions. In the meantime, stay warm, stay safe, drink your wine, and stop complaining about the damn weather!! You all know we are never going to leave New York, no matter how miserable we claim to be.