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Hurry Up Spring

"The very chemical composition of our blood alters slightly in spring; we sense the coming of the season in our life-stream." Edwin Way Teale

Well, I feel something in my blood but it might be because I have ice running through my veins. Two more nights this week with temps in the single digits or below zero. The highway is buckling up in front of our house, our driveway and porch are falling apart and who knows what is happening with our three year old cistern. We also lost one of our sweetest hens due to the stress of this awful cold weather. Her name was Pearl and she was rescued from an egg factory in CA. She had reached the two year old mark and was slated to be gassed because she had outlived her usefulness. She was a sweet and curious little hen and she truly acted grateful that she finally had a chance to experience the life of a free-range chicken. I hadn't intended on having a chicken in the following photo but Pearl tagged along with me that morning to the other side of the pond to see what I was up to. Her presence made the photo and it will always be one of my favorites.

Pearl on the cover of a local magazine.
On a lighter note, we have seen and heard our first red-winged blackbird and the cardinals are starting to sing. This morning I was able to take the dogs for a short walk on the frozen pond; their first walk in about a month. The days are getting longer and our four remaining hens are starting to lay eggs again. I hate being stuck inside the house but I've kept myself sane by carving some new designs. I'm also working on a custom order of a frog sitting on a box. If I don't mess it up I will post a photo when it's finished.

Carved Bear on Driftwood Box
This is my second bear sitting on driftwood. The sign was carved separately and carefully fitted between her paws.

Whimsical Cardinal

 I originally thought I would like to carve decorative(realistic style) birds but I've discovered I would rather stick to caricature type carvings. You can let your imagination run wild on carvings of this type and well, it looks like my imagination is out of control! This cardinal was a lot of fun to carve and I plan on doing a series of birds in this style.

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