Snow and Sunshine

We received our first snow last night.  A bit of rain first followed by a few inches of the white stuff.  I always forget how much I miss the beauty of snow.  Of course, then I realized I had to clean my car off which took about 10 minutes.  My ice scraper was M.I.A. so the broom and dust pan came to the rescue.  I must say they work very well.  We wont be buying a house up north without a garage, that's for sure. 

The sun is shining bright and the snow is already gone, with a high of 50 today.  That is fine though since life comes to a stand still here in the south when it snows.

Daffodils are blooming all over the place.  I must say it is a bit disappointing to see them all so early.  It will be less pretty later, when everything else starts blooming, without the cheery yellow of the daff's.

I'm on week seven now of my workout transformation.  I am building some serious muscles!  I love it.  The amount of weight I can work with has increased quite a bit and I feel so energetic.  It's a good way to feel, I tell ya!  It will make gardening this summer feel much less physically demanding.

We are still job hunting up north for Andrew but no luck yet.  I'm doing lots of reading up on farming and associated topics.  Gotta keep learning so that I look like I know what I'm doing at least.  I'll be placing a large amazon order soon.  There are a lot of books that I must have.  No fiction, just pure reference since I have much to learn, grasshopper.

Finally going home. Well, soon hopefully.

Well, we are in the home stretch here in North Carolina.  Andrew has started looking for jobs and submitting resumes.  We have our eyes fixed on a manufacturing company in Traverse City, MI.  They were hiring a few weeks ago but then pulled the ad.  Andrew contacted the company.  Apparently, management hasn't decided if they are going to hire for that position or not.  We are hoping to see it re posted soon but it's hard to say what they will decide.

I'm heading back to MI early May for my summer job as usual.  My mom will be home for a few months from South Dakota since my brother and his girlfriend are having a baby in May.  Pretty exciting stuff!

The weather here has caused daffodils and magnolias to start blooming.  It was 68 degrees a few days ago, wow.  I haven't been doing anything garden related besides reading seed catalogs, garden books and cruising garden and farm blogs. 

I'm itching for some soil to play in.  I spend a lot of time looking for farms for sale.  I'm a bit obsessive about it.  Especially when I find one I like.  I currently have an obsession for a horse farm in Manistee, MI.  It's 66 acres of pasture and forest.  2,700 sq ft craftsman house built in 1920.  32,500 sq ft barn with 16,800 sq ft riding arena.  21 stalls and tack room.  Upper barn for hay.  Three car detached garage and workshop.  Sounds magical, right?  Well, it is and I want it.  The price is very good, $229,000 but still high for us.  But ya never know.  It's been on the market for over a year and it's vacant so perhaps the price is still negotiable.  They have dropped it $110,00 so far!  It was over priced for the area to begin with, really.

My latest addiction is lifting weights.  I'm on week five of a 12 week fitness program I found online.  It's all about clean eating, lifting weights to build that muscle and then cardio to burn off the fat.  It's working!  I've lost four inches so far.  My weight has stayed about the same since I'm gaining muscle.  The cardio just started today so the pounds should start to melt off now.  I suppose I should be in great shape if I plan to farm the rest of my life.

Well, that's my life in a nut shell for now.  I hope you are all well and are getting the new year off to good start!