This morning we awoke to rain, rain and more rain and whilst rising temperatures are good (taps are starting to unfreeze – hooray), the rain and the snow-melt combined basically mean we now have endless mini streams and puddles and of course a return to the mud. We cannot believe how quickly everything has changed!! The ducks were the happiest: having not been out much at all whilst things were frozen and snowy, this morning they visited every puddle they could to dabble and drink!! And along with the geese, they were able to have a bit more of a ‘full’ wash too as their mini paddling pools wree no longer solid lumps of ice!! We gave the poultry paddock a bit of a raking as the melting snow revealed so much straw everywhere, blown around by those earlier easterlies and leaving a bit of a mess!
We also cleaned out the double shelter in the 4-acre, only used occasionally by the goats but in keeping with the rest, damp from the snow.
So, winter proper may have gone now, but spring feels a huge way off still!!