Housekeeping

      Maple syruping has begun, and this year we’re determined to keep up on it. I think we’re planning to limit ourselves to six trees. We have six buckets and nine spouts, and last year we used all nine with old milk-jugs to collect the sap, but we ended up with more sap than we had time to boil down. This year, I think will start slow. Though since we won’t be headed to Vegas for a weekend in the middle of the season, we’ll hopefully be able to keep up with out supply. I’m planning a visit to the tattoo-artist this month, I’ve finally settled on a design, and perhaps a theme for all future ink, and I’m ready to commit. It’s exciting, I think Yarrow will like him a lot and enjoy examining my new art as much as she enjoys the old ones. I feel like a living picture book for her.

I’m alway cleaning. Right now I’m It’s-Almost-Spring cleaning, the woodstove creates a lot of dust, so the majority of it is dusting, cleaning out drawers and fighting off the mice that are attempting to make the outhouse their own. Thankfully, Yarrow is much better about being deposited on a blanket while I run around the house. She crawls around after things she shouldn’t have and practices her words: “Luba,” “dada,” “hi” and “Jesus” - though the “J” is more of a mumbled “d” right now, and is reserved for the Infant of Prague in the outhouse, who she loves.

Besides cleaning, and the as yet unsuccessfully pursuit of a way to convince Yarrow that sleep is in fact not over-rated, what do I fill the days with?  Writing, a bit, resenting the new snow-fall generally making life good.

If you haven’t heard Florence and The Machine yet, you should. She reminds me of Kate Bush, but generally better, I think.