Resolutions

This year I did not make any official resolutions for the New Year because, in the past, I have found that those resolutions said aloud never last more than a few days.  I did make several unofficial resolutions that I did not announce publicly in hopes that, in keeping silent, they will be more important to me and, maybe just maybe, last through February. 
I am anxious to see the Spring thaw which, according to our local weatherman, will take place this weekend.  I plan to hang out laundry on the clothesline and, maybe, air out some comforters & quilts that have been used frequently this winter.  I can't wait to smell them when they come in off the line.  With the thaw comes a false feeling that Spring is just around the corner taunting me with fresh smells, green grass poking up through the snow and chortling hens looking for bugs in front of the barn.  I'm afraid, though, that we will have a few more storms before winter subsides but that's to be expected in New England. 
Winter is a nice time of year, too (I guess) but I really do not like afternoons like we had today.  The sky was grey, the air was still and damp and being outside for more than a little bit was very uncomfortable.  Not long after I came into the house, the rain started ~ cold & biting.  Tomorrow promises warmer temperatures and sunshine ~ the hens and I will love it!!!!!!!!!
The calendar says that there are only 60 days until Spring and I'm going to get all of my planning done before the end of this month so that I can place orders for the things that we need for the garden in February for early spring delivery.  We need to order seeds & get them started inside in February and, if the apple & peach trees that we planted last Spring don't do well through the winter, we will need to order several hardier varieties for planting. 
We just got a delivery of wood to see us through the rest of the winter ~ next year we will have wood from our own property.  Even though it hurts to hand out so much money at one time for the wood, it is amazing how much money a woodstove can save you in oil costs.  If we use our own wood next year, the radiant heat will not cost us anything but physical energy and a little gas in our chainsaw.  I love it!!!!!  If you have the room and a source of wood, you are doing yourself a big favor if you buy a woodstove to heat with and/or cook with when there are power outages.  You won't regret it.  We heated our first house (which we bought in 1974) solely with wood.  We had a furnace but it was not working well and we didn't have the money to fix it or replace it.  Wood was called into service.  Since we had no wood of our own and couldn't afford to buy it (my husband was laid off for 2 years and we had 2 young children), we cut wood on my parents' property.  My husband and I would drag a toboggan through the snow up to the top of the hill behind my parents house while our little ones were safe inside the house watching through the window.  After we cut enough wood, my husband would hop on the toboggan and ride it down the hill.  He reminded me of Paul Bunyan.  Once he downed a tree on power lines and started a fire on the wires ~ the fire department was called to put it out.  We never cut trees in that area again.
At 61, I don't think we'll be doing that again.  At least our property is flat ~ no toboggans needed and our wires are underground so I don't have to worry about my husband starting any more "wire fires".