Wow, what a day! The sun and the wind will take a bite out of that snow! I was driving down Rte. 117 this morning and it was so much easier to negotiate the bumps and holes and ridges. The frost isn't that deep so this is one bonus for putting up with still having snow. The paths to the barn are down to grass for the most part and the sheep came out this morning for the first time. They don't care much for walking on ice. Little Micah, a neighbor, has been bringing them apples all winter and they came almost up to the back steps this morning. Here they are on their 'patio'. That's Lily on the left and Hunter on the right.
If this weather keeps up we might even have dry open ground to set up the sheep pens for the Sheepfest on the 19th. Last year we had that awful storm on Sunday and Monday, pouring rain on top of already heavy snow. We had to drag the sheep through it all up over the banks so they could be dry inside the barn as there was a river running underneath it. I never thought they would dry out in time for shearing on Saturday! Mother nature must have felt pretty sorry for us because by Thursday almost all the snow was gone and we had a perfect day for shearing! This year we're trying something different. The shearing is going to be across the road under the pavillion in the new Bicentennial Park. The plowed snow piles are so high next to the Arts Center that the alpacas could never get to the back bank so their fencing will be set up in the side lot where the sheep pens used to be although we may have to shovel out the corner by the front ramp where the rabbit booth sets up.
We still have plenty of snow out back. Each day we check to see how much of the garden fence posts are showing. The mountain still has lots of snow, too, but the important thing is that the buds are swelling! It won't be long before we will have 'naked' sheep munching new grass out back and we'll be checking the buds on the lilacs! Well, maybe we'll have to wait a bit for that... 
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