Springing Forward

After a long and arduous winter, this pioneer girl is finally ready to start blogging again.

The grass is growing, the snow has finally ceased and the first signs of spring are finally becoming apparent.

Tonight marks the first night since October that we haven't had to build a fire in our little propane tank turned wood burning stove.  Dubs likes to joke that summer here in the mountains is the third weekend in July...both days!  Sometimes, I think he may be right.

At any rate, now that warmer weather and longer days are on the way, we have much to accomplish.  We plan to start building our little cabin in the immediate future, as we'd like to be boxed in before winter once again rears its ugly head.

Hauling water, since we don't yet have a well, continues to be a bi-weekly occurrence.  I recently purchased a clear water pump, which will pump 9,000 gallons/hour.  Previously, we were using 5 gallon buckets to fill our 210 gallon portable tank, so the addition of the water pump has been warmly embraced and appreciated by our aching backs.

Life in the wilderness is not without its trials and tribulations.  Two days after Christmas, we lost our prize foundation mare, Jesi's Gold, to a ruptured colon.   A couple of months later, our beloved Great Pyrenees, Sweety, was struck by a truck at the end of our driveway, suffering a shattered pelvis. The Wolf Skull Ranch pet cemetery reminds me on a daily basis of how rough life can be out here, both for humans and animals.  Still, we continue to press on.  With 5 horses, 6 dogs, 4 cats and 9 chickens, we have plenty of grateful mouths to feed.

Our solar panels continue to provide us with a limitless supply of electricity, and I haven't paid a power bill in over a year. We're hoping to install a wind generator this summer, as we typically have sustained winds over 20 mph every day.  Eventually, we hope to have a hybrid energy system, relying solely on the power of Mother Nature and the sun.

All in all, it's been a long winter, with some ups and downs, but we made it!    Look for more frequent blog posts, now that I'm not so focused on just staying warm and surviving.

Happy spring, my friends.