An update on life at QIVC:

At QIVC today the sun is shining on the accumulated feet of snow, packing it down and making it harder to shovel where the wind has blown it into the paths.  For the last week or two we have been shoveling paths to our houses, then watching them fill in with snow a few hours later--thanks, wind! At the same time--today feels like spring. The birds are singing, the snow-covered eaves are dripping, and the days have gotten noticeably longer.

Our family is thinking about lots of projects this coming season. We would like to repair our chicken coop and buy a new flock of meat birds or layer hens (or both!); we'd like to plant beans, tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, mustard, and okra, and continue learning about what wild foods grow here; there are things to be fixed around the house; and we want to explore the larger community and the region more.

Snowdrift against the woodshed

At this time I can't help thinking about the projects that have gone unfinished or undone. This winter we wanted to teach ourselves how to tan sheepskins from last year's flock, but never scraped together the materials or the time to experiment with it. I learned the basic knitting stitch but haven't completed a first project. We didn't manage to split and stack all of next year's wood before it got covered with snow, and many items in our house are still in need of repair.

It's a challenge to juggle this kind of life with full-time work and raising a family. But somehow the coming of spring never fails to fill me with optimism, making me think everything that's meant to get done will get done, in the end.

--Hana Askren