I love Spring! Even when it's fake!

It's hard to believe that a mere week ago we had snow on the ground and ice covering everything else. Sure, everything is coated with frost in the morning and when I wake up it's only 30 degrees, but for the last two days it's been sunny and fifty degrees in the afternoon! After last week's craptacular weather, I almost put on shorts today. The farm critters have been ecstatic - everyone was taking naps in the sun beams. I'm sure next week will be back to the normal rainy and miserable, but for now we're all basking in the sun here at the farm.

Today was a day of many firsts - Fluff Mama laid her first egg, which was cream colored and tiny. The Golden Sex Link chickens spent their first night in the big coop with all the chickens, which appeared to be so traumatic for them that I think I will make millions by inventing chicken Valium.  I guess I can't blame them for being scared, since up until now their entire world has consisted of a heat lamp and four boring walls. I expected them to be excited to experience the real world, not to cram themselves into a corner and try to hide from it. By the end of the day they were eating and drinking, and even doing a little bit of mingling, although they looked like the most awkward cocktail party guests ever.

Princesses Buttercup and Fiona got their first pedicures today; it was my first real attempt at hoof trimming. It went exactly like I expected it to go. There was lots of chasing, lots of swearing, and lots of narrowly avoided rear kicks, which culminated in me calling my neighbor, who actually knows how to do it.  I provided the Wheat Thin bribes, and she held them steady for me while I administered the trimming. (On a separate note, I'm directing a very obscene gesture toward the lady on YouTube who made the procedure look incredibly easy. She must have made millions off of her goat Valium.)

In other news, the mini-greenhouse I imported from Italy is amazing. After many days of careful deliberation, I chose seeds, planted them, then made up a seating chart. I moved the greenhouse into the backroom, and totally forgot to move the chart with it. On the plus side, I planted beans, which is the one seedling I can identify the moment it sprouts (mostly because it pushes the bean-shaped shell up out of the ground). Four of the eight rows of seeds sprouted within days!!! When I take the cover off, I get a whiff of the Tuscan countryside. Now I just need to order like fifty more mini-greenhouses, and my plan to sell plant starts at the Farmer's Market in May will be off and running. 

I let Harvey and Claire have some quality time this morning, in order to implement my plan to sell baby bunnies at the Farmer's Market, right next to my plant starts. If cute fuzzy baby bunnies can't draw customers into my stall, I don't know what else will. From what I could tell, mostly all that happened was Harvey chased Claire around the bunny pen and succeeded only in pissing her off mightily, which I expect is similar to dating in the real world. She got so huffy that she went and sulked in her nesting box. Her expression was so vexed-looking that I offered her a lettuce treat by holding it in front of her. Do you all remember that scene from Star Wars where the monster worm erupted out of the asteroid and tried to swallow the Millennium Falcon? Ya, her reaction was like that, but my hand was the space ship. I literally saw the entire thing in slow motion, including the part where she roared and grew fangs. In the future I'll stick to just putting the treats in her food bowl.