Jaxsun enjoyed laying on the 6+ foot snowbank the other day when Sun was out and actually melting some of this infernal snow.

We got another foot of snow last night.

Francesca and Harley are not amused.

You’ll note how Francesca was trying to *dig* her way into the the house. I think we’ll be digging *out* if this crap keeps up.

Welcome Friday Ark and Carnival of the Cats readers! Yes, after a long hiatus, we here at Howling Hill have returned. It’s good to be back.

The last sixty days I’ve been very down. Now, I’m heading up. Not because my mood has changed but because I’ve made up my mind to move past the sadness.

Sorry if this blog hasn’t been very interesting lately, if I’ve been a bore. I will continue to focus on the good, on the positive, on the up and up and not on the other stuff.

First, as I mentioned in the last post I’m going to learn to knit. And I want to learn to quilt. One thing at a time, though, so knitting first. I decided on what I think is easy pattern: Hufflepuff scarf (because I’m a Hufflepuff). Tonight, though, Kim and I will be starting off with something else, I’m not sure what she has planned.

Second, Wolf and I are going to start running. EVEN IF IT KILLS ME. Since I like to prepare for things, I have a date in mind for my first run: March 15. I figure a Saturday is a good day to start. (That’s assuming, of course, all this damned snow has melted by then, or is at least melting.)

Third, I’m not picking a third. I tend to overwhelm myself so I’m not going to do so this time. I’m going to learn from my mistakes. So I guess that is third.

So about a month ago I mentioned to Kim and Maggie I wanted to learn to knit. I explained to them my grandmother tried teaching me when I was a kid but the whole dyslexic thing proved to be an obstetrical neither of us could overcome.

Then, Kim took matters into her own hands.

She went to her sister’s house and had Jessica show her the basics. Kim is coming over tonight, the first of our Knit N’ Bitches, to teach me what Jessica taught her.

Maybe someday I’ll be this good.

Blanketing our Mother with white fluffy snow, I wonder if Spring will ever come. On top the 4+ feet we already have, another foot fell from the sky last night. And still more is to come.

I read posts filled with spring and I wonder when I will be able to flower watch.

My hands beg for earth, my soul screams for gardening. This has been a long, long snowy winter here in New Hampshire. One of the snowiest according to locals (I’m not a local yet. I’m not sure how long one must live in NH to be a local, but at 6 years, I’m not anywhere near being a local). Certainly it’s great for those whose jobs rely on snow — especially after last year when we barely had any snow and the winter economy took a major hit — but for the rest of us, we’ve had enough. We’re crying “uncle”. We want spring. Warm air. Ground. Dirt. No snow. Plants shooting upwards. Fingers in dirt. Skin naked, receiving Sun’s kiss.

Kelly, who is my cousin if I’ve never said that before, posted this bit which helped to cheer me up. And since I’ve been so down lately I thought I’d participate to help pull myself further out of this slump.

Prompt from journalingprompts.com

Love smells like a man when he’s freshly showered, covered in grime, sticky with sweat.

Love is the smell of Sun on my man’s naked chest.

Love is the smell of homemade cooking.

Love is the smell of a cigar, Old Spice, and Schlitz, the aroma of my deceased grandfather.

Love is the smell of mothballs, the aroma of my grandmothers.

Love is the smell of an apple pie from my Aunt Nancy.

Love is the smell of sex, lingering as our bodies recoup.

Love is the smell of my garden, dirt, plants.

Love is the smell of The Beasts: cats and dog as they curl up to me to love away my pain.

Love is the smell of laundry fresh from the line.

What does love smell like to you?

I’m back in a dark place, a place I resist coming to but find myself frequenting. It’s very frustrating to say the least.

I want to take an herbalist class but the money isn’t there. I can buy the books and (try to) teach myself, but the books are expensive and I don’t learn from a book, I learn by engaging and interacting, by questioning and palpation.

I don’t know what to do.

There are so many things I want, reasonable things, attainable things, that are just out of reach financially. I want a small house instead of a mobile home. I want a small plot of land so I can farm and garden. I’m not a greedy person. I don’t need to live in a McMansion, or live on a million acres of land.

And yet…it’s all just out of reach. And that’s when I descend into that cold, dark, damp, lonely place.

Since I’m not working for The (Wo)Man I said to Wolf I want us to get chickens this year. He wants to wait until next year because he wants to have a chicken tractor built before we get chicks.

Those of you with chickens, what do you think: Should the tractor be built first or should the chicks come first?