A Sweet Dripping-Part II-Spring for a Day

Today was a perfect day to be off. The sun was out, the sky mostly blue and we reached a high of about 68°. I sat out on the steps for awhile and watched the birds at the feeders, the Canada Geese returning home, the horses in the meadow, and I could almost hear the snow melting. There are a few piles of it around, especially those created from plowing or shoveling off the flat roof. And if you have a dog who loves the cold, winter weather, here is where you'll find her as the first few signs of spring emerge:

She is so funny. She sat there watching the squirrels and chipmunks running all around. It's not like she chases them, she's getting too old for that. But she'll wander around checking out where they disappear to when they run between the rocks. After awhile, she changed her spot. I guess she thought she had a better view from here:

She loves being out, and finally came in to rest after about 2 hours. 

I made some Hot Cross Buns from a King Arthur mix this morning, and some maple sugar cookies to bring over to the sugar house. The sap was running, so we went out to gather about 4 o'clock. It was so nice out. Lots of mud, and still icy spots where the snow had packed down, but a light jacket kind of day. And the sap was running fairly well. We all hung out in the sugar house afterwards for some mac and cheese and lots of desserts. It was still pretty mild out as I walked home across the meadow. Later tonight it will drop to about 32°, the snow will start about midnight, and tomorrow we will wake up to a covering of white mush. Crazy, but that is the way the weather tumbles around here. Sure makes you appreciate the days that are as beautiful as today was!

P.S. Saturday April 4th, 8am:

Need I say more? Remember, this is a Sugar Snow!