7 Ways I Know That Spring Is Really Here..

In spite of cold temps around the area, there are many things happening around the house that let me know that Spring is in fact here.


#1. Daffodils

This is Kooper at 8 months old.

Every year I know that I can start thinking about putting my scarf and gloves away when i see the stems of the daffodils peeking up through the ground. This year, there was snow among the stems, but still, a good sign nonetheless.


#2. Osprey Nest

"Our" osprey couple returns to its nest around this time every year. Daddy osprey spends his days collecting various items to build the nest (we saw a leather belt one year) and Momma spends her time catching fish. Once their little ones join the mix sometime in early summer, Momma will leave the fishing up to Daddy and stay in her nest and squawk at anything that comes remotely close to her nest and when she wants more food - so, it's pretty much constant noise.

This is actually a juvenile bald eagle in the nest, but it shows how big the nest is.  As it turns out, the ospreys weren't home today for me to get a picture of them.  Clearly, they didn't know I needed them for a blog post.


#3. Fish 

Along with the return of the Osprey is the return of finding dead fish in our yard. These disgust me. No, really. However, those same disgusting fish bring tons of joy to our Chessie's lives.  There is nothing, and I mean, nothing better to them than a good roll in one of these dead stinky fish.

I LOVE finding these in our yard. 

They also like to eat them. The first spring that we had our son, our dog Abby ate so much fish that her butt was irritated from the bones. The vet said, you can make her feel better, but you won't like what you have to do.  Read - rub cream on her butt.  Had I not been a mom by this point I would have been completely grossed out, but if you've rubbed one butt, you've rubbed them all. (Even chicken butts at this point).

As a result of all of this eating and rolling, they pretty much STINK, and because they can't resist that also means...


#4. Wet & Stinky Dogs

Yep..  they think that they smell fantastic. Asher tries his best to let me be the number one fan of his new cologne.  But, let me assure you, they smell anything but fantastic - the polar opposite to be exact. Fish smell is bad, but DEAD fish smell... oh how I wish that I could share that smell with you.  It engulfs your nostrils like nothing else.

So, our only relief from this is to let them swim.  Which... is a whole other issue.  They are constantly wet this time of year... and will be long into October or even November.  Wet dogs are gross.  Especially when they have such oily coats that sometimes they are able to sneak in wet and you don't know until your favorite spot on the couch is wet.

... did I mention the smell?


#5. PEEPS!

This is also the time of the year that we get our new chicks!  Such a fun time around here. Now that they aren't in our kitchen, (you can read about that story here) they are so much easier to take care of. We also ordered them a bit later this year so that they can be outside sooner.  But, along with the peeps comes more butt maintenance. When they get here, I'll post more about oiling a chicken butt. (Stop laughing.. no, really, stop laughing). This year farmer boy also ordered turkeys.

 These peeps aren't to be confused with...

#6. PEEPERS!!

Yep, frogs.  I've never been too familiar with frogs, that is, until I had a little boy.  He LOVES frogs, so much so, that we went on a moonlight adventure to find them last weekend.  Nothing like splashing around in an unfamiliar marsh with your son only to find some of the biggest frogs in the pond right next to the nature center (true story)... but I digress, back to the peepers.

The call of these frogs is like sweet springtime music to our ears. We often slow down and roll all of the windows down in the car to hear them on the way home. Or stand out on the porch and say "shh, listen".

#7. Grass

Oh the green flowing acres of grass. Ugh..  The boys love cutting the grass.  It's truly one of their favorite things, but I feel as though the mower gets fired up sooner and sooner every single year.  Oh well, perhaps I should enjoy the quiet - (ha, what quiet the lawn mower is running) and get some stuff done around the house.

Are they any sure fire ways that you can tell that Spring is coming? What are the things that you look forward to?