Maple Valley sugarhouse steaming ... spring coming?

Today I made two trips to the barn, and on my second trip I sat in my car for a few minutes eating my lunch before going in. I noticed I could see the Maple Valley Farm sugarhouse in my side mirror, and it was really steaming. Very pretty against the snow and blue sky. It seems we've had great temperatures for sugaring, with nights in the 20s and days much warmer; the weather forecaster on the morning news is even commenting on it each day. If the stretch keeps going, maple sugarers are going to get that oh-so-tired zombie-like look soon!

Why two trips to the barn? Well, first trip was for my lesson. Dude was napping in the sunshine, and he was so slow during the lesson I don't think he ever really came out of his nap! We trotted figure eights and serpentines, both at the jog and at a posting trot, and then practiced transitions by trotting the curves of the serpentine and walking the straight path between sides. He was pretty good, just kind of dozy and slow--it was hard to get him into a nice trot that I could easily post to. And I haven't posted that much, so my legs are t-i-r-e-d.

With all the circles and curves I expressed a little worry that his old hind end injury might be bothered. Emma said he looks good, and he does feel fine to me. I guess I just need to be conscientious about warming him up, and she felt that the lesson plus one other session of similar length during the week and one little short one would be sufficient to get him into shape yet play it safe. Once the weather changes for good, it'll be nice to have the lesson in the outdoor ... more room. And it is also a lovely walk to get down there and back.

I ran and did some grocery shopping after my lesson, then came back in time to bring them in and pick out their feet. The fields are starting to get a little messy with these temps in the upper 30s/low 40s. Hopefully they don't turn into mud pits too soon. But they're messy enough that I'm really trying to take care of Dude and Bestie's feet. It's tempting to think that spring is coming, but it IS March, our month where we usually get a whopper snowstorm. We'll see!