~ The Pitchfork Halo ~

When Spring is really and fully here in our part of the shire, it comes with a bang. The world becomes so green it hurts your eyes, and enchants your mind into thinking you fell into a storybook.

The daffodils bloom and the lake is more blue and all seems so incredibly full of promise.

Ok, so this is when the birthing parade has dwindled and it might be a bit of exhaustion that plays into the relief of things settling down for a little while.

Yet being apart of creatures growth and watching them shine with health and strength is a beautiful thing. This spring we had many things happening, fences being replaced, babies being born, clean up, repair and repeat.

There are a few things that any farm needs doing and then there are special projects that make the list. This spring the farmer decided that it was high time I received something off my want list. A round pen, a fifty foot sand ring in which to work horses. This was a big want, and not that it was a lot of expense, but it required work and effort that is somewhat lacking by the mid spring to be directed to wants. It was well timed being we had some exceptional help for the building. Now the separation of friends from family around here are the people who love us enough to not only pitch in anytime, but to understand what this life is all about and to love us when we are so wrapped up in it that we are absent to them. We are exceptionally blessed with some amazing folks who are family to us. Two of these people were here for the building of the round pen. Both being horse people they were not only essential in the slave labor portion but in the planning and pondering phase as well.

We built my "playground" out where I can see it from my kitchen window. This might have not been the best idea being that I swear it calls to me to get out of the kitchen and head out there to mess with the horses. This is also of course a practical place to put sick or injured stock or animals who need observation. It is a thing of beauty. I love every square inch of it and not just because it makes my life easier, because it does. It was built with love. The farmer made it a priority because he loves me, our two great friends who was on a vacation and could have been doing, lets face it anything other than pounding 6" spikes , well, I sure love them. It is a place of love and I feel incredibly blessed when I look at it. It gives the round corral work I do with the horses, which in itself is a special thing, a sense of true thankfulness, to all the amazing things that are good and sweet in this life.

It too is a reminder of the progress that our farm has made. We are no longer just chasing our tails and running from behind. We are gaining ground and a reminder of that is something I have needed for a while. Day to day it is easy to feel overwhelmed with the demands of all things farming, but this one simple thing, fifty feet of dirt with a fence is as beautiful to me as a sculpture. That round corral is a monument for this cowgirl.