6 More Weeks of Winter

Apparently, the groundhog saw its shadow.

I'm a little uncertain about the next six weeks. The thing is, we're not that close to meeting our goals for saving and buying land. It seems like the price of airline tickets has doubled, at least, and we need to be able to fly to Chicago and then drive down to Nashville or fly to Nashville then drive up to Chicago. The problem is that driving to Nashville takes up a considerable amount of time, and then driving around to find land? Well, we might need more than just a few days.

Since we're so unsure of when we're going to move out, I can't start my seedlings yet. I purchased the heat mat a few weeks ago and I'm afraid that I won't have use for it this year. Urgency is always right on my shoulders; I want to try growing more vegetables so that we have at least a little bit of experience before having to depend mostly on growing our own food. The good news is that even if we have to live in an apartment, if there is a big window that gets sunlight I will be able to grow some things in a pot, like my coveted hot chili plants. I can't wait to plant the Amish bush, and of course, the Trinidad scorpion!

Six more weeks of winter, means, unfortunately, that daylight still ends at around 4:30 or 5:00 p.m. It also means that we have to deal with cold weather sprinkled by short bursts of unseasonably warm weather. It gets to one's nerves; Nature: please make up your mind!

Even though it's still technically winter, it was a nice day out today. It was cool, but temperatures stayed at around 65 or so, with the sun shining brightly and the sky painted with streaks of white clouds. We went out to shoot the 91/30 Mosin and the Marlin .22. I loved shooting the little rifle because it's lightweight compared to the Mosin, and it's semi-automatic. The Mosin has its perks, too; I like the sound it makes when the shot is fired. It could probably take down a moose, it's so powerful. The recoil's not as bad with the rubber butt pad on it. So much better than the metal plate that was originally on there! It might be overkill for a deer, though, so when we have "extra" money to spare, so to speak (which might not be for a loooong time), I want to get the Marlin 336 30-30 because it's supposed to be good for shooting bigger game. The .22 is obviously good for shooting varmints and smaller game like rabbits and squirrels, but we'll need something slightly bigger (but not as big as the Mosin) for when we move to the boondocks.