Spring is on its way! I swear . . .

I know in about a month's time, I'll be penning a post in which I wonder where the @%!#?* spring is already, but for the time being I'm optimistic that spring is right around the corner. Never mind that today started out at 45 degrees, but now it's just above freezing and snowing.  Spring is coming, gosh dang it! Here's my proof: 

Yesterday, I watched the local fishing guide bring one of his ice houses off the lake. I'm always a little shocked to look up from the computer and spy a snowmobile tugging what essentially looks like a big box across the ice. The DNR says ice houses have to be in a couple weeks before the lake trout season actually ends on March 31st and considering that the lakes have turned into a big ol' slush pile after the snow at the end of February, it's probably wise to get those ice houses in early. 

Another sign of spring is that this Sunday, I finished up my big winter craft project. In the last few winters, I've had a large knitting project to see me through the dark winter evenings, but this year I decided to devoted my energies to finishing up an embroidery project I started back before Christmas 2010.

Andy's step-grandmother (step-grandmother sounds odd and formal, considering it's the second marriage of a widow and widower - we usually just call her by her first name) gave me some of her embroidery kits a while back. They'd come from Harrod's in London, which I found kind of exciting because I love me some Harrod's.

The tablecloth is only about 36"x36", but it sure took me a long time. It'd been years since I'd embroidered when I first picked up the project and I found the loose weave fabric putzy and slightly frustrating to embroider on. As a result, the tablecloth got put aside many times in favor of other speedier projects. For a while, the only time this project saw any attention was at crafting weekends. Finally this winter, with no important knitting project queue and a limited yarn budget, I realized it was time to just finish up the tablecloth. I'm glad I did; I'm really pleased with how it turned out.

In other "spring-y" news, we didn't get chickens, but eggs are starting to show up everywhere. Must be getting to be Easter time!

Our recent warm weather reminded me that I'll be starting the first of the seeds at the end of this month. I know a lot of you are already starting your seedlings, but seedlings up here don't get planted outside until the final weekend of May when, hopefully, we won't have to worry about frost until, you know, September.  At the local hardware store this morning, I picked up some seeds. I didn't need too many, since I'll be using a lot of the seeds left over from last year. I do still need to order my tomato and jalapeno seeds, but I was glad to buy local and am really excited about growing some winter squash this year!  (Margot, do you spy your coaster making a cameo in the picture?)

Is spring coming where you are? What are sure signs that spring is on its way in your neck of the woods? Has anyone started their seeds yet? Any big winter projects getting finished up?