If you're into gardening, there's no better time of year than right now! This is the time when peak anticipation meets head-on with taking action; when all of the winter planning goes into effect; when we finally get see the first of our little babies - those precious seeds that will become our spring and summer obsessions - poke their first little leaves up through the soil to say hello.

If there is one thing that I have learned about Dollar Tree stores, it's that the value you get for your money can be relative; especially now that their prices have gone up to $1.25. But, there is one item that Dollar Tree stocks around this time of year that hasn’t gone up in price: their garden seeds. I recently stopped in and bough 60 packs of them for a grand total of $15 plus tax!.

Alternatively, I also watched a lot of science and nature documentaries. I’ve always been a pretty logical thinker, even as a little kid. I think that is why I have always enjoyed science so much and went on to become a science teacher as an adult. It is probably also why I have always enjoyed mysterious and paranormal topics; it gives me an escape from mundane, straightforward thinking as I try to rationalize the irrational. Like Fox Mulder in one of my childhood favorite shows, I want to believe; but it will take evidence to convince me. And, extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. For that reason, I have always been generally skeptical when it comes to the paranormal. Fast forward to 2021, and the government started releasing official videos of what they are now calling Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAPs).

Back a few weeks ago, we had the opportunity to add about 6 more sheep to our flock. We bought them from some folks who gave us a pretty good deal on them because they had chronic hoof problems, and one in particular seemed to be a little week. Unfortunately, in her weakened state, we lost her during this winter storm. Unfortunately, we had just wormed her a few days before, and the withdrawal time on the medication is 11 days for the meat, so we were not able to put her in the freezer. Instead, we have been feeding her to the pig. However, I did keep her hide, and today I decided to try my hand at tanning it.

On my quest to become more self-sufficient, I find myself constantly having to learn new skills and try new things that are sometimes outside of my comfort zone. I have very little mechanical experience. I have never really worked on cars or even small engines. When things go wrong, I have always felt like the money spent on having a mechanic make the repair is well worth the time and aggravation saved for me. Furthermore, I don't really have the tools to work on vehicles. However, if I really want to become self-sufficient, then I need to get the necessary tools and learn how to do these things on my own. So, when the brakes on my wife's 2019 Ford Flex began to start rubbing, I figured it would be a good place for me to start.

It seems like this time every year I begin to analyze my priorities and think about how I want to spend my time during the upcoming year. One regret that I have had for the past several years is that I have not put enough effort into creating content for HIVE. In fact, I made a post about it around this time last year. I fully intended to make at least a couple of posts every week, and I did okay through the month of January. However, things really dropped off after that... and I mean REALLY dropped off!