Let the Springtime Roll

We are ready for some springtime around Dancing Poly. Don’t get me wrong, we love the downtime of winter but we both get, as my Mom would say, ants in our pants! There are tiny buds on all the orchard trees, the weeds are growing in the field in earnest and the weather has turned warmer. The rains continue and we never complain about that!

Most of our winter was grand as we hope yours was. The holidays were a joy with our favorite catering gig – the Steele Winery holiday dinner – and we do truly enjoy making the Christmas and New Year’s take home feasts.

We then rolled right into January where we took a bit of a break down to a lovely town in Mexico filled with sunshine, warmth, wonderful fish tacos and quiet days reading on the beach. The trip was bittersweet only because we had just lost one of our dogs to cancer before departure. That is never easy. He was an amazing hound that will be always missed. In February, we spent a fantastic long weekend near Charlotte and ate an amazing meal at a restaurant converted from the old small-town theater. Classic movies play silently over the visible kitchen line. We sat in the balcony, so as best to observe all the happenings, with our friends for a remarkable evening. In the meantime, we’ve had several visits here from far away friends here at the farm, with several more to come, and have shown them all the wonderful aspects of Lake County – well, truth told, we take them wine tasting! We love curating the perfect wine tasting adventure given their interests and all the fun possibilities.

While home alone we did some down and dirty work! Bess designed and built, with help from our farmhand Sherri, four massive barn doors and a stunning barn bar. We are so looking forward to events now. We are finishing out the barn loft space with some old and new pieces, as well as a handmade barn wood table. I spent my time kicking off our CCOF certification process, bringing on an agriculture and culinary intern that will join us in April and exploring local and federal grants. I call it the Year of the Paperwork!

I did field planting planning again, complete with my spreadsheets but it seems easier this year. I know what we can grow well and I know what the kitchen needs. Just a matter of making it happen. I’m a couple of weeks behind but finally put seeds in dirt last week, so they are happily warming in the mini greenhouses, soon to sprout, I hope. This week there will be calls to find the organic poop for the orchard.

The barn cats, Sam and Tabs are well and will occasionally stroll across the porch, when they know we are watching, mouse in mouth, to say “yep, you see THIS, yep, I’m doing MY JOB!” They got a bit chunky over the winter. Can’t imagine how that could happen around here!! Not! And in all of this, we have a new lifeform in the house; a 10-week-old puppy named Otis. It’s been nine years since I’ve dealt with a little puppy. Wow, I forgot how FAST AND WIGGLY they are! He likes to bounce. He can be in the middle of walking and will just BOIOIOING like a spring. And he is absolutely enamored with his own voice. Be it bark at the wall, growl at a toy or whine at the wind, doesn’t matter, he loves it! He’s learning by leaps and bounds, literally. He has a collar but we’re getting him a harness because the only thing he’s lacking that we could really use…is a handle. And of course, he LOVES to eat cat poop, like all dogs, it’s a delicacy which makes him ill but he doesn’t care one iota! He’s a good guy who will grow up fast, so it’s important to relish the moment.

So we set out on our third season here at Dancing Poly. Classes, private parties and Happy Hours are underway. The Chocolate Lovers Dream event on Valentines was way too much fun. We have some great catering gigs coming up, take homes feasts for all the summer holidays and we’ll be expanding the Poly Pop Up to three times a week! All is well, time to get crackin’ and we are looking forward. Pleased as punch to be here with Leo and Otis and all of you!