No need to be sheepish: lamb season has arrived!

The locals keep telling me that I still haven't experienced a real Wisconsin winter, and I'm content with this. Spring is already here, and at certain times, Madison has even been slightly warmer than my hometown of Charlotte, NC. Spring is my namesake (Aviva translates to "springtime girl") and by far my favorite season: a blend of rain, sun, flowers, and in Wisconsin: newborn livestock.

The A-Z Farm in Oregon, WI welcomes their spring lambs by inviting guests to come in for a meet-and-greet. Yesterday, I joined Scott, Elysha, and Abby for a trip to meet these adorable little fellas, as well as some other barnyard friends.

Chickens hanging out in their coop.

Piglets having lunch.

A male turkey showing off for the female turkeys (a handsome fella).

We walked up to a little coop filled with baby chickens, and much to my delight, one of the farmers let me hold one:

Look how tiny!

Then, we arrived at the main event: the lamb barn. The lambs were abundant, friendly, and greeting us with loud "baaaahs":

Spring lamb scoreboard.

Petting time for this little lamb.

My buddy Abby enjoyed making friends with the lambs.
She left the barn with a stuffed sheep that she appropriately named Baba.

Just a few fluffy pals hanging out.

Having some lunch!

The black sheep of the family.

Oh, the cuteness.

Sleepy time!

Before we headed out of the barn, we stopped by the Bee Barf Honey booth to sample some Oregon-made honey. Great name, huh? I couldn't resist and left with a little treat:

Looking forward to stirring these honey straws into my tea!

The perfect end to our Oregon excursion was a trip to the little downtown area for some lunch at DeBroux's Diner. Abby enjoyed their "gorilla cheese." It wouldn't have been a true Wisconsin adventure without a little cheese.

Driving behind cattle in peculiar places: the saga continues.

After a great Saturday morning skate and a very relaxing facial, I decided to run a few errands. I drove to Verona to my favorite local yarn shop, The Sow's Ear, to pick up some knitting notions. En route to the highway that leads me home, I realized I was behind a cattle car:

I spotted two black and white ladies in this fine car.

The cattle car proceeded to drive onto the highway, where I was behind it for most of my ride home. My windows were down and I even heard a nice "moo" from one of the gals.

To read about my first experience driving behind cattle, click here.

50 is the new 80 (degrees, that is).

I have lived in Wisconsin for 10 months and it has occurred to me that my general standards of good weather are already starting to change.

When I left work around 5:30pm today and walked outside, I immediately called my mother to tell her about the lovely weather. It's the beginning of March and it's 50 degrees outside.

Ordinarily, I would not consider 50 degree weather in March to be newsworthy. But today in Wisconsin, the aforementioned lovely weather was certainly the talk of the town. I didn't need to completely zip up my jacket or put on gloves: it was sunny and perfect. I proceeded to get in my car, crank up some Florence + the Machine, and roll the windows down to fully savor this much-anticipated climate change.

Okay, let's face it: I'm becoming a Wisconsinite.

February poll results are in...

February poll results are in...

Batte of the froyo! What's your favorite frozen yogurt place?

I'm not into chains: I prefer local froyo! - 3 votes
Pinkberry - 2 votes
Menchie's - 2 votes

No love for TCBY and Red Mango.

PS: I'm a Pinkberry enthusiast. They should open up in Madison. Seriously.

Check out the March poll on the right!

Bucky Badger owns this town: part 1 of many to come.

Madisonians can't seem to get enough of Bucky Badger. He's the University of Wisconsin mascot and definitely the big man on campus. Everyone loves Bucky. He's all over town: on cars, on food, and even on porta potties:

Spotted on University Ave.: Bucky Badger dominating a PT Cruiser.

Spotted in my friend Elysha's freezer: Bucky Badger dominating ice cream.

Have no fear, readers. This summer I will be sure to photograph a "Bucky's" porta potty for the blog.

Click here to read about my first time meeting Bucky Badger.

Cow photo op!

As I have previously stated on this blog, I never miss a good cow photo op. When my friend Kat and I were at The Goodman Center a few weeks ago, I was quite excited to spot this kitschy cow statue hanging out by the parking lot. After attempting to sit on top of this gal multiple times, I realized it was much more difficult than it looked, so I opted to pose next to my new friend.

A little snow on the ground didn't stop me from meeting this lovely lady!

No parking lot is complete without a cow!

January poll results are in!

Results are in...

It's cold outside! The best way to warm up is a nice hot cup of _________.

cocoa - 5 votes
coffee - 5 votes
apple cider - 3 votes
tea - 3 votes

No love for hot buttered rum, huh?

Vote in the February poll on the right!