Freezing and thawing

We've had some mild winter weather interspersed with some cold days and nights.  We've just come out of a cold week, with a few days not reaching above freezing, and some snow and freezing fog.  The son was out every morning thawing the chickens' drinks with a hot kettle--he kept melting a patch of the pond ice too.  I was a little worried, as even their indoor drink froze over so thick I couldn't break it. 

Now that we're thawed for the next few days, I've confined the chickens back to their small yard next to their house.  The lawn can't take much more abuse--it's very short and muddy out there.  One chicken is resolutely breaking out every day (a small, lightweight hen), but the other six have been behind bars and loathing it.  Still, I need to let the lawn and rest of the garden rest, at least until it starts growing again.

I have one lonely daffodil with a bud on it.  The rest are still only emerging, along with a few hyacinths.  No sign of my own snowdrops--I only have a couple;  but I've seen some wild ones flowering while out and about.  My almond tree has white-tipped buds;  hopefully it'll wait a few more weeks before flowering, though.

There are a few time sensitive tasks I need to get going on:  I need to take cuttings from my currant and gooseberry bushes.  I haven't done it, as the ground's been too frozen, but soon they'll be breaking into bud and it'll be too late.  I don't technically need more of these fruit bushes, but they're good gifts and I do have space for a few more myself.

I also want to get my broad beans and early peas started.  February is a good month for this, provided it's not completely frozen.  I decided not to overwinter my broad beans as they seemed to produce at the same time as the spring sown ones anyway (and I always lose several overwintered ones too).  Time to get moving.