The FICKLETUDENESS of SPRING

Spring 09 Fickletude
Don'tcha love the words some people come up with? Webster probably rolls over in his grave with some of them, but I like to think that he also has a sense of humor and chuckles most of the time. I hope he can chuckle about Fickletude. It is a good word...
Spring is here in all her great and magnificent “fickletude,” as a long gone neighbor used to say. Well, actually, she used to say that about another neighbor who exhibited great “fickletude” about the various then young men who came calling… but that is a whole ‘nother story. Like this neighbor, however, spring on the Eastern Shore runs hot one day and cold the next. Ya think it is time to get the shorts out and then you are looking for that old Pendleton wool shirt to wear UNDER your jacket! Heck, gloves would have felt good this morning.

Last week, Spook spent one day sunning himself, using a brick for a pillow. I will never understand cats...
On Sunday, I actually got the push mower out to cut some of the weeds, mostly chick grass, some wild onions, and maybe a blade or two of actual grass. I did not get the John Deere out… though I had great plans for that for today. But, like all plans, things get changed. I had to take Spook to the vets this morning. He is not eating, just staying in his little nest and sleeping. This is the 3rd day so I had to move the big Adirondack chair and dismantle the top of the nest and take him out. Consequently, I do not want to be doing anything too noisy to hear the phone if the vet calls. Mowing can wait. Sick babies cannot.

I took a tour of the land on Saturday and Sunday, taking inventory of what was blooming and what was not. Buds are popping all over the place and there are even some baby leaves here and there.

The later daffodils are in bloom as are the late camellias. Many of them still have slight traces of frost bite from the temps dropping into the 20s again last week. Most of the blooms are much smaller this year than usual. I turned the heat off in the greenhouse and unplugged it, but left it sitting in the green house. I did take a couple geraniums out. They are pretty tough plants and can take temps a little under the 32 degree mark.
My neighbor came by a week ago and “brought me a hole” and a post to go in it. He just had to dig a place to put the hole and then the post and then he mounted my brand spankin’ new Official rain gauge. It was quite a job getting it perfect! Most people think all you do is stick one of those plastic things in the ground and that is it. Not so… the Official ones get checked with a level and measured precisely 6 inches from the top of the post and so on. The one with the big cup just above the Buddha’s head is wireless and I can read it from the house. Very handy during hurricanes, nor'easters and late at night when I am in my jammies and slippers. As you can see, there are 4 very different measuring devices and often 4 different readings, but so far, they are within 4/100ths of an inch of each other, so that is not too bad.
The deer ate most of the pansies from last fall. The blue and purple ones seem to have survived. I love the moss, and the new baby mosses are so soft! The violets started to bloom, well, actually they started before I went to DC (and Richard Be Still My Heart Gere, if you remember) um, March 9th? But the lighter bluer ones have really opened up this week. Girl Bobbie brought me some hyacinth bulbs for Christmas. We were not sure if they would bloom, it was so late getting them in the ground. So far, 3 are in bloom, 2 pink, one white. The camellias next to the car port have gotten so big and this one was late blooming this year probably because the winter was so cold (for us!) though it must have seemed like a sauna to my friends in Canada. The van is almost hidden by this red camellia. The Pussy Willow has gone from the little white fuzzies to yellow pollen puffs. And out at the edge of the woods, I spotted several trees with pink blooms. I noticed them last year and still have no idea what they are… though I thought the blooms were white last year. Go figure. I have not noticed any fruit or nuts on them later in the summer, so I am at a loss. But, they are pretty. The redbud is pushing little purple buds out. This time next week it will be beautiful and you will be able to hear the bees humming all the way out in the street.

I do hope you are having a bit of spring wherever you are, not snow and ice as I have heard out west and up north. But, if you are still snowed or iced in, enjoy my yard. Or c’mon by, have a seat in the Adirondack. The cover is off for the summer and in the barn. Put your feet up on a concrete block or a seed bucket and enjoy the warmth of the sun.