COMPLAINTS

Complaints
Well, it is nice to know people miss me. However, spring has sprung – I am out in the yard when I am not on here WORKING. So that leaves little time for fun stuff like blogging. I know, I know, this is where I usually sit to take my little rests here in front of the computer… but if it is warm enough, the Adirondacks are both back out in the yard, and I tend to just plop down in one of them and veg for a few minutes, soak up some sun, and, well, you know how that works. As I sit out there, I look around and see all the stuff that I haven’t gotten to yet… and then there are all the things I cannot see but my head remembers I need to do.
OK, OK, so they weren’t real complaints… so, while I am running around and doing my morning chores, I will let some current pictures upload so you can see what is going on. Ahhhh, the colors............This was the pansy garden 2 days ago. Since then, the pansy population has doubled and the violets inside and outside the garden have exploded so the bricks are almost invisible! WOW!

Pink Perfection... the name says it all. This probably is my favorite camellia... I know, I know, I say that about almost every camellia............ but this has been a favorite since the first time I ever laid eyes on a camellia... ummmmmm, 45 years ago???????? WOW, again!

Some pretties............
Another favorite, Red Emperor, this is a 10 foot tall bush.

Peppermint Candy anyone?
These little pink babies below will soon be on their way out west...............

And last but not least... well, OK, maybe least, I dunno - one of the 2 free tulips (out of 20) that actually grew and bloomed. This tulip is all of 4 inches off the ground!!!!!

THE MARCH GARDEN

The March Garden…..

Warm days, cold days, buds popping and snow flurries, migrating visitors and birds coming home for the summer – that is March. Gardeners hurry out to get ahead of the season’s crop of weeds, to prepare a place for their seedlings or to start their seeds in their houses.
The early morning is filled with the sounds of the birds of spring, visitors planning the day’s travel or complaining about the night before. The new arrivals loudly proclaim their territory as they start to put on their breeding plumage. Some of them are downright funny or pathetic to see. A baldheaded blue jay is not a pretty picture! (Not that I could get close enough to take one!)
It seems the wind chimes will never stop. I have several long deep sounding chimes that I dearly love, but every once in a while they get on my nerves. I am glad I don’t live close to neighbors – I am sure I would get complaints. My best chimes are in the furnace room out of the 30 mph winds. I can usually tell which way the wind is blowing and even roughly how fast by which chimes are clanging and in what pattern.
This is the time of year when the old lawn mowers are sputtering back to life mostly to mow up weeds, grind up old leaves, or blow the gum balls off into the woods.
The hedge cutters are busily trimming back camellias that threaten to block the sidewalks, or trying to discipline the honeysuckle that would gladly take over Possum Lane if I didn’t keep after it. Well, actually it would be a contest between honeysuckle, poison ivy, Virginia Creeper and Trumpet vine. And briars – don’t forget the briars!
The late camellias are starting to show a bit of color, maybe even opening a little bloom or two. Aunt Alice is trying to bloom again after getting such an early start in January.
The daffodils are finally opening as are the crocus and forsythia. It is amazing how the crocus bulbs travel around the yard and into the woods! I have found more little clumps of crocus this year out where I never planted anything. A fun surprise!
And then there was a white thing next to a purple crocus way back in the woods… I made my way thru the bramble… there was a little possum skull with a bit of honeysuckle growing thru it.
If you peek under the cover of shatters (pine straw to you firiners) you will find the tender shoots of peonies.
The “weeping” camellia is getting ready to open as is Red Emperor.
I love pussy willows! I thought they would be damaged as they first started to open back in January.
Most of the camellias and daffodils were birthday presents from one dear friend or another. The miniature daffodils were from Sabra who also gave me several of my favorite camellias, Debutante and Yule Tide, among others. My yard, or my jungle as my neighbors call it, is a living memorial to my many friends who loved flowers as much as I and knew the joy of having them around to remind us of those who loved us and have moved on. I have a habit of speaking to them as I see the plants they have given me over the years. If you are ever in need of giving a gift to someone you love, give them a living gift, one that will always be there to remind them they are loved by you.

A BLESSING

CAUTION - this posting contains dirty pictures!

A Blessing

A blessing with dirty pictures?

Do you know what a blessing looks like?

Actually, I have had so many blessings in my life, I would not know where to begin if I had to list them all – or even list the top 10… or 20… or – well, you get the idea. But sometimes we get surprise blessings that most people would never believe were blessings… but I do.

Take these pictures, for example. Yesterday, this dirt was covered with that black garden cloth that has been covered it since probably November.

Before that, it was home to tomato plants, beans that didn’t survive the bean beetles, carrots that don’t seem to like it here, and a fine crop of weeds. Oh, and my cold frame that allowed me to have fresh off the vine tomatoes for Christmas. Ok, so maybe there were only 3 or 4 of them and they were tiny cherry tomatoes, but they were MINE and I got to eat them on Christmas straight from my yard. Fortunately, I am the only one who likes them, so I did not have to share.
Now I had no intentions of taking the covers off the garden today. It was in the lower 60s, but I work at a snail’s pace – or I end up in the wheel chair. I have actually learned this. (A blessing that I have learned this!)
I thought I would water the greenhouse plants since it was warm enough to open the door, (another blessing), clean the birdbath since it wasn’t frozen, maybe fill a bird feeder or two, water the new camellia and the pansies and maybe indulge myself by picking a few daffodils. That was my plan for this afternoon. I really hadn’t worried about taking the cover off the garden because I knew my body was not up to doing what comes next – turning the ground over. Sigh. I got a Mantis tiller a few years ago, but it has not ever even had gas put in it. The only dirt it has ever seen is the dust and cobwebs from sitting in my barn. So sad! A friend calls it my virgin Mantis!

Then the phone rang. It was my neighbor, behind me, thru the woods. He said he was going to till his garden today, would I like it if he dropped by and looked at my little garden spot and maybe he would till mine, too? It is smaller than his, though he did not know it at the time.
I guess I am not used to people offering to do things for me. I have gotten used to those you’d expect to help out but so seldom do that I refuse to ask for help. Tilling the garden, small as it is would probably take me at least a week, maybe two. There are cobwebs on my wheelchair, too, and I like to keep it that way, know what I mean?
Anyway, as you can see by the pictures, Frank came over and tilled the garden – all I did was pull the covers off and remove the cold frame which had become home to a thriving crop of weeds. In a half an hour, he was done! I kept thinking of the time and the pain it would take for me to do it with the hoe while I watched him effortlessly push the tiller along. Or at least it appeared to be so.
So I was doubly blessed today, blessed to have a wonderful and kind neighbor and blessed to have my garden all tilled and ready to go! How lucky can you get?

SPRING, WHEREFORE ART THOU?

Spring, where are you??????????????

With the snow gone but temps still in the 20s in the morning, the poor little daffodils are struggling to really open. They have been sitting at half-mast all week... waiting.

Crocus are popping up here and there. That's promising...

The pansies are also making a brave effort.

The weather people are promising a real warm up... 50s this week-end, maybe even a 60 by the middle of next week. I explained all that to the plants this morning... not sure it did any good.

I won't even take any pictures of the camellias, they look so pitiful. They try to bloom and then get zapped by the cold again the next morning. Maybe next week will be better!

And maybe next week the grackles will move on to somebody else's feeders! They are consuming close to 5 pounds of seed A DAY! I decided to just let the feeders sit empty for a day or two and maybe they would go away... but the cardinals sat on the empty feeders and looked and looked. sigh. Like spoiled children they are. And, of course, I am convinced they were looking right in this window with that starved baby look asking me where the heck the food was!

We counted over 100 grackles here on Tuesday. Will someone remind me why I feed the outdoor cats? Is it not their job to do a bit of policing around here? They know who "lives" here and belongs here, and the Grackles are not among the residents on Possum Lane.

OK, OK, before any birdie-folk get their pants in a bunch - my cats do not really bother the birds, they barely even notice them anymore. I lose more birds to the resident Red-tail hawk than to the cats - and even to my windows which you would think are dirty enough the birds would never get confused and fly into them. They would never use my house for that Windex commercial! If spring ever gets here, maybe I will get my windows washed. Ya think?

NEWS FLASH! I have, I think, found a way to keep the grackles off the feeders - all I have to do is pick up a camera... or even just reach for it - and they are gone. Until I put the camera down... sigh.

LOOK WHAT WE GOT!

We had a bit of snow yesterday morning, but it was gone by 10 when it started to rain........

We woke up to a bit more this morning........

But, again, it was soon gone. sigh.

THE MANY NAMES OF A MOON

The Daffodil Moon

I just decided to name my own Moon, not that I have anything against all the other names for the March Moon. Sap Rising Moon. Sap Running Moon, Worm Moon...

Last night we had a Blood Moon. "What," you say, "on earth is a Blood Moon? ... Sounds yucky!" Well, first it ain't on earth, but, make that BUT it is because of the earth that it is a Blood Moon. A Blood Moon occurs whenever there is a lunar eclipse. The shaded part of the moon turns red because of the light reflected off the earth. Go figure!

Whatever it is called, it sure was pretty.

But since a bunch of my daffodils opened today, I will stick with Daffodil Moon. Definitely not so yucky!

A FEBRUARY MORNING FOG

February 20th, a Very Foggy Morning

We woke up to pea soup fog this morning. OK, OK, watered down pea soup. Maybe it was not the worst fog I have ever seen, but it was in the top, um, 20, anyway. So far, here on the Eastern Shore, I have never seen fog that could compare to the fog in Maine.
As I have said before on this blog, I love the way fog changes the way the world looks and sounds. It puts a new perspective on things. Patterns that we don’t notice on clear days become more noticeable with the backgrounds hidden by the fog. Vincent really wanted to cut this tree down but I told him it was too beautiful to cut, I loved the way its branches were shaped. And the birds love the little berries.
This morning’s fog was a cold penetrating fog with temps just under freezing. It was chilly walking around the yard. I decided to hike up to the end of the property see how the neighbor’s barn looked.
Back home, the feeders were under attack by the poor starving masses of birds fighting each other for a spot on one feeder or the other. Have you ever seen so many birds in one clump! And check out all of them on the ground! The blur is a finch fight. Scrappy little fellows... like there isn't enough food to go around! Like the feeders don't get refilled every day. Geeez!
Papa cardinal came and took over the mixed seed feeder.
I really love having these feeders out the computer window. I must admit they are a distraction… but so much fun!
It is hard to believe I ate my lunch sitting out in the sun in a t-shirt!

THE FIRST BORN - 2007

The first daffodil of the season opened Thursday and the wind flattened it a few hours after I took this shot. So I picked it and brought it inside. Thought I would share it with you........

And this is the beginning of the cold front that brought the 42 mph winds and sent me scurrying for a jacket. sigh.

I had been resting my aching back in the adirondack chair I never got put away, eyes closed, soaking up the sun, listening the birds twitter away, listening to Punkin purring on my lap, when suddenly somebody turned off the lights! I looked up and here were all these black clouds that had been nowhere in sight 10 minutes before! This shot was taken around 2:30 PM when it rained about 30 or 40 raindrops.

A FEBRUARY MORNING

A February Morning

Morning has broken, like the first morning

Blackbird has spoken, like the first bird.

Praise for the singing, praise for the morning

Praise for them springing fresh from the world.

Sweet the rains new fall, sunlit from heaven

Like the first dewfall, on the first grass.

Praise for the sweetness of the wet garden

Sprung in completeness where his feet pass.

Mine is the sunlight, mine is the morning

Born of the One Light, Eden saw play.

Praise with elation, praise every morning

God's re-creation of the new day.

Remember that song by Cat Stevens? Did you know he converted to Islam and is now Yusuf Islam? I have always loved that song.

I could not help thinking of that song when I went outside this morning. February, here on the Eastern Shore, can be bitter brutally cold, or it can be a beautiful gentle reminder that spring is on the way.
The robins returned February 7th, right on schedule. Of course, we have a few robins here year round. I figure they are the robins from up around Caribou, Maine where it is below zero from September – to June. Well, OK, I exaggerate, but it does sometimes seem that way. http://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/findweather/getForecast?query=caribou+maine. Or Mt Washington - http://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/findweather/getForecast?query=MT+Washington+NH. Well, OK, maybe not that bad, but it might as well be for all the complaining that goes on.

On Sunday, we had snow! I swear I saw all 47 snow flakes come down. It was so exciting. Well, there might have been a few more – that was just out the front window.
Anyway, a nice February morning is truly a delight. I think it is the promise – the promise of daffodils – the promise of azaleas and camellias – the new garden growing in my mind – seeds begging to be planted.
The birds have changed their songs. New birds have moved back into the yard back from the winter spent in warmer climes.

The little goldfinches look so silly with their patchwork of colors as they change into their show-off breeding clothes. Territorial chattering starts about a half an hour before the sun comes up. I am so grateful that is earlier – makes it so much easier getting out of bed.
Baby digitalis have survived and are looking good.
The camellias are trying to decide if this is just another trick or dare they really start to bloom again? The old flowers, frozen almost instantly a few weeks ago, stand as a reminder to a warm January and a frigid February.
The crocus is making another attempt at blooming as the daffodils push their buds up ever higher.
Even the new blueberry plants have started to leaf out.
Punkin loves the warmer days, love sunshine and long walks thru the woods. He also loves to roll on the moss.
In another week or so, I will have to clean up the gum balls. Sigh. The trees are so beautiful and strong, why did god put those nasty gumballs on them? But Punkin will roll over in almost anything.

I have retyped this thing over a dozen times and blogger keeps rearranging it differently each time. It has taken Morning Has Broken and lumped it is one continuous paragraph, and then the next time I look at it - each line has 4 or 5 spaces between it and the next line. So far I am not impressed with the "new and improved" version that I was forced to accept the other day. How about you? It has not made it faster or easier... it has taken me an hour and a half to down load and retype and retype and retype or respace, backspace... etc! AAAAAAAAAARrrrrrghhh!

Still here - sorta.......

Still here…… sorta.

Rumors of my demise have been greatly exaggerated. Who was it that said that?

To answer your questions – where are you? Why have you been away from your blog???
Well, I have been SOOOOOOoooooo busy! I am taking a class and it is including learning Arabic, and the last time I spoke any Arabic was 40 years ago and that was less than a dozen words anyway! - Just enough to tell the beggars to leave us alone or to ask the price of something, you know, the touristy thing.
My class is Islam (as part of my doctorate) and it includes learning to pray in Arabic and follow the life style of a convert to Islam. The life style is not a problem, wrapping my tongue around reciting the Qur'an is! Maybe I am just too old to “do” another language.
So I will be back soon… Inshallah! Just gotta find some time!

HERE BIRDIE!

HERE BIRDIE!
Hadji in his bedroom window watching for a customer!

Maybe they will not notice me, ya think? Obviously someone has been eating here, it was just filled yesterday.

PIGGING OUT BEFORE THE STORM

PIGGING OUT BEFORE THE STORM
Yeah, I know, these are not good shots, but they are out my dirty windows next to the computer with the only setting I can find that will not do a flash and make the shot totally ruined. But I am glad to have a picture, as poor as it is with this cheap digital camera, of the goldfinches who have been strangely missing until about a week ago. As you can see, they are on a thistle seed feeder and thistle bag. Sometimes I have as many as 12 thistle seed feeders going at one time, and all of them are covered with birds. That is a sunflower feeder on the right protected with a pie plate and held tight with clothes pins. Real high tech! But it works. If we get the snow they say we are supposed to get in a couple of hours, this seed will remain dry. That is a chickadee's butt you can see on that feeder.

While taking the finch picture, I noticed a cardinal checking out some dropped sunflower seeds under another feeder. See how high the daffodils are? They just popped up in the last week or two and are not nearly as high as the ones on the side of the house. Again, I apologize for the poor quality of thses pics but I was excited to have 10 finches together. The tree is my big redbud.