Whatta Day...

Heading into work this foggy morning, I saw yet another sign of spring, as this road sweeper appeared out of the mist. It was a delightful ride, as the sun began to poke through the thinning clouds overhead.

Accepting the fact that the hungry bunnies are enjoying the crocuses in the home garden (and honestly, how can I blame them for taking advantage of a new thing...it's like I opened a restaurant just for them. I'll try additional protections and also a little faith that they'll find things to nibble elsewhere as the season unfolds.), I knew I'd need to find other ways to celebrate the Festival of St. Crocii...and there's a front yard in Brewster which had caught my eye recently. By the time I arrived there, the sun was growing stronger...and there was a wonderful show of crocuses, with a few daffodils and glory of the snow thrown in as a bonus.



Man, a spread like that is every bulb gardener's dream, huh? Something about a great colony of bulbs like this just makes my heart sing! (Wild things, I think I love you...)


The work day was seasoned with a variety of great responses to the 100 List, which was fun (if you haven't read it yet, just scroll on down)...and a steadily rising temperature only sweetened the pot!

First it was 55, incomparably delightful in its own right. And then 58...and then 63, 64...back down to 63 again...and finally, a high of 65 right around dinnertime! Woo freaking hoo!!

Above left is a pair of the crocuses which have someone gone uneaten, and aren't they lovely. And I leave you with some glorious late afternoon sun on one of my favorite pansies.

2007 Festival of Saint Crocii

I was drawn out of the house this morning by a flash of springtime gold outside the kitchen door. There were two pair of these tasty looking beauties!



Finding the crocuses is always a little like hunting for Easter eggs. You know they're out there, it's just a matter of your eyes adjusting to the light, and suddenly, you can see them all over the place.



I look at one, and then the next...and then another, led in a circle around the outside of the house like an April Fool, so captivated am I by these tiny beauties.



...and then I think of the tight snow crocuses I found while raking out back yesterday...and in just a moment, I'm back there...and there they are, open happily to the bright sunshine. At the moment, they are the only thing blooming in that part of the garden...the first to welcome the season out there.





And then another flash of gold, further out into the field...as far as I've planted anything...catching my eye, leading me into the maze. I have to remember to plant more of these out there in the fall!



Mesmerized as I was by the crocuses, I still managed to get a fresh coat of paint (as promised at Christmastime) on the two windowboxes on the kitchen side of the house.

Now I just have to go out and find me some pansies. Heh heh.



Emily and I also made a trip to the Cape Cod Dog, to spend a bit of the gift certificate we won in the CCPJ raffle last weekend. Here she is modeling the new Dragonfly collar we selected.

By the way, we hope that you are all researching your pets' foods during this troubling food recall! You can get the latest word here.

The peepers in the pond are stronger in song each night (and will surely enjoy the damp week ahead) and I'm pretty sure I heard my first red-winged blackbird of the season singing down near the pond edge around dusk this evening.

The Festival of Saint Croci

As the Festival of St. Croci continues, I'm making mental notes to plant more of them again this fall. Especially yellow and gold ones, though the white ones are quite stunning, too.

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Which isn't to say all the other colors aren't quite wonderful. But there's something exciting about the yellow ones.

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See what I mean?

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Dancing in the sun.

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One greek legend suggests that crocuses sprang up from the ground, after an arduous meeting between Zeus and Hera, though more than one wag has suggested they grew of astonishment that the famously argumentative pair could be getting along so well.


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Another legends suggests that during a game of discus or the like, the god Hermes accidentally struck his friend Krokos a mortal wound, and the flowers grew where the man's blood fell on the ground.


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And a legendary fellow named Crocus was said to have been turned immortal through transformation to flower form, after falling in love with a goddess. There's a million stories in the growing garden...