Thursday's Thoughts

Well, okay. There's always a new day, and before getting this one started, I'll offer my thanks to Joe for his forward-looking comment and Cooper for his thoughtful post, both of which worked in concert to talk me down off the idea of fomenting an Earth Day revolution with my Great Big Hoe in hand. Revolution's great, but who can spare the time from the garden?

Oh, and just in case we have nearly played out this dear planet of ours and need to look elsewhere, this article offers some ideas of what we might expect of flora on alien planets!

As the trees begin to flower and leaf out, things are looking great out in the garden. But as I've been reviewing things lately, I noticed that a few little slips of weed seedlings and minor grasses were beginning to appear...and that's the best time to get rid of them.

So, with the full day off before me, I tended to the garden up close and personal-like, taking my little hand rake and loosening up the soil, blending the various layers I added in raising the bed this spring, whilst teasing out the little invaders.

Here's that foxglove plant I mentioned the other day.

The project was a good chance to give each transplant a close study, to remove old foliage and in a few cases, to actually dig up and replant a few who'd been done a dis-service in the haste of last fall's planting.

It was another incredible day, with freshening breezes and temps climbing into the low seventies. Birds sang everywhere and my mind was free to sort through whatever it needs to in the quiet. Today, though, I seemed to have music on my mind, considering the idea of theme songs and I cycled through a few different tunes as I worked. Whenever I'm doing this sort of work, it's always "Wick", the song from Secret Garden that sticks itself in my head.

Those are some of the peonies in this image, those fancy looking red stalks. There are four or five of those and they have all survived the move nicely, if their early growth is an indication.

Because it was such a great day, my sunflower seedlings enjoyed the day outside, getting better accustomed to the conditions they'll be enjoying soon. They seemed to love it. Meanwhile, last night I planted a tray of cleome seeds, and tonight added a tray of morning glories (which I soaked overnight before planting), so the next class of seedlings should be coming along shortly.

This tulip, though sporting chewed leaves, looks like it will be blooming for us by the weekend.

Because it was a pretty warm day, and it was windy and my work was turning over a lot of fresh soil, I was a little concerned about drying. So as I finished each fence section of the garden, I stopped to hand-water of each plant. It took most of the day, but the whole border looked really great by this evening.

I should've used some sunscreen today, though for the kind of work I was doing, it always gives the dirt a little something more to cling to. Plus, I didn't imagine I'd need it, being fairly well-covered up. But just the same, I can feel a little sunburny-ness on my forearms and my face. I'm not a tanner. Usually I burn and fade, instead. I'll try to remember to be more careful. Maybe I need a hat.

As I was watching the bunny sitting in the yard across the way, gazing hungrily at the garden this evening, I was kinda pleased to notice that some of our neighbors slowed down to check out the border as they drove by. It's always nice to be noticed...and since they seem to be seasonal residents, the sudden appearance of a garden where there had been none must have been a little bit of a surprise.

Oh, this is funny. So I knew we had this great bird population, so I've made an effort to establish two new birdbath areas at our place this week...and I've been eager to watch them enjoy the new facilities. So imagine my surprise when the small group of house sparrows who hang out in the bushes came flying down to take dirt baths in the new garden bed around the birdbath.

I got a little film of them, too. Now that whole area is full of little sparrow dents!


I'm happy to say that other birds have been enjoying the birdbath, though, like this cowbird who had a nice pampering visit tonight.

(As you can see, with a little trial and error, I'm finding that the telescope can be a helpful way to watch the birds without scaring them off from their routines.)

LOL Robin

moar funny pictures

Earth Day Weekend Garden Report

The violets of our old house are not numbered amongst the plants who made the trip with us. I was just starting to feel a little badly that I hadn't brought at least a single clump of them...when these pretty little things suddenly began blooming out in front of this house.

As the Full Frog or Planter's Moon made our evenings glisten and gleam this weekend, grape hyacinths have begun springing up along the outer edges of the front garden. Here, a pair of them frame a columbine plant and one of the pink Dutch hyacinths.

In fact, all of the Dutch hyacinths I planted in the fall have turned out to be pink, which makes me grin. I'm a bigger fan of the purple/blue ones, but these smell as lovely.

This weekend, Somewhere Joe pointed out that spring has made me prolific, and the season is certainly inspiring. Not only are new green things appearing in the border daily--old friends like moonbeam coreopsis and purple coneflower and assorted phloxes--but I also have a lot to get done when spring arrives. It's the nature of my job that I'll be busy at work when June begins busting out, and I like to head off to work in the mornings then knowing that all's well in the garden.

Toward that end, each morning this weekend I've been working on finishing off a little more of the front garden bed. Particularly, the far end where I wanted to get a nice big birdbath installed. We have so many birds around that I know it'll be popular...and it's always fun to watch them.

I had dug out this bed and broken all the sod into squares back in the fall, but had run short to finish the project then, with the moving and winter bearing down on us. So at least that tough part of the job was done...all I had to do was seperate all the dirt from the clumps of grass, which were just beginning to green up again.

By late this morning, I'd finished off the bed and was ready to embed some stepping stones and also the birdbath itself. Yah, I know the path of stones isn't exactly level, but they are reasonably secure, and water won't pool on them on very rainy days.

Here's a close-up of the birdbath, which you'll recognize from last summer in the old orchard garden. The stones in front are mica-flecked or have crystals in them, so they really catch and play with the sunlight.

They look a little stark here, but I hope soon to have them planted with some dianthus and creeping phlox, which ought to thrive on the spillover water from the birdbath and the full sun.

I'm glad to have this section finished off. It will be at least partially a vegetable bed, with some tomatoes and another go at the Three Sisters Garden.

Here's my next target: the section around the lamp-post. It will be slower work here, owing to both underground electric (danger Midnight Gardener, danger...)and an overgrown clematis vine I don't want to damage. But I imagine about the time I've finished that, the lilies should have begun to emerge, and then it will be safe to install the soaker hose throughout the whole layout.

Not all of us were hard at work this weekend. Em just loves to lie in the sun and bake her head, occasionally looking up as I dash past to the shed for some tool or other. It takes quite a bit of coaxing to convince her to come inside when its time to head off to work.


Owen's also been busy around the house, not only scraping off old exterior paint and re-glazing windows, but also replacing the old landscape timbers that line the backyard gardens with some of the new rocks we recently acquired.


It was while he was on a ladder working on the former project Friday afternoon, when he overheard two of the neighbors talking about us...one of them's a bit deaf, so it wasn't difficult. The reviews are good, though: sounds like they are very impressed with the work we're doing to clean up the place...but he also heard one of them refer to me as "the young one."

It's not untrue, four years seperate us in my favor, so I got a bit of a giggle from it all. He, on the other hand, is taking it a little more seriously. Meanwhile, Em's trying to convince him that they might think he's younger if he also took her for a walk around the block every day.

I was out examining newly sprouted things when this robin came bobbing along to inspect the new garden. I was happy to watch him try out the vantage point from each of the taller rocks in the edging, before hopping up to survey things from the fence. The sun was already sinking, so I wasn't disappointed that he didn't visit the birdbath. I imagine it was a little chilly. But I'll be watching for him in the morning sun.

Birding the Parking Lot

In between afternoon appointments and tonight's concert, I managed a little break to get outside. Although the morning carried on the last two days theme of dull and dreary, the afternoon was starting to perk up.

Over at the "daffodil house", I found the blooming still a bit patchy, so resisted a long shot as yet. But this new variety, with its thinner, pointier petals and more nodding demeanor, this to me is a narcissus. In mythology, Narcissus was the boy so beautiful he couldn't look away from his own reflection. Eventually he died, and the flowers sprung up where he'd been.

(Actually, there's three or four different, great versions of Narcissus' tale, as a few mouse clicks have shown me. You can check 'em out here. I think the one with Echo is my favorite.)

I can totally picture these guys planted along the bank of a stream, where they could gaze down into their rippled reflection in the passing waters.

When I got back to the parking lot at work, I found the robins were having their run of the grassy hill below the powerlines.

They are so much fun to watch, the way they duck and dash, then stand tall, listening for worms. They can hear the worms. Amazing.

And you know, for such ubiquitous birds as these, the American robin is quite striking, appearance-wise. Of course, I say that about all the birds.



As I headed inside, I heard a rustling in the bed of Jeff's truck, and this white periscope head popped up as I drew closer, and then this Great Black-Backed Gull was flying up. I'm always impressed with how big these guys are...and I never fail to hear the voice of Ivan (was that his name? I have to find time to read that again!), from Watership Down in my head: I come from Peeg Vater...

Anyway, this guy hopped up onto Jen's truck so we could better regard one another and I managed to get off a few shots with my camera. Obviously his white front caused a little over-exposure from the angle of the sun, but it was still a cool moment.

We studied one another a bit, as I moved a little closer to him. Maybe he was surprised that I wasn't shooing him away. But first, I figure live and let live. Second, do you see how big he is? Until I grow a beak like that, he can do pretty much whatever he wants to.

Sunny Spring Saturday

Saturday brought some heartening signs of the Spring. I just love the way robins behave...they way they stick their heads up in the air, standing still and listening, and then lowering their heads to dart forward, running across the grass.

I watched this robin this morning doing just that in the front yard, and then, when he got to the edge of the garden, he just stopped and sort of sat there. No doubt, he was soaking up the sun's warmth, but I also believe the robins had fled for southern climes when I created the garden here last fall...so he might've been taking stock of the changed landscape, too.

I suppose there's a slight chance that he was admiring all the little clusters of crocus foliage which are coming up here and there at the front of the beds. I think we'll see our first blossoms in the coming week!

Here's a hyacinth, just emerged from the warming soil. Although it was still a bit breezy today, the sun was nice and warm in sheltered spots and generally, it was a great day to be outside.

As it turned out, my schedule for the day allowed me to take a few breaks here and there to accomplish assorted non-work stuff. Around noontime I found myself in Eastham to do some banking.

I couldn't resist a drive-by the old place, and was happy to see that all the recent rain have done wonders to restore the pond to its former levels. I'm sure our old duck pals are quite pleased. I wonder if the buffleheads showed up again this spring.

I saw this swan as I drove by the Herring Pond and stopped to take his picture, and also to peek into the herring run to see what sort of activity there might be. Though the herring haven't yet made their appearance, there's an abundance of small fry darting through the shallow waters...and sometimes getting sucked over the little waterfalls made by the old wooden ladders.

Happily, my late afternoon appoint ments wrapped up in time to visit Skaket Beach for the sunset, before dashing about for a few Easter-related items.

This evening I boiled and dyed a couple dozen eggs, which I decorated with the names of everyone who'll be working serving and waiting for the madness which is Easter Brunch Buffet tomorrow. I hid them all over the restaurant, which will hopefully make working on the holiday a little more fun. The eggs came out looking pretty great, and I was sorry to realize later that I'd forgotten to take some pictures of them.

Friday

Hey, everybody!! Look, I'm finally back.

Sorry for the impromptu hiatus this week: to paraphrase the immortal Lily Von Schtuppe, I guess I was just tired.

Tired of posting yet another picture of the world on a rainy day. Tired of listening to myself bitch about how slow winter is to let go of us...especially when so many people I know are still dealing with "quality" snow pack. And I was a little tired of putting a bright face on all the challenges this new rental have brought to our lives.

And, too, I was a bit loopy from the fumes. Our "new" furnace (installed on a sunny day in early January, you may recall...) was acting up and leaking fuel oil--we collected the stuff in buckets and had nearly twenty gallons(!!!!!) before the repair guy was able to fix the problem. Since the computer's right near the furnace room, I tried to abbreviate my at-home online time until the situation resolved.

Now, the repairs have been completed--as I understand it (I'm no plumbing/heating expert) there was a fuel oil pump replaced twice, a pinhole leak in a water line, a troublesome water feeder valve and finally a broken wire to one of the thermostats. Our repair guy says he'll be back sometime next week to perform some cleansing rituals and possibly bring a priest along to perform an exorcism (this could explain the rats...), but I'm happy to say as the overnight temps linger in the thirties, that we have heat once more. We were also able to filter and reuse most of the "escaped" fuel oil.

And despite the on-going rain (perhaps because of it, too)spring is slowly creeping in around us. The robins have been back for a few weeks now. Fresh little bits of green are appearing here and there.

This evening, the sun almost came out. Things are definitely looking up.

The arrival of this particular Holy Week has me very thoughtful of late. I'm not a practicing Catholic, but after years of having done so, those traditions and rituals are still burned on my brain for particular dates and occasions. I'm not very churchy, choosing to do the bulk of my worshipping in the garden and in some of nature's more beautiful places. Some of the old traditions don't work for me, while others nestle somewhere deep in my heart.

But lately, I find myself sickened on a somewhat regular basis lately I see people using their "Christian" (quotations to indicate I don't feel they act particularly Christ-like...) values to divide our society into factions, as though their beliefs are superior and could therefore justify hurting or killing people because they don't believe the same things or fit into their peculiar guidelines for what's "acceptable."

I just can't imagine Jesus would be okay with that.

June's Farewell

I think in the future I may use geraniums more as bedding plants. I'm really happy with the wide and full way these two plants are blooming.

These petunias surround those brighter petunias and their more subtle color help to mute the hot pink of the geraniums.


On the trellace out back, another lovely red rose has opened, with buds promising more to follow.

Later in the afternoon, I was tending to some deadheading out back when this robin came foraging through the paths. It was a rare close sighting, but he was really too busy to actually pose for me.

How quickly June's gone by! As this weekend kicks off a long and festive week of Independence Day celebrations, I'll just take a moment to wish you a happy and safe Fourth of July--have a great time!