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.

The Great Migration Begins

Returning to Not Wisteria Lane this morning, and having some faith in what I could accomplish in the time allotted, I brought along the first plants I wanted to "install" along the fenceline.

Remember that big clump of curly grass (check the August archives if you dont...)? I divided it during the Great Potting a couple weeks back into four plants, which should make a nice soft spine for the fence garden.

Also making the trip were a small burning bush, two different roses, a pot of tall garden phlox, one of those mystery plants from the marsh with the tiny white flowers (I know it will hold its own in the bit of damp clay I discovered at the far end of the fence), some of the lavendar beebalm and a scotch broom. Oh, and a nice big pot of deep red dianthus.

The broom is one of those pretty rosey-purple cultivars, but has been languishing in some shade. I look forward to watching this plant thrive in the new sunny spot.

When I arrived, I discovered that a special session of the Harwich Crow Council had convened to examine and report on my project (which they did, loudly and at length).

The progress was a little slow at the start, as the temperature was still rather low (I was bundled in four layers) and some of the smaller clumps of sod to be broken up were a little frozen.

One of the nice things about all the trees is at the Eastham place is that we have been spared much in the way of frost yet. Not so in the open front yard in Harwich. It appears I'll be planting just in the nick of time.

I found things thawed pretty quickly as the morning ensued, and eventually I began to make some good progress.

While it's not nice to fool Mother Nature, I also don't appreciate the way she seems to be holding a gun to my head. With that in mind, I decided I could safely abbreviate my plans for the digging this fall, once I'd opened up space on either side of the fence. Two larger "loopy" areas, one at each end, may safely wait 'til Spring, unless inspiration and time to spare present themselves tomorrow (well, later today).

Finishing all the way to the far end of the fence should give me plenty of room for getting everyone in the ground...and if some re-arranging is necessary come Spring, well, that will be fun, too.

These plants are the largest, potentially, and so it made sense to plant them first and deepest along the fence. It was nice to finish with the labor and get to a little of the fun stuff, like deciding how to arrange things.


I'd have loved to stay and do more, but as always lately, there wasn't much time to tarry today, as I kept a steady forward momentum going, on to other tasks, including a pretty late evening at work.



I am looking forward to exploring Harwich once we are settled in. Here's a photo of the Brooks Free Library in town. It strikes me as a very interesting and old building and I particularly look forward to exploring there this winter. In some way, it reminds me of the library I grew up in, which lived in a Revolutionary-era former home of one of the early Dutch settlers in New Jersey. Of course the architecture's not the same at all, but it intrigues me just the same.

I was, honestly, a little horrified to discover that the Town of Harwich has already hung up their Christmas wreaths. They have a quaint nautical feel to them, with the red, green and white lobster buoy, but they appear to be artificial >gasp< greens...and it's just a week too early for my taste.

Returning to Eastham, I made a momentary detour to catch this shot of the swans - and assorted other water fowl - having some fun in the sunshine on Salt Pond, before stopping by the Eastham Turnip Festival (for part of my contribution to the Thanksgiving feast in Long Lake) and then showering and heading for work.