February-The Shortest Month?

It may be that February is indeed a short month, one more week and it's over. But in our region we've been battered by storm after storm, the latest just yesterday. Somehow after storm number ten this year, the month seems endless. Today the sun is shining on snow laden evergreens and bare branched trees sparkle with a glistening coat of ice. It is beautiful in the afternoon light, but less so when shovelling the mailbox out (again) only to have the snowplow make another pass and undo the job. Oh, well, it's the Maritimes and it's winter, so it goes. I know a couple who've been vacationing in Hawaii this past fortnight, lucky souls. Last night the wind positively howled, snow drifted and spattered until there was no visibility at all out the windows. Perhaps spring will be early - one can dream.

Had a bit of excitement last week when a mouse climbed up behind the fusebox & hopped into the kitchen, only to be grabbed by the cat in a wild rush (broke a stem off my foxtail rosemary in his haste, the bugger)! The chase took place under the window & on top of the wash machine. Thinking to get the "body"away from him, I tossed the cat into the bathtub & a Mexican standoff ensued. Shaking, dripping water, holding his jaws, nothing worked - finally my son arrived home just in time. He separated cat from mouse, returned to the tub to find a revived rodent trying to creep up the bathtub chain! Popped it into a plastic pitcher & dropped it outside off the steps onto the crusty snow. You should have seen the little thing run, hale & hearty (except for cat slobber), made it to the birdbath & off to the woods like a greyhound. Country life, eh?

One day about suppertime, my son looked out toward the woods and three deer were daintily picking their way around the clearing, nibbling bark and downed limbs. They lingered a while and he took pictures that came out fairly well, given the window glass in the way. The biggest doe stared at us a while, decided we were no danger, and carried on with grazing. They are such lovely, graceful creatures. The birds - nuthatches & chickadees, as well as crows - are happy that I've restocked my bird feeder, have a glass one up as well as a seed bell in netting under the apple trees. The squirrels are also been enjoying them, of course.

I'm currently rereading some of Miss Read's stories, can't find anything new I like better. Right now I'm on "Winter at Thrush Green". Love the fine illustrations that brighten the stories. I don't know why pictures are thought by some critics to be something only for children.

Not long ago I finished an interesting novel called "Suite Francaise", which is about life in France during the Nazi occupation in World War II. It really brings that time to life without romanticizing or dehumanizing any of the characters. The story behind the novel is quite dramatic in itself, as the author, Irene Nemirovsky, was a noted Jewish writer until the Nazi invasion and the manuscript was only discovered recently by her daughter.

Sadly, Nemirovsky and her husband both died in concentration camps. One thing that stands out in the novel and the author's notes is a refusal to hate any individual as a representative of their people. She finds humanity even in the German soldiers occupying a French village. Sad that she didn't complete the trilogy it was meant to begin, but it stands alone without feeling unfinished.

That's about all my news worth sharing for now. I'm off to bake some chocolate chip-oatmeal quick bread, as my son's having friends over Saturday night. I figure they can always use something to eat aside from chips and pop. Just between you and me, the cooking starts with a mix, not from scratch, but they're tasty enough.

"A sad tale's best for winter. I have one of
sprites and goblins."
The Winter's Tale by Shakespeare

Into the New Year

Already halfway through the first month of the new year, back to everyday routines after the Christmas break. Up at 6 a.m for the school bus, then a bit of quiet time with a book & coffee before tackling the day's chores. The moon is still visible when I get up & has been very bright this week.

With the full moon, nights have been brilliantly beautiful, a crystal clear sky full of stars and trees casting long black shadows on the snow. In the moonlight, the snow has been lovely, dusted with diamond dust sparkles.

As I look out the window now, more snow is falling, just a light sprinkling for the moment. Last week the kids had two storm days in a row, school (wisely) called off due to snowstorms or freezing rain, a mix of both some of the time. I've had a few stray cats hanging around off and on, and I feel terrible for them on cold nights. I put out food which they come around for now and then, but have to hide it a bit or the crows make off with it.

My son has been experimenting with the digital camera he got for Christmas, making slide shows of trees, snow shadows, the cat, all kinds of things. Some wonderful photos. I'm hoping he may help me post a few to share.

Over the holidays, I picked up all the Christmas-themed books I could find that were on the lighter side. Several authors do a mystery or romance every year - Anne Perry, Mary Higgins Clark - fun to read if not memorable. There's an old Agatha Christie anthology of stories that is one I'd love to own, called Star of Bethlehem. The stories are thoughtful, combine faith, a bit of magic & just good storytelling.

The best non-holiday book I've read recently has to be Philippa Gregory's The Other Boleyn Girl, a story about the sister of Anne Boleyn (who also had an affair with Henry VIII). It's one of several novels about the Tudors by Gregory. They look daunting, big books, but once you start reading they are so absorbing you get through them pretty quickly. (possibly neglecting the dishes, etc. while totally transported to Tudor England). For anyone who likes a historical novel that is both entertaining and accurate, the series is a find. The Constant Princess is about his first wife Catherine of Aragon, another of the series is about Anne Boleyn.

With the cold weather and no gardening to do (except the dream variety), this is the time of year to curl up with a good book.

As we only have two TV channels just now since MPBN went digital, I often read in the evening too. I think I will buy a digital-to-analog converter eventually so I can get MPBN back. I gave up on cable ages ago, can't stand reality shows. Since we use indoor antenna, options are limited, but cable users in our area just found out they're losing PBS access too, because Rogers Cable just dropped MPBN from their local lineup. It's the PBS carrier here, from just across the border in Maine. My mother is furious since it's her favourite channel. So it goes. Rural areas are not generally well served by the companies controlling internet, TV etc. services, not here at least. Is it the same in western & central rural Canada too, I wonder?

Thanks to Becky for the birthday greetings, & Happy New Year to all! It looks like a challenging one according to all the economic pundits, but I think we' ll get along.

Midsummer Musings

As always, summer is passing too quickly. Already the stores are flogging fall clothes and winter catalogues appear in the mail. I refuse to look at them for now. Why would anyone want to dwell on winter coats when the sun is high and the breeze is from the south?

I've been blessed with the first opportunity to meet my niece's new baby girl, Grace. One forgets how very tiny and delicate a newborn can be. Poor dear is minding the humidity and heat we've been having and was a bit fussy with heat rash. She did me the honour of falling asleep while I held her in the rocking chair. Little ones are so very precious it makes the heart ache. She has a full head of golden hair, softer than chicken down.

My son is off to summer camp, and decided that long hair was too much bother - so he shaved his head!!! A bit of a shock - he's lucky to have a dimpled smile and gorgeous brown eyes that keep him from looking like a neo-Nazi. Just had his 17th birthday, they grow up so fast.

In the garden, the scarlet runner blooms are beginning to develop beans, tiny summer squash are growing behind big yellow blossoms, the peas are done, swiss chard is producing a small second crop and the garlic chives are in bud. Bee balm has just begun blooming and the milkweed is almost open. I've seen a few monarch butterflies, but have no caterpillars on the plant. They are supposed to thrive on milkweed so I'm hoping. At least I'll get to enjoy the vanilla-scented pink flowers soon. Gold and peach daylilies are among the plants passed along from my sister's divisions, as well as several leftovers from the plant sales. I have pansies and violas here and there in both raised beds and in containers. Tomatoes are lagging this year. I have a few on each plant but they are far from prolific.

I've been making homemade iced tea from pineapple mint, lemon balm and lemon verbena and it's good, citrusy & sweetened a bit with honey. Borage leaf is good in tea too, but I discovered last year it has to be used very lightly. Has a pronounced laxative effect in larger amounts about which I will say no more.

At the edge of the yard, wild raspberries are ripening and blueberries are almost ready to pick as well. In back of the shed, masses of green berries promise a good blackberry crop later. Just up the road, an old woods path is a great spot for picking blueberries. If only the mosquitoes would stay away, being outside would be wonderful.

When I'm not busy, I love to sit by the window with a good book, pausing now & then to look out at the garden. The hummingbird whizzes by to hit the feeder again or to perch at the fuchsias. Butterflies drift around, birds call, and I bask in the peace and quiet. I've been enjoying Miss Read's stories lately. Her tales of life in an English country village are just the thing if you like stories about the everyday dramas of ordinary people. She has a keen appreciation of nature and the countryside and the seasons feature in the stories. I don't much enjoy writers who seem not to see nature around them, though I do like different types of literature. Also reading "The Proud Tower",Barbara Tuchman's history of pre-WWI Europe, heavy going at times but full of insight and fascinating anecdotes.

We've had some (much needed) rain & thunder showers the last few days, and on July 19th I watched a fantastic sunset after a storm. The eastern sky was blotted out by a mountain of clouds, shaped and layered with shades of lavender, rose and at the very peak backlit to almost gold, wonderfully dramatic. As I watched, jagged streaks of lightning flashed out from the darkest centre of the lower cloud formation. At the same time, the sky to the west was clearing to the bright blue of a sunny day, turning to gold and pink as the sun lowered on the horizon. A sunset to remember.

Watched an interview with Nelson Mandela and the celebration of his 90th birthday. My son is proud that he has the same birthdate as such a true hero (an overused word but true in his case I think). We could use a few more like him in this world. Makes me proud to have supported the Free Mandela movement in my student days, in a small way. Think globally, act locally & all that, not a bad way to carry on everyday life at all.

Spring is Here, Sort of

Okay, in theory it's supposed to be spring, but for every day of sunshine we seem to be getting two or three of rain or even (still...wet snow!) Ugh. A blue sky makes so much difference when it's time to get up in the morning. In a gesture of optimism, I bought seed packets of zinnias, Sugar Snap peas, and mesclun lettuce mix when I found them on sale at half price the other day. I want to work in the garden, but the soil is still soggy and cold, no use to rush it. Well, gardening is all about learning to be patient.

The birds have begun to arrive in flocks, with lots of robins in the yard on wet days like this one. Yesterday a noisy bunch of grackles spent the day squabbling and jumping up and down on the feeder, emptying out the black oil sunflower seeds in a few hours. Song sparrows have arrived - the nuthatch kept chasing one away from a branch it apparently had claimed as its own, close to the feeder. Both a downy and a pileated woodpecker were hammering away at the old poplar tree in the morning. With the rustlings of sparrows in dry leaves, squirrels chittering and grackles calling their rusty nail squeaks, the yard was alive with the sounds of spring. In the afternoon, a young bald eagle circled the yard for a while, and I spotted two adults flying much higher, keeping watch on junior is my guess.

A few days ago I walked by the kitchen window, glanced out, and saw two yearling deer frozen in position, staring back in at me from about ten feet away. When I kept still, they decided to ignore me and coolly returned to grazing the old yellow grass (too long because it didn't get a late fall mowing). After a while, they sauntered away up the path to the woods. They were quite lovely.

Just finished reading a memoir by Doris Grumbach, an author living in Maine. Dealt in an interesting way with the changes in life that come along as we grow older, not all sunshine and roses. Now hoping to find some of the other non-fiction works she has written. Discovered from her book that one of my favourites, The Education of Little Tree by Forrest Carter, is somewhat notorious for being the work of a former Klansman and speechwriter for racist governor George Wallace. Very strange, as the book portrays a native American viewpoint with humour and empathy. A good read (and film too) just the same.

Here's hoping that April showers really will bring May flowers. I for one am more than ready for them, and for warm days and sunshine.

Realities of Spring

Daydreams of a spring garden have given way to a touch of melancholy as late winter storms absolutely pummel our region. Last week storm days cancelled three days of school (didn't matter much as my son was home with a rotten cold anyway!!). It's rained record amounts for the last couple of days, giving me the chance to discover that the cellar drain is clogged - nothing like wading in a foot of water to make one nostalgic for the city apartment with a super on call. As I write, the portable sump pump installed by my handyman dad, bless him, is roaring away. It sounds as if a 747 is about to take off from below, but oh, am I thankful for it. Given that our pump and hot water heater would be afloat by now, it's a relief to hear it roar while the rain lashes at the windows. Great clouds of fog are being tossed around in the southerly winds, and the trees are swaying like palms in a hurricane. A truly wild day.

I'm keeping fingers crossed for a clear night on Wednesday, as a lunar eclipse is due - it's to begin around 9:45 p.m., so I hope to get a good look without having to stay up too late. By nature I'm a night owl, but the need to get up for the school bus at 6:30 a.m. curbs any inclination to burn the midnight oil much.

My son's been reading and enjoying the somewhat controversial Dark Materials series, but he disagrees with recommending it for younger children, says it's too complex and not that easy to read.

We recently viewed the highly acclaimed film about Che Guevara as a young man, "The Motorcycle Diaries" - beautiful cinematography as they travelled across Argentina, Peru and Colombia - rafting on a misty Amazon river, looking over Machu Picchu - lovely. His critique was favourable in its own way, "It was just like a documentary, only interesting." Ahhh, well.

The birds (and squirrels) have made amazing inroads into what I thought was an enormous sack of sunflower seeds, and at first chance I have to stock up again. Mostly the chickadees and nuthatches are around just now, though I did see a female pileated woodpecker yesterday. In a novel I read recently the bird was called the Lord God Bird in Georgia. I wonder if that's true. It's a very large and showy bird with the flashy red crest, and loud too. Here's hoping spring really is just around the corner, February is the longest short month in the year.