The Merry Month of May

I'm writing on a lovely day, with a temperature of 21Celsius and a southern breeze bringing the fragrance of freshly cut grass through the windows. I spent a few hours yesterday raking up grass after my dad mowed while I was away. He's almost eighty-one now, but likes to keep busy and can't stand seeing a job not done properly!

You may wonder why I'm not out enjoying the sunshine or the garden on such a fine day, instead of killing time on the computer. In a word, the answer is BLACKFLIES!!!! I wonder if God or the goddess (whoever we can blame) really had to put them in the mix when creation was underway. At least I suppose they provide something for the birds to eat, just wish they'd eat more of them and do it faster.

With the help of DeepWoods Off, I have ventured into the garden and been out birdwatching too. Every day now some new migrant arrives, and I'm seeing a few species that are new to me, always a delight. On a walk in the woods a few days ago, I saw a little grey blue bird with a bright yellow chest, one I'd never seen before. It took a while to locate him in the bird book, but I found out it's a northern parula. A pretty, tropical looking bird. (the picture shown here is a parula, but doesn't really show how brilliant the yellow chest is)

I put out my hummingbird feeder two days ago, and within a few hours a female rubythroated was checking it out. It's the only hummer in our area. Yesterday I saw a little male gorging himself until the female spotted him and ran him off. Last year a female took over and the battles were wild at times. For a tiny bird, it has big ideas!

A pair of northern flickers has been around for a while, though I haven't seen them since the courting stage. It was fun to watch. The male poses, fanning his tail and bobbing his head, and they are both very vocal about the affair. One of my favourite songbirds has turned up, just saw a male common yellowthroat this morning. With the black mask, it makes me think of Zorro. Makes noise worthy of twice its size.

The trees are leafing out now, with silver green hackmatacks, almost lime bright birches and now the white flowering wild pears. When the sun shines through at certain times of day, it makes me wish I were an artist. It is just so beautiful with the backlit leaves and blossoms. The apple trees are just beginning to show a tiny bit of pink blossom. Because the owners of this place used to have an orchard, there are apple trees scattered out in the meadow, by the front yard, and off in the woods. Gnarled and old, when they bloom they are still lovely.

Driving home a few days ago, we took the long way around the island, and between villages had to slow down for deer in the road. Two does leisurely made their way across while two others waited undecided on the other side. When you see one, you have to slow down as more are almost surely about to cross. At dusk and on foggy evenings they seem especially fond of wandering.

In spite of pesky insects, I have done some of my planting. I have summer squash, swiss chard, sugar snap peas and zinnias in to grow from seed. Yesterday I made a bamboo teepee and put Scarlet Runner beans, sweet peas and cardinal vine seeds around it. I'm hoping the deer don't decide to check out the raised bed as they have so far left it alone, unlike my tulips. I plan to pick up more annual flowers, some herbs and a few perennials at my sister's sale. She has a bookstore and in the spring brings in plants for several weeks. I've already set aside a heavenly fragrant white nemesia and a fragrant lemony herb to put in a window box near the front door.

With the Victoria Day weekend here, I've assembled a mini-greenhouse on my doorstep (one of those shelf units with a plastic cover). I'm not putting anything too delicate out just yet, as the full moon isn't until next Tuesday, and a frost often hits about that time. The days have been warm this week, but it still gets a lot colder at night, so I can wait. Looks like I'll have to buy a few tomato plants, as the ones I have under lights are pathetic little things. We have Tumbling Tom available locally, and it's nice in a hanging basket or container. I hope if I can cover them at night maybe I won't have to share with the deer.

A May verse:

In the blossoming hedge the robin cock
sings,
For the sun it is merry and bright,
And he joyfully hops and he flutters his
wings,
For his heart is all full of delight.
For the May bloometh fair,
And there's little of care,
And plenty to eat in the Maytime rare.
(from The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood, sung by Friar Tuck)

May Days

Today has been one of those lovely spring days that make you hate to stay inside. The sky was cloudless, with that blue clarity that comes with this time of year. Birds chirped and sang while they went about the business of feeding and declaring territorial interests. A flock of song sparrows arrived and spent the day hopping about under the apple trees, digging under last fall's dry leaves for bugs. They make a constant rustling that sounds like some creature is about to emerge from the dappled shade, the noise out of proportion to their size. There are white throated sparrows among them, and their three note song is distinct, repeated all through the day. The bright yellow eye markings make them easier to identify than some sparrows.

A few days ago I spotted a small hawk perched on the wires, across the road from the bird feeder. After checking the bird book I think it was a female merlin, and have seen it fly by a few times since. So far no sign that it has the feeder in its sights, and I hope it stays that way. Today I was walking around outside when the I heard the whooshing sound of wings behind me, turned expecting to see one of the crows and instead there was an adult bald eagle cruising low over the yard. I watched it with the binoculars as it went off to circle high up across the road, and noticed some smaller bird harassing it for a while. Couldn't see clearly, but it may have been the merlin. They will go at much larger birds, especially if they're nesting nearby.

A male hairy woodpecker has been making his presence known, hammering on the old poplar tree so loudly that I mistook him for a much larger pileated woodpecker.

I haven't done much in the garden yet, just pulled the grass weeds from one of my raised beds and raked up the soil a bit. Two tarragon plants, bee balm, lavender, tansy, chives and oregano are all coming back from last year. The bee balm is becoming a bit of a monster, dominated the herb bed last year. I have a yen for zinnias this year, had a lot of them in my community garden plot in the city and loved them. They make great bouquets and I love the bright colours. Have to start planting seeds soon. For now, the bluets are blooming down by the driveway, near my lower raised bed. They cluster in tiny patches, pretty little things.

In answer to a comment on the sketch in my last post, it was by Tom Kelley, an artist for the U.S. Fish and Game Wildlife Service. They have some nice public domain sketches on their website. I like the line drawings and charcoal sketches, they remind me of some of my old storybooks.

I'm on my own for a while this weekend (which makes computer access a lot easier!! Do all teens live on Facebook?) My son is off with his church youth group doing the World Vision 30-Hour Famine fundraiser. I hope it takes his mind off the advent of Grand Theft Auto 4 for a little while. He's a PS3 fanatic and can't wait to get the new game. I dislike violent games, but he and his friends do enjoy them and don't seem the worse for it. I think playing as a group is probably less of a bad influence than playing alone. I'd worry more if he didn't also get outdoor and do a lot of reading as well. Right now he's rereading The Lord of the Rings and enjoying it a lot.

My recommendation for a light, fun to read mystery series would have to be the Southern Sisters mysteries by Anne George. They are fun, laugh out loud funny at times. I'm also enjoying a book on disk version of The Many Lives & Secret Sorrows of Josephine B. It's about Josephine Bonaparte and gets you involved from the first few sentences.

Here's hoping for sunny days and just enough rain to make things grow. Good gardening, all.

Earth Day 2008

Earth Day here on the island started with a visit from a ringnecked pheasant, strutting his stuff in the morning sun, screeching now and then as he strolled around checking out the territory. I wonder if it's the same one that often came by last year. He used to march around the periphery of the yard, with a screech at regular intervals. Brought to mind the image of a soldier on drill parade. He's a beauty, the rusty breast, glossy green and white neck ring, very handsome.

The bird feeder is busy every day now with chickadees, nuthatches, a red squirrel, song sparrows and a purple finch. Juncos and robins flock around feeding from the ground, and in the evening the spring peepers are starting to sing. In the past few days, I've seen a heron flying over at dusk and three eagles circling against the noontime sunlight.

In the garden, weedy grass sprigs are working their way past the mulch in my raised beds already. The chives are growing green and the thyme plants have survived another winter. A few small tulips are poking up through, so far not eaten by deer. I tried digging in a bit of hair from a recent trim in hopes it will discourage them. Read somewhere that human or dog hair would deter deer. Hope so, as last year the buds were devoured as soon as they appeared. Yesterday I saw two deer feeding at the baseball field just up the road, out in mid-afternoon and not at all bothered by passing cars.

I'm trying to get a few tomato plants started from seed. The first sprig emerged today, six days after I put the seeds in small pots and set them in the warmest spot in the house. Two are Mennonite Heirloom, one is Ivory Egg (a cherry tomato) and one is a Burbank.

A few days this past week have hinted at summer, with a warm southwest breeze and temperatures as high as 18 or 2o celsius, lovely days that make you want to spend every minute outside listening to the birdsong and squirrel chatter. At times like this I am grateful to be living away from the noise and smell of the city. Happy Earth Day one and 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.

Musings in March

I find myself wondering - how do people find the time to update blogs every few days? After the usual day of prodding reluctant son to get up at 6:30 a.m for bus, feeding cat, doing laundry, catching up on writing, making lunch, doing dishes, after school lunch, laundry, etc., I don't have much energy left to 1) Displace son from Facebook or messaging to use computer; and 2) Remember what it was I planned to write about this time. Oh, well, so it goes.

Spring is...almost....here, tomorrow on the calendar at least. The weather is giving freezing rain followed by about 25 cm of heavy rains for the next 24 hours. I hope the pump Dad put into the cellar is up for it, because the drain is still a) frozen or b) clogged - or both, anyway, not letting the overflow escape well at all. All a part, if not a fun part, of country living too!!!

Decided to try joining the local exercise walk at the school gym one morning this week and it was fun, sort of. Amazing how just walking around and around for 4o or so laps can make you feel as if it were a really long walk, sure gives muscles a workout.

Looking forward to a pleasant Easter weekend, two extra days to sleep in a bit, and a family dinner and get-together. My son is disappointed in his heart's desire of having Rainbow Six Vegas to play on the PS3 this holiday because Amazon is shipping it later than expected. Not the end of the world, I expect another game and a good book will keep him busy. My mum gives all the grandchildren new books as an Easter "treat". She talks of getting a "few little things" for them, which translates to books, candies, T-shirts, and so on - she loves shopping for grandkids and making up elaborate bags and baskets.

Current reading is Barbara Kingsolver's "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle", a thought provoking look at her family's attempt to live for a year using only food produced locally or on their own farm in Kentucky. I love her novels - The Bean Tree, The Poisonwood Bible - and have enjoyed her essay collections too. A piece she wrote about the 9/11 attacks was one of the most intelligent I ran across anywhere. When I get worried about the direction our world is going, it's good to know there are still people who care enough to try to make a difference. La lucha continuara!! as we used to say in Nicaragua solidarity groups!! (the struggle continues!!)

Happy Easter to everybody!!!

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.

Daydreams of Spring

First day of February, one month counted off from our new year already. Tonight rain is lashing the windows, has battered away much of the deep snow that covered the world a week ago. Wind howling, and the flashing lights of the sand truck making its rounds - it's just cold enough to turn the rain into ice pellets and make driving slippery.

All around us this winter it's been snow, rain, ice in turn, never sure what the next few days might bring. I love the snow, it covers the trees, the yard, heaps around the house and keeps the cold at bay, protects the garden under a winter blanket and covers the cellar in a protective layer of warmth. With snow, having frozen pipes is a lot less likely and power outages not such a worry. Icy rain is much less friendly, hate the cold battering sound it makes against the windows.

The seed catalogues have been coming in every few days for a while, and I'm already daydreaming about what new plant combinations to try for next summer's garden. Have to outwit the deer as much as possible, so colourful strong smelling herbs are a good bet, they don't seem to like them much. On the other hand, they love the tulips. Last spring they ate every one of my pretty pink Angelique tulips just when they were about to bloom. They'd been a lovely housewarming gift from a friend when we first moved here four years ago, and I do miss them.

Maybe I'll try daffodils next, haven't had any for a few years and I love their bright spring show. A few years ago I sent for a fragrant mix from Cruikshanks, a mail order catalogue no longer available. They were lovely, buttery shades of cream and soft gold, and heavenly scented too. In my garden album, I have photos of spring daffodils in the city garden I left behind. It was my first real garden and I remember it fondly, spent many wonderful hours in that modest back yard garden.

At this time of year, it's lovely to dream over the lush photos in the seed catalogues. Budget constraints, pests and space restraints don't rear their annoying heads now, and the dream garden can be whatever I like on this rainy night. Later it will be time to pick and choose and be realistic about what is possible, for tonight I can dream. Here's to gardens past and future, real and imagined. Few things in life offer as much reward as a good hour working in a garden. It's of benefit to mind and body to work in the good earth for a while. I'm dreaming of spring a little more every day.

"When daisies pied and violets blue,
And lady-smocks all silver-white,
And cuckoo-buds of yellow hue
Do paint the meadows with delight..."

(Shakespeare, Love's Labour Lost)