Blithwold

Sunday we visited Blithwold again.  Though the grounds and mansion are very grand and expansive, it is almost always the details that I enjoy most. -Polly  

Further evidence of Spring's arrival.

 Happy Easter - Polly

Spring. Or, even the sticks are alive again.

The Late August Garden Before The Storm

       As we wait for Irene, I'm trying to decide what to pick and what to leave. Irene may not turn out to be much of an adventure, but the not knowing makes me glad that I am growing these things as a hobby, and not as a livelihood or main source of food.  Our local grocery store was running out of bottled water today, but I trust that it will be stocked up again before long.  Really it was not that long ago that there was no weather radio to give folks a chance to decide what to pick and what to leave.  I am a little anxious about this eggplant, and I do have the grocery as a back up.  -Polly 

And Now, Summer

The last day of school is finished.  Now my helpers will be around all of the time.  Lately they have been helping by chasing small rabbits about.  Can you spot the bun in the picture above?  The picture gets much bigger if you click on it twice.  -Polly    

Wedding Season

June is also good for weddings. -Polly

The June Garden

Green and blue and white with a little bit of red. 

 Lily beetles of course.

  Strawberries now, grapes later.  -Polly   

Finally the Sun Appeared

Yesterday after days and days of rain, the sun did briefly shine.  It was quite rapturous really.  -Polly  

Old Friends

 Today I put an old lens on my new camera.  I have not used it in many years, and I don't think it  has improved with age and storage, but it still feels like an old friend.  And finally finally, the garden is starting to wake up, and old friends are turning up there also.  -Polly 

Winter Aconite as Acony Bell

The fairest bloom the mountain know

Is not an iris or a wild rose

But the little flower of which i'll tell

Known as the brave acony bell

Just a simple flower so small and plain

With a pearly hue and a little known name

But the yellow birds sing when they see it bloom

For they know that spring is coming soon

Well it makes its home mid the rocks and the rills

Where the snow lies deep on the windy hills

And it tells the world "why should i wait

This ice and snow is gonna melt away"

And so i'll sing that yellow bird's song

For the troubled times will soon be gone

-David Rawlings, Gillian Welch

 
This is the wrong flower for this song, but the two are conjoined in my mind.  My winter aconite seems to perform the same job in New England that Acony Bell does in Appalachia. -Polly   

And Now, Fall

The Fretting Garden

   The fretting garden is doing well this year.

 This is where the quail most enjoy taking their dust baths. Can you see two in this picture?

 We try to keep several quail in the pen so that they will call the others home at the end of 

   the day. The ones that do remain in the pen often feel quite anxious about the separation,

  so they attempt to call their brothers and sisters home day long.  -Polly  

Tomato Season

We like other home gardeners around us are finding that this is a good tomato year. Better than last year. Different also this year is that we now have a wonderful tomato machine. It came to us from the friends that moved away. We thought of them as we processed tomatoes and ate the resulting soup. A silver lining. - Polly