Posted tagged ‘garden’

« home page
Newer Entries »

“Spring – An experience in immortality.”

May 9, 2011

When I woke up, the sun was bright and warm as it streamed through the front door. Now it plays tag with a few clouds, but I fear its battle will be lost. The clouds are getting more numerous and darker. The wind is fierce, howling at times, and even bending the biggest trees. Pink and white petals from my neighbor’s flowering trees are blowing in the wind and look like snow flurries. It’s 55°.

I noticed my lilac tree has flowers, deep purple flowers. I love their smell, but lilac flowers do a job on my allergies so I admire them from afar. The other day I was outside talking to my neighbors when a woman walked by us. She stopped long enough to say how beautiful my garden is. I thanked her, and she said, “No, thank you. I love walking by your house.”

The other day I watched a pair of amorous robins. They fluttered together from the ground to the top of the fence and back again. When one flew, the other followed. I was standing on the deck being as quiet as possible as one of the robins took a bath while the other perched on a nearby branch. When the first was done, the second took its bath then they flew off together and kept going. A squirrel is building a nest between branches close to the deck. I watched it climbing and jumping from branch to branch with leaves in its mouth. I followed with my eyes until I saw my nest. The squirrel disappeared inside. Spring is the season of romance.

Categories: Musings
Tags: , , ,

Comments: 6 Comments

“There is hope if people will begin to awaken that spiritual part of themselves, that heartfelt knowledge that we are caretakers of this planet.”

April 22, 2011

The weather tries my patience. A sunny day gives me a spring in my step (couldn’t help myself with that one) and hopes of sitting on the deck with my eyes closed and my faced warm with sun, but that was yesterday. Today is cloudy though the weather predicted otherwise. I imagine somewhere else has my sunny day, and I’m not too happy about it.

Last night we had dinner at Captain Frosty’s which opens every spring. Our first dinner there always makes us feel as if spring is officially here despite the cold or the rain. I had fish and chips, and we shared onion rings, the thin ones which are mostly onion, not batter. The place was crowded with people standing around hoping for a table. They looked a bit like vultures as they sized up the booths to see how close the diners were to being finished. Our seats never got a change to get cold.

This morning after I got the papers I stood a while out front looking at the garden right next to my house. It is filled with flowers from bulbs I planted last fall. I didn’t know which bulb was planted where so I was surprised and pleased when the flowers bloomed. Their colors are rich and bright. The yellows are my favorites. I know their beauty will prompt more and more bulbs this fall.

Today makes me want to stay home and do nothing except read and maybe nap. One day a week a lethargy overtakes me, and I never fight it. It comes after a couple of frenzied days of chores and errands. I always think of it as a reward.

Today is Earth Day. I have always believed that you leave a place better than you found it, but that doesn’t seem to be the case with our planet. We deplete more and more resources, our wild animals and sea creatures become endangered when their habitats disappear or they’re hunted to near extinction. I recycle everything I can, but I still leave a huge carbon footprint as I live alone. I wear a sweatshirt in the winter and only keep the lamp in this room lit at night though my palm tree too is always lit, but it doesn’t matter. I use more resources than I should.

In Africa everything is recycled. My sandals were resoled using tire treads. My rice was wrapped in the Sunday New York Times while large leaves provided the wrapping for meat and other such goods. Everything I bought, except margarine and evaporated milk, was produced locally. I came home well intentioned knowing how little I really need. That got lost over the years. It’s time I remembered.

Categories: Musings
Tags: , , , , , ,

Comments: 7 Comments

“Can we conceive what humanity would be if it did not know the flowers?”

April 16, 2011

Rain coming tomorrow-what a surprise. (I hope you can hear the sarcasm as you read that first sentence.) Today will be cloudy and chilly all day. I guess clouds and rain are the prices we have to pay for the two days of sunshine we had. The confirmation for my trip was e-mailed yesterday. I fly from Boston to Frankfurt to Accra and on the way back I fly Accra to Dulles to Boston. It’s amazing when dreams and wishes come true.

Bright male goldfinches are at the feeders, and the garden in front of the house is a riot of colors with yellows and purples and blues. They are from the bulbs I planted last fall. The spawns of Satan ate the tulips. From my window here, I can see buds on the oak trees in the backyard. The buds are still tiny but finally visible. The buds on the forsythia in front have tinges of yellow. I have to go and get the dog treats I didn’t get yesterday, and I know I won’t walk away from Agway without a plant or two. I can’t help it. Also, my herb garden needs to be totally replanted. That’s always fun and has to be done early as the herbs tend to sell and be gone faster than the flowers. The peepers are back, another sign that spring is here. Night sounds will soon fill the air. My neighbors came back from Florida yesterday, another sign of spring.

When I take a trip, I usually buy a few new clothes. Without travel, I’d probably wear nothing but threadbare pants and shirts which I really wouldn’t mind all that much. I ordered a summer dress which for me is an OMG sort of purchase, a shirt and a new pair of pants. I figured I’d have a couple of dresses made in Ghana, but I won’t have time before the festivities so I had to order one. A few more clothing items are on the list, but I’ll hold off until closer to the trip. I do want light luggage. Coming back from Morocco was a horror story as I had to haul the heaviest suitcase from one terminal to another. I figure it’s best not to start with an empty suitcase already heavy, and I know I’ll be buying gifts to bring back and add to the weight. So much to do!

Well, I’m having left over pizza for breakfast, and I’m hungry so I’ll end here.

Categories: Musings
Tags: , , ,

Comments: 16 Comments

“Flowers are the sweetest things God ever made, and forgot to put a soul into.”

April 3, 2011

The sky is that beautiful deep blue that takes your breath away. A few, small wispy clouds are close to the horizon. The breeze is slight enough to keep the day warmer than it’s been. More flowers have appeared in the front garden, and I stop to look every time I’m out there. They make me realize how close I am to the time for my many visits to the gardening shop. Today I need dog food at Agway so I’ll also probably stroll through the flowers they have outside. This time of year they are hardy sorts.

I went to a lecture about butterflies the other day. It was about the Long Meadow Pasture Butterfly Mosaic Trail, an Audubon site not far from here. The slides were wonderful. I learned all about the host plants for local butterflies. Now I want to try and find some to plant so the butterflies have places to lay their eggs. I never heard of most of the plants and the lecturer said they had to order many on line when they planted the trail. I have to decide which butterflies I want to attract then get my fingers busy. The only host plant I already have is the violet which attracts the Silver-Bordered Fritillary and the Great Spangled Fritillary.

When I was a kid, the field below my house was filled with milkweed, and I remember the butterflies flitting all through that field. I didn’t know until much later they were Monarchs who lay their eggs on milkweed. I haven’t seen milkweed growing anywhere around here in the same numbers I used to see them when I was a kid so I guess I’ll have to help.

Soon enough I’ll be putting out my hummingbird and Baltimore Oriole Feeders. I was thrilled last year at the numbers of each I saw off the deck as well as the other birds, my old friends, who stay around all year. Later this afternoon I have to refill the feeders. So many birds drop by that the feeders empty in only a couple of days.

Gracie and I have a dump run this afternoon, about the only excitement for the day.

Categories: Musings
Tags: , , ,

Comments: 8 Comments

“Leftovers in their less visible form are called memories. Stored in the refrigerator of the mind and the cupboard of the heart.”

March 28, 2011

It’s close to 11 am, and the temperature has risen to 35°, but the wind makes it feel much colder. Gracie and I were awakened today by the sounds of blowers from my neighbor’s yard. He and his men are doing spring clean up. They came here next, and it gave me hope when I saw the garden beds clear of dead leaves and branches. My herb garden already has some growth. I showed Sebastian, my neighbor and landscaper, where I wanted a raised bed for a few vegetables. He thought the spot perfect. The men removed all the dead pine branches from the backyard and blew the deck clear of leaves. It may still be cold, but when clean-up begins, I think of a warm day, a sunny deck and flowers. I’m holding on to that thought with a grasp so tight my knuckles are white.

When my sister came and stayed for a week after I had had my surgery, she experienced much the same as I had in my old town where she lives now. Sheila lived on the cape for a long time but has been gone even longer. We drove familiar streets which now have unfamiliar views. Her grammar school sits empty, no longer used. The printing shop where she worked for so long was torn down to make way for a park which is right by the water. The park is an odd one with small hills and only a few benches. She was a bit amazed by all the changes. I knew exactly how she felt.

The square in the town where I grew up has changed. A whole block has been torn down. It used to hold small shops and stores like the shoe repair and a drug store. At first I was horrified because my childhood is wound around the memories of those stores. I have since adjusted to an adult view and have saved my childhood square in special memory drawers. Many of the old buildings still remain, but they have became something else. If I had grandchildren, I would walk them through the square and bore them with stories of what was.

Categories: Musings
Tags: , ,

Comments: 8 Comments

“When gardeners garden, it is not just plants that grow, but the gardeners themselves.”

February 17, 2011

The weather is amazing today. Even though the sun is in and out, it is still in the high 40’s and will even reach the 50’s, almost spring weather. I have a few errands after this, and I can’t wait to open the windows to smell the fresh air.

Yesterday I saw my surgeon who figured out why my right leg still hurts. It seems that whatever he put between the screws has moved and is lying on a nerve and that is causing all the pain. The only solution is to fix it through surgery. He also figured he’d add screws to the corresponding bone on the other side. They then should reinforce each other. I knew he didn’t use Gorilla Glue.

My garden shoots are even higher. I keep a daily watch. None of the garden centers are open yet, but that will come soon enough. This year I’m adding a small vegetable garden in the back yard. I’ll start some in the house and then transplant them. No zucchini! It is like a monster from outer space which can replicate itself to take over the planet.

I don’t remember squash when I was a kid. I think my mother decided not to try it on us as she had enough trouble getting us to eat carrots. She used to mix them with the mashed potatoes. We never asked. We just thought mashed potatoes were multicolored. I always like peas so they were served even though my brother hated them. I don’t remember any other vegetables served when we were young. I guess my mother picked her battles.

I’m always proud when stuff grows in my garden because I’m not a gardener. I buy flowers by color, and every year the perennials come right back all on their own without any help from me. My herb garden flourishes, and I love snipping what I need to make a dish using herbs from my own garden. I have high hopes for the vegetable garden. I’m way past mixing my carrots and potatoes.

Categories: Musings
Tags: , ,

Comments: 17 Comments

“And this is good old Boston, The home of the bean and the cod, Where the Lowells talk only to Cabots, And the Cabots talk only to God”

September 25, 2010

The day is breezy but really warm. After I got the newspapers, I stood out front for a while admiring my garden. The fall flowers are blooming. A giant red one stands tall among the greenery, and my mums have returned. They are strewn about the garden, and their colors give pleasure to the eye. Fall is generous. It lets us enjoy the last of the garden, and we get to plan for spring. More mums, the ones decorating the deck, are ready to be planted and it’s time to buy daffodil bulbs.

Some of my deck furniture is covered, and no candles hang from the trees. They came down with the hurricane threat, and I never put them back because I knew it was so close to the end of the deck season anyway. I’m sad about that. The deck has been the hub of activity all summer. I sat there every morning with my papers and coffee, read in the afternoon, and at night, we ate wonderful dinners and watched great movies. I kept a list. We saw eight movies. We also ate countless Nonpareils and Raisinettes.

One thing always leads to another. I decided to designate next summer as the summer of film festivals, and I thought made in Boston movies would be a great start for the season. Some movies came to mind immediately, but I still searched, made a list and ended up buying four films including one made in 1950 called Mystery Street. It starts when the skeletal remains of a pregnant prostitute turn up on a cape beach. I’ve seen it before, but I would never have remembered it. I like the Cape being the start of the film, even with skeletal remains. One movie, The Brink’s Job, I couldn’t buy. I wanted it because it takes place in Boston and also has a few scenes filmed in the town where I grew up. The director wanted a town lost in time, one looking more like the 50’s than the late 70’s, so he chose mine. It’s not available here in DVD. There is an import but with a disclaimer: do not expect this product to have perfect DVD video and audio quality so I passed on it.

As I mentioned, one thing always leads to another, and by now you’re probably wondering where the heck this ramble is heading. Deciding on the festival was first, then came making the list, picking the films, hunting for and buying them and then getting two tickets for the bus tour. What tour you ask? Well, all that hunting and link following led to a bus tour which takes you to where all those Boston movies were filmed. It sounded like great fun so I bought a couple of tickets and will take my sister as an early Christmas present.

All I started out to do was to make a list.

Categories: Uncategorized
Tags: , , ,

Comments: 6 Comments

“It is always exciting to open the door and go out into the garden for the first time on any day.”

April 7, 2010

The day is perfectly lovely, warm and sunny. It’s an outside day. Every April here on Cape Cod is usually chilly with a wind off the ocean so the last few days have been rare treats.

This morning my landscaper and his crew descended on the backyard. They cleaned up all the limbs and branches which had fallen victim to winter winds and took down two small dead pine trees. Gracie helped. She pulled and chewed branches on limbs being dragged to the truck. I watched from my deck perch.

My father used to come down in the late spring with all his garden tools and clean my yard. He’d push his lawnmower through the tall grass in the backyard and tell me to keep it up after he’d finished. I always promised I would and most times I did. In the front, he’d edge the beds and pull weeds. One spring he planted phlox by the front fence as a surprise. Every year it still blooms.

The forsythia in the front garden was a gift from my brother and his then girlfriend. A small shoot from it appeared in the garden last year and it, like its older brother, is now in full bloom. The yellow is a welcome sight as the rest of the garden is still shedding its winter coat.

My mother’s garden was next to her house. We could see it from the kitchen windows. It was filled with flowers of all colors and varying heights. A statue of St. Francis with outstretched arms stood in the middle and offered seeds to the birds who visited. I wonder if the people who live there now keep a garden still.

Categories: Musings
Tags:

Comments: 10 Comments

Newer Entries »