~
Wednesday, April 30, 2008 8:00 a.m.
38 degrees, breezy, mostly sunny
A light dusting of snow is melting quickly in the
strong spring sunshine;
even though the bitter west wind leads us to believe that
more is on the way,
blue skies belie this premonition. At midnight, there was
a thick coating of frost
on the ground and rime covered the vehicles. The birdbath
is frozen solid. I hope
the newly emerging tulips are immune to this kind of
temperature drop. A male blue-
bird sits on the old clothesline and peers in the window,
his feathers fluffed against
the cold, the blue and orange plumage brilliant set
against a background of yellow
and green forsythia; it is almost too much to look at
head on. Yesterday we travel-
ed to Rochester and were dazzled by the display of spring
flowering shrubs and
trees in that more temperate environment. Red flowering
crabs, lilacs, quince,
and forsythia were at peak color, and there were many
beautiful sights that
our harsher zone will not permit: magnolias, sand
cherries, weeping cherries,
redbuds, azaleas, and rhododendrons to name a few. Trees
are in full leaf,
and we enjoyed the preview of summer-yet-to-come in our
neck of the
woods. We traveled the thruway in the morning, but came
back on Route
31 in the afternoon, taking in the rolling green meadows,
lush valleys, small
lakes and big rivers as we took our time. There were
flurries in the air off and
on all day here in the North Country, but we had blinding
sunshine and sunny
skies for most of our journey just a little bit to the
south. Tomorrow is May 1st,
and it looks like it will be a beauty of a day.
Don’t forget to wash your face with
morning dew; this will keep you young and beautiful for
one more year. Although
May Day is celebrated in the United Kingdom more than in
our homeland, I have
been making a may basket every spring since the first one
I made in kindergarten,
to give to my Mom. Check out this link for an overview of
the May Festival activ-
ities typical in the UK. It is not too late to begin your
own May Day traditions !
Have a wonderful day,
Daisy
~
Tuesday, April 29,
2008 6:00 a.m.
34 degrees, calm, overcast
We had a wonderful soaking rain for most of yesterday,
but it was too cold for nightcrawlers to appear on the
surface
of the lawn. In spite of the morning chill, robins are
very active
singing, feeding, and mating in the dawn’s early
light. We are
headed to the western part of the state today; I can’t
wait to
see how springtime is progressing fifty miles to the
south. I’ll
bet they don’t still have snow in the woods, as we
do up here.
Have a great day,
Daisy
From Daily Om
Cleansing Nature: Rain
There are times when we might feel the need to wash away
all of our troubles and call forth
freshness into our lives. Since the most cleansing
substance on this earth is probably water, we
can think of the joy rain brings as an energetic bath,
rejuvenating our minds, bodies, and souls.
Just being able to spend a few moments every time it
rains to become aware of the healing
powers water brings to us can renew us in so many ways.
As we do this we will find that the
more we appreciate the universe’s gift to us in the
form of rain, the more we can see that a
gentle rain shower is a strong reflective tool that has
the ability to cleanse our entire being.
The next time it rains might be a good chance to
experience the rain through all of your senses,
allowing you to truly understand the importance of each
and every drop of water. First, take a
few minutes to look outside and notice how each
individual raindrop seems to come down in a
continual stream. By noticing this you can contemplate
how it takes many small accomplishments
to create the whole of your existence for nothing exists
in isolation. Then you might wish to focus
your attention on the sound of the rainfall, letting the
sounds of drops penetrate into the innermost
recesses of your self. Listening in this way may bring
you a greater sense of connection with
ature and the world around you, knowing that the sounds
you hear are an integral part of
not just the physical sustenance you require but that
they also nourish your spirit.
Consciously using our senses to feel nature’s
healing energy as it comes to us in
the form of rain is an act of internal cleansing. Just as
the rain physically washes
over the earth and rinses out any impurities and
imperfections, it also bathes our
spirit in the joy that comes from knowing that we are one
with the world around us.
~
Monday, April 28, 2008 7:30 a.m.
42 degrees, windy, overcast, raining
Add fog to the list if you live in the valley,
visibility ends at the
edge of our property. We really need this rain, and if we
get a
good soaking today it will be okay if the rest of the
week turns
to the sunny side once again. It is a chilly morning, so
we lit both
wood fires, and now it is quite cozy in our home. Snow is
no longer
in the picture, but the temperatures will stay on the low
side until the
end of the week. I need to bring the flat of newly
planted cucumber
and squash seeds indoors; I am afraid they will rot
instead of sprout-
ing to life if left on the sunporch during this cold
spell. I transplanted
tomato, broccoli, and pepper seedlings into individual
pots, and start-
ed a flat of cabbages, several different varieties so
they won’t all ripen
on the same day like last year’s crop did. Gardening
is an amazing cycle;
after I finished potting the tender little fragrant
tomato plants, I opened a
jar of last year’s sauce to put on pasta, and now
that jar will wait to be re-
filled, perhaps from the fruit of the very plant I just
tended. And today the
rain gets into the soil that will nourish the plants
later in the season, and to-
morrows sun will come in through the windows and help the
plants grow
stronger. I am ever mindful of the everyday miracles that
transform a tiny
seed into a basket full of food. Factor in the bees that
feed on the nectar
from blossoms, the slugs (ugh) and beetles that snitch
portions of the har-
vest for themselves, and the compost heap that grows
larger from peels
and dead vines, that goes back into the garden, like a
big old wheel that
just keeps slowly spinning. Even after human gardeners
have moved
away or passed on, Mother Nature conspires to keep the
cycle
going, as with the drifts of feral daffodils that grace
the old
farmstead up the road, or naturalized rhubarb, chives,
and asparagus around a foundation so long gone
that it is now in the middle of the deep woods.
Yep, pretty miraculous !
Daisy
~
Sunday, April 27, 2008 8:45 a.m.
56 degrees, breezy, mostly sunny
Rain swept through the area last night, sweet and
refreshing
and blown against the windows with enough momentum to
leave
them sparkling clean in the morning sun. Likewise the
layer of pollen
that coated our vehicles, rinsed away by Mom
Nature’s gigantic carwash.
The grass has grown a half inch since yesterday, and I
can see that weeds
will be sprouting early in the tilled dirt of the gardens.
Lettuce, spinach and
beets have doubled in size overnight, and the onion tops
grow taller almost
as we watch. Chives are beginning to bloom, and I need to
divide the clumps
before they progress much further. I walked the perimeter
of the meadows late
yesterday as the storm blew in, and found many
fiddleheads that are just the per-
fect size, where there had been none on Thursday; better
get down there with a
basket first thing this morning. They will morph into
full-blown fern fronds before
we know it. Wild leeks are nearly ready; the dry weather
has left their bulbs a
little on the small side but the stems are succulent and
pungent. We walked
along the Smith Road yesterday, and were rewarded by the
sight of yellow
coltsfoot blooming thick along the berms. Vast vernal
ponds drew the dogs
to them like magnets, and the day was warm enough that
they cooled off se-
veral times. unfortunately, it was also warm enough that
black flies swarm-
ed around our heads every time the breeze grew still. At
least the skeeters
and deerflies are still dormant... for now. Next time we
walk I will be
sure to wear a hat and dab a bit of mentholated salve
around the
edge. I use Tiger Balm brand, it works well repelling
black flies.
Enjoy this beautiful day,
Daisy
~
Saturday, April 26, 2008 7:00 a.m.
54 degrees, windy, partly sunny
Although the sun is currently obscured by a broad band
of thick grey clouds, there is enough blue sky showing to
earn
the partly sunny designation, rather than that of mostly
cloudy.
The morning air is damp and chilly; we got a little
rain overnight,
not enough to do any real good but it will keep the dust
down for
a while. The onions, spinach, lettuce, and beets that we
planted last
week are bopping right along, thanks to daily hand-watering.
Garlic
and asparagus are still being nourished from the deeper
groundwater
left from all of that snowmelt. We will likely see some
kind of precip-
itation in the coming week, so the thought of early
drought isn’t a real
concern (yet). Yesterday I headed out on my bicycle for
the first time
this year. Plowed roads are in good shape, but the
seasonal roads
still have some of snow on them, and where it isn’t
snowy it is snurty
(snow + mud + dirt = snurt). I almost sank out of sight
in one stretch
of gooey slushy mud. Much of the snow in the woods has
changed
into huge shallow puddles, making nice breeding grounds
for frogs
but preventing offroad hiking for a while. Many of the
back roads
are rutted and treacherous from trucks attempting to
travel on them
while still in this squishy phase. I sure wouldn’t
want to have to get
to some of those outback camps in a hurry until the
grader has been
through. I turned back when confronted with a stretch of
primordial
ooze that looked like it would be more work than fun, and
in the
short time that I paused for a drink of water while
changing direct-
ion, I was surrounded by a cloud of hungry black flies.
Guess the
flowers aren’t the only things making an early
appearance this
spring. Maybe they will all hatch and then get wiped out
by
the approaching cold snap. On the other hand, black flies
usually mean that trout will begin to feed, so it is a
trade-
off of sorts. I still need to get my fishing license,
better get on that today !
Gone fishin’,
Daisy
~
Friday, April 25, 2008 7:15 a.m.
55 degrees, breezy, sunny
We have a chilly morning out there, but at least the
stiff north wind
that dominated yesterday has changed over to a nice
gentle breeze
from the west. Redwing blackbirds have been replaced by
robins
as the dominant bird of the morning, scads of them either
perched
and singing or strolling through the dew-laden grass
picking up a
bite to eat. Barn swallows have returned, and it
won’t be long be-
fore bobolinks weave their magic web of mirth throughout
the fields
through their airborne antics and crazy songs. In spite
of the lack of
rain, meadows and lawns are greening up beautifully.
Friends in the
valley already need to fire up their mowers, while we
could probably
wait a week. Snow is in the forecast, so maybe make that
two weeks...
Enjoy this beautiful day,
Daisy
~
Thursday, April 24,
2008 7:30 a.m.
49 degrees, windy, sunny
It is a fine sunny morning, but chilly. A breeze from the
north
brought an extra quilt into service in the middle of the
night; I had
to close the window most of the way because the wind was
blowing
a hanging spider plant to smithereens. Do you suppose
that is why they
are called windows? The sound of it roaring
through the trees kept us from
hearing any nocturnal sounds anyway. Rumor has it (I have
decided to call
weather forecasts rumors, it seems more
appropriate) that we may see some
snow next week. I almost expected to find some on the
ground this morning, so
abrupt was the temperature change at midnight. I took a
twilight walk and it was
summertime-balmy, no jacket required. All kinds of frogs
were whooping it up
at the many seasonal ponds that dot the meadows and
woodlands this time of
year. They were so numerous and loud that if there had
been coyotes or owls
singing and hooting, I wouldn’t have heard them
unless they were right next to
me. We walked up the Evans Road again yesterday morning,
and although
there was a multitude of plops as frogs leapt from the
banks, we didn’t hear
any peeps or gar-umphs; they were probably resting after
the all-night rave.
The dogs had a grand time wading through the shallow
water at the edges
of the pond, sniffing the muskrat trails and checking out
raccoon prints. It
must have been too cold for swimming, as they stayed
right at the edge.
It was another story when we passed a huge shallow grassy
puddle
that had been warmed by the strong morning sun; they
raced and
cavorted through the water like puppies, what fun! I was
tempt-
ed to take off my shoes and join them. The wind seems to
have picked up in the time it has taken me to write this;
I’d better wait until tomorrow to hang out laundry.
Have a great day,
Daisy
~
Wednesday, April 23, 2008 7:30 a.m.
61 degrees, windy, partly sunny
The west wind is damp and chilly this morning, not only
due to
70% humidity, but because it sweeps over the snow that
lingers
in much of the woodlands of Tug Hill. There is no longer
enough
coverage to ski continuously on, but until it is all gone
we will have
these frigid gusts from the west. When walking on the
Smith Road,
the air is pleasantly hot and dry until reaching the
trees, and then it is
as if someone has opened a giant refrigerator door onto
the path. We
alternate between fragrant summery gusts from above and
chilly wafts
from ground level. Meanwhile, back here at the farm,
birds have been
very busy mating and building nests. When they
aren’t having trysts, they
are seen flying here and there trailing bits of dried
grass and twigs from
their beaks. Two of the nesting boxes have bluebird nests
inside, and
swallows have left markers in three others, single
strands of hay to
claim the property. I am certain that swallows are the
tenants, as
they harassed me while checking the boxes yesterday.
Meadows
are greening up, especially where meltwater has been
slowly ab-
sorbed from the surface. Our lawn and gardens are very
dry,
so I hope that we receive the rain that is forecast for
later.
Just in case, I will water the seeds I planted last week.
Have a great day,
Daisy
~
Tuesday, April 22, 2008 8:30 a.m.
65 degrees, calm, mostly sunny
Faint streaks of white are fan-brushed across the sky,
pale
against the spring blue. There was a bit of haze in the
valley,
which has no doubt been absorbed into thirsty plants by
now.
I have never seen such a contrast in conditions up here,
with large
shallow spring ponds in meadows that are ringed by ultra
dry scrub
and thatch. Yesterday we walked up the Evans Road to the
old farm
site there, and that small pond is brimful of water. Last
summer it had
dried up to nothing more than a small puddle, its bed
full of tall gras
and the muskrat trails hard-baked into clay troughs.
Yesterday the
pond was full of frogs and the muskrat is back as well.
There were
not yet any frog eggs or tadpoles in the clear water, but
it won’t be
long. We walked further up the road until we came to the
only old
building left from the homestead, a large barn that still
contains some
equipment from bygone days. The whole area is illuminated
by drifts
of sunny yellow double daffodils, fragrant and lush
against the dried
grasses and dead burdocks. We each picked a handful and
now
they impart their sweet aura to the kitchen, incongruous
in their
pottery pitcher on top of the cold wood range. Forsythia
is in
full bloom outside my window, each branch filled with
flowers
to the very top of the hedge, unusual for this wind-swept
loca-
tion. Four yellow shafted flickers are feeding on the
ground
under the hedge, pausing occasionally to hop up onto the
aspen tree for a bit of dessert. The signs of spring are
everywhere at once, accelerating in this balmy weather
until summer’s delights will be here before we know
it.
Enjoy your day,
Daisy
~
Monday, April 21, 2008 7:00 a.m.
54 degrees, breezy, sunny
I hope you all had a chance to see the moon last night;
it was deep orange and perfectly round as it rose shortly
after sunset. There are many names for the full moon in
April;
my favorite are the planting moon and the frog
moon because
both describe events that have their beginnings in this
month. Farmers
are getting their fields ready for corn, and we have sown
a few seeds in
the garden. Yesterday we poked a couple of dozen pre-soaked
Provider
beans into the warm soil, gambling that they will have a
chance to sprout
before frosty nights return. We can easily protect the
plants against cold
nights, and early fresh snap beans would be a real treat.
Frog moon re-
fers to the increasing vocalizations of amphibians large
and small, with
pint-sized peepers leading the pack, joined later by the
deep stentorian
tones of bullfrogs. I would like to add feral cat
howling in the yard in
the middle of the night moon to the list, as this
seems to be the time of
year the big-head white and black tom hangs out to
serenade our (spayed)
female who used to be out in the world with him before
moving in with us.
He shows no signs of wishing to become domesticated, but
they keep in
touch at this time of year. I love all of the night
sounds, even the cat: geese
on the wing, frogs, early birds grabbing worms before the
sun comes up,
and neighborhood dogs and wild coyotes calling back and
forth in a
common primal language, the soundtrack of an April night.
Have a great day, and a fine night,
Daisy
~
Sunday, April 20, 2008 8:00 a.m.
64 degrees, breezy, mostly sunny
Spring has sprung all of a sudden ! Daffodils are
bursting into bloom,
windflowers emerged and bloomed all in one day as
crocuses withered
and died, and aspen leaves have pretty much skipped right
past the fuzzy
catkin stage and gone directly into tiny leafdom. We
heard the first frogs
last night, a chorus of high-pitched peeping that signals
that there will be
no more heavy snowfalls this season, according to local
lore. Forsythia
will probably bloom today, and it looks like winter
didn’t do too much
damage to the hedge this year. We walked up the Smith
Road yesterday,
and found one coltsfoot blossom thrust up through the
roadside sand, a
forerunner of the masses of little yellow buttons that
will soon carpet the
banks. An abandoned barn has started to cave in, and
every time we pass
by the front wall has buckled just a little bit more; the
back is nearly all col-
lapsed. We remember when this was a working farm;
leftover ancient bales
of hay may be all that is holding the front side up.
There is still plenty of snow
on the Smith Road, as well as in the surrounding forest,
but my interest in
cross country skiing has been put away along with the
equipment. Now
my attention turns to warm-weather fun, hiking and off-road
biking,
not to mention just sitting still while the beautiful
sounds, sights,
and smells of spring wash over me like a mother’s
love.
Have a wonder-full day,
Daisy
~
Saturday, April 19, 2008 8:00 a.m.
65 degrees, breezy, sunny
The yard is full of birds this morning, and it is already
warm
enough to consider changing into shorts for the
day’s activities.
The big en-joy so far today has been the return of
our catbird,
who sings long and loud, imitating every bird he has ever
heard
and making up a few new tunes as well. This bird differs
from the
mockingbird in that it only repeats each snippet of song
one time,
and moves on to the next; the mockingbird will always
repeat the
same tune at least twice before changing it. The catbird
flicks its tail
as it performs, and the mockingbird does not. They are
both members
of the same family, mimidae. As delightful as the
catbird’s spring mating
repertoire is, the nasal whining one-note searching call
after the young have
fledged is a different story, monotonous and a little
annoying after a few hours.
Maybe it is time to buy an ipod. Yesterday we hung all of
our nesting boxes on
new cedar posts, and were amazed to find that one already
contains a bluebird
nest ! Swallows have started construction in another box,
so there are currently
six empty ones awaiting inspection. We pulled two boxes
from the edge of the
east meadow, as they only ever attracted wrens and
sparrows; they are now
at the corners of the garden across the road. I will set
a few beanpoles near
the posts, as bluebirds like to perch near the nest to
keep watch. In fact, right
now there is a pair sitting atop last years’ scarlet
runner bean trellis, close to the
box which contains their nest. We walked the perimeters
of our property yester-
day, and are amazed at how quickly the snow is
disappearing. Our three-legged
cat decided to make the trek with us, so we stopped to
rest a few times for his sake;
the grass that we sat upon is very dry even though the
underlying dirt is squishy from
snowmelt. There is a state-wide ban on outdoor burning,
and the local news has been
full of tales of brushfires that have spun out of control,
with some engulfing homes and
outbuildings. Even burn-barrels are risky; one such house-fire
was started from embers
blowing out of a seemingly controlled burn. In spite of
the drying winds and warm temps,
spring is in full bud, and is likely to come and go in
the blink of an eye. Wild leeks emerg-
ed from the hedgerow duff seemingly overnight, and are
already an inch high. We tilled
the gardens and planted a few onions, as well as some
lettuce, spinach, and beets, none
of which will be harmed by frost or even another snowfall,
which may yet happen. It is
certainly worth taking a chance if the result is earlier
salads and tasty greens. Ah, I
can almost taste it... spring greens sautéed with leeks
and cattail shoots, maybe
a hint of bacon, something not on any menu but the wild-food
foragers’. And
now, off to walk up the Smith Road to see how the
snowpack fares in the
forests. My bet is that there is still enough to ski from
here to Highmarket.
Have a great day,
Daisy
~
Friday, April 18, 2008 8:00 a.m.
62 degrees, breezy, sunny
This morning we heard wild turkeys in full gobble mode
for the
first time this spring. They started before dawn and so
far are remaining
in the woods for courtship. Soon we will see them
striding through the fields,
toms herding the hens, pausing to spread their
tailfeathers and preen for their
admiration. Their mellow yodels mixed nicely with the
rest of the choir; a pair
of flickers added a staccato backbeat on the aspen tree
next to the porch. Male
grouse have been drumming as well, but they usually do it
in the middle of the day,
solo performance after the masses have given up singing
and started feeding. Last
evening we heard a robin’s song clear as day from
high atop a birch tree by the
rose hedge; however, closer inspection revealed it to be
a starling doing an excel-
lent robin impersonation. The mimicry was so perfect that
a few robins gathered
on the grape arbor to listen, totally duped. Yesterday
saw the return of tree swal-
lows to Gomer Hill, and a pair has already staked out one
of our nesting boxes
for future occupancy. They share the same housing
requirements as bluebirds,
and to insure that swallows won’t take over all of
the dwellings, it is best to
put them up in pairs about thirty feet apart. The houses
that flank the garden
typically will have swallows in one, and bluebirds in the
other, each species
coexisting with the other. It works because they get
along with each other,
but will not tolerate nesters of their own species in
such close proximity.
Today will be a gem of a day, warm and sunny and probably
as close
to perfect as we could hope for. Best of all, the black
flies and
skeeters haven’t yet hatched, so we can do our work
swat-free.
Have a great day,
Daisy
~
Thursday, April 17, 2008 8:00 a.m.
60 degrees, calm, sunny
What a beautiful morning ! We have removed the winter
siding from
our back porch and spent a fine hour soaking up vitamin D
and listening
to birds. The dog romped thorough the garden looking for
moles, and
brought us two of the star-nosed critters. When he
wasn’t hunting he
was rolling in the big heap of snow left from plowing the
yard, body-
surfing through the crystals. He has his spring haircut,
shaved right
down to velvet, and enjoys the freedom of being allowed
to romp
around in the mud and snow, easily rinsed off now that he
has his
high and tight. Since the porch is open, we can
look forward to
coffee as the sun comes up, a wonderful way to start a
busy day.
I got the wildflower garden raked out yesterday, and it
was hard
work but worth it to see the shining myrtle leaves emerge
from un-
der the winter layer of grunge. The tangy aroma of bee
balm burst
aloft from the rake tines' scrabbling, along with rich
leafy must of dis-
turbed mulch. Daffodils are springing up along the rock
wall, and iris
needs to be divided soon; so do the lilies. The hen-and-chicks
has
burst through its hypertufa pot and needs to be replanted,
but I am
not sure where just yet. Succulents have a way of taking
over; I am
still rooting out orpine from nooks and crannies where it
is running
rampant. I will probably just put it in a few more pots
and set them
here and there in the rock wall. I peeled the last of the
snow from
the garden next to the house, and there were crocuses
blooming
underneath! How bizarre! We continue spring clean-up
today,
which seems never-ending at this point but somehow we al-
ways manage to get it done before it is time to mow the
lawn.
Enjoy your day,
Daisy
~
Wednesday, April 16, 2008 8:00 a.m.
47 degrees, breezy, sunny
The sun rises and shines in our windows earlier every day,
and so we also rise accordingly. The unprecedented March
9th
onset of Daylight Savings Time this year has given us a
slightly later
start to our days this spring, but the added hour at the
other end of the
day has provided more opportunity to take some nice
leisurely walks to
work up an appetite for supper. Snow has become so mushy
on the Smith
Road that we can no longer hike that way for a while, so
after work yester-
day we braved the soggy meadows for a look-see at what
spring is offering
so far. We skirted the piles of snow that still sit like
beached whales here
and there; overall it was a pleasant trek through
extremely wet haystubble
and vast stretches of standing water. The dog loved it!
New shoots of
alfalfa and mixed grasses are poking up through the
thatch, which ex-
plains the hoards of deer that have been gathering every
morning to
browse. The spot where leeks will soon be emerging is
still buried
under snow, but buds on the wild grapevines are beginning
to swell
and turn pink. Closer to home, chives will be long enough
to rob
in just a couple of days; I can almost see them growing
as I watch.
There is still much raking up to do in the yard, which
seems to have
more than the usual amount of twigs and branches shaken
free by
the wicked winter winds, most of which will be gathered
for kind-
ling our morning fires. There is no rain in sight for the
next week,
and it looks good for working and playing outdoors.
Have fun, no matter what the task !
Daisy
~
Tuesday, April 15, 2008 8:00 a.m.
39 degrees, calm, sunny
The mercury has climbed eleven degrees since we arose,
and frost has melted from all but the shadiest spots. A
dozen
deer are in the east meadow, moving slowly along in a
group,
heads down and nibbling the first green shoots of the
season.
The lawn has started to respond to our raking by putting
out
fresh new growth, and before you know it we will have to
get
the mowers out of storage. We hope to be able to till one
of the
gardens by the end of the week and plant some early
lettuce and
peas, but so far they are all still too waterlogged.
Although the Black
River has come up over its banks in all of the usual
places, the thaw has
been fairly gentle here on Tug Hill, with the woods still
full of snow but
the open spaces slowly emerging from winter’s spell.
Crocuses are in
their full glory, and daffodil shoots have appeared all
over the place.
There is still a big heap of snow by the house on our
perennial bed,
mostly what came off the roof during the past six months.
There
are many small spring flowers buried underneath that will
be
set back a bit, but soon even that remnant of the long
cold
season will be soon gone, and they will burst into bloom.
What a lovely morning !
Have a great day,
Daisy
~
Monday, April 14, 2008 7:00 a.m.
30 degrees, breezy, mostly cloudy
Dawn’s rosy glow has changed to an almost
Novembery silver shine.
A wee bit o’ sun gleams coldly from a split in the
clouds which dominate
the sky on this frosty morn. We had a few flurries now
and then yesterday,
and some spots of sun as well; I believe today’s
weather picture is shaping
up to be a reprint. We took a walk up the Smith Road, but
the footing was
a little tricky as a slew of quads had been on the trail
Saturday, churning it up
into sno-cone consistency; it was like walking through
sand dunes, and we are
a little footsore as a result. There was something in the
woods that commanded
the dog’s attention for the entire trip, and that
spooked me a little; he kept stop-
ping to stare into the trees, as if something were
keeping pace with us and he
was trying to get a better look at it. Bears are coming
out of hibernation, and
cougars have been spotted in the area, not to mention the
occasional feral dog
that may associate humans with handouts, so my edginess
was not completely
without foundation. I spent much of the walk with the
short hairs at the base
of my skull twitching, on the alert in full Spidey-sense
mode. We found some
perfect pussy willows by the roadside, and snapped off a
few sprigs to add
to our first spring bouquet; a small pitcher holds
snowdrops, purple and
yellow crocuses, and myrtle sprigs, and certainly adds
charm to the kit-
chen windowsill. A bright spot in the outdoor view lately
has been a
pair of bluebirds that likes to perch on the beanpoles
outside my of-
fice window; I believe they are staking out the nesting
box at the
edge of the raspberry patch for eventual occupancy. The
male is
brilliant this time of year, and the flashes of blue that
they display
every time they take wing is the very heart of springtime.
As
the clouds build into a more solid mass, that may be the
only patches of blue I see for the rest of the morning.
Enjoy this day,
Daisy
~
Sunday, April 13, 2008 9:30 a.m.
30 degrees, breezy, mostly cloudy
A light dusting of snow sifted down like the topping on
streusel,
which is in itself a tasty topping, but I swear
that’s exactly what it
looks like out there today. The lumps and bumps of snow
and molehills
and piles that have been raked up and not yet hauled away,
well, that’s the
streusel; the snow resembles powdered sugar, yes,
overkill to put that atop
such a buttery rich cinnamon and sugar crunch, but
that’s how the coffeecake
of my youth was served, a double layer of fat and sugar
sprinkled with still more
sugar. Then, guess what ? We would put thick slabs of
chilled butter on every slice.
Often, this was a bedtime snack, but more frequently it
was the centerpiece of an
easy breakfast before church. Yikes. As much I sit here
drooling at the memory of
such comfort food, it has been thirty-five years since I
last tasted this, the sweet habit
of a midwestern youth. Cream-filled crullers, peanut-butter
frosted pastries, doughnuts
by the dozen, TV dinners, Swanson Pot Pies, frozen fish
sticks and the invention of fast
food ! Is it any wonder so many baby boomers are obese
and suffering from diet-related
dis-ease as mature adults ? Take a good look at what you
eat, and if it needs overhauled,
for goodness sake, take steps to change your life; start
now ! Meanwhile, I was going to
originally write about the bluebirds that are
looking in the window at me on this chilly
morn, but the coffeecake analogy brought to mind the
importance of taking respon-
sibility for our own health, and changing the variables
that can make such a differ-
ence. We can’t turn back the clock, but we can
certainly make our lives longer
and even happier by paying attention to what we nourish
ourselves with*.
Holy Strunk and White, Batman, not only may I have
disappointed my
readers by ignoring the natural world for this one entry,
but I also
ended a sentence with a preposition. I promise, tomorrow
I will return my focus to beautiful Gomer Hill and its
stunning bluebirds, and mind my prepositions.
Eat to live, not the other way around.
The choices are yours,
Daisy
*...by paying attention to the
substances with which we nourish ourselves.
(I knew this would drive me crazy if I let it stand...)
Saturday, April 12, 2008 8:15 a.m.
46 degrees, breezy, partly sunny
Loud thunder and bright flashes of lightning woke
us in the middle of the night;
it was a doozey of a storm, with torrential rain before,
during, and after. The sun
shines through swift-moving clouds this morning,
illuminating pendulous drops of
water that hang from the buds on the aspen tree like
swarovski crystals. The yard
is filled with juncos, the famous snowbirds that
are supposed to foretell imminent
snowfall. However, the wind is from the south and lacks
the bite of a canadian
clipper. We shall just have to wait and see if the
snowfall predicted for tonight
actually comes to pass. Yesterday was rainy off and on
all day, so we drove
to Rome for supplies. There is a yard on the north end of
town right on route
26 that is a sea of crocuses, and they were all blooming,
springlike and festive
even in the rain. Snow is pretty much gone until north of
Boonville, and here on
Tug Hill it took a beating in the rain but still prevails
in the cover of the deep woods.
The sun came out just in time to set behind huge magenta-orange
clouds. We walked
about a mile up the Smith Road, enjoying the chatter and
trill of hundreds of roosting
redwing blackbirds and starlings. The air smelled of
worms and mud and slush, and
the sound of overfull creekwater rushing downhill was
delightful. When we got to the
edge of the woods, the ambient air turned abruptly chilly
as the breeze traveled over
the forest snowpack. We arrived back home in the
afterglow of dusk, the purple hour
lingering long after the sun went down. A little fog is
rolling up the hill, this looks like
it will be an interesting day. At least it is too wet to
continue raking, but the coming
week will provide plenty of opportunity to catch up with
outdoor chores.
Have a brilliant day,
Daisy
~
Friday, April 11, 2008 8:30 a.m.
34 degrees, breezy, overcast, raining
Rain started to fall just before dawn, but it didn’t
stop the birds from
tuning up their awesome morning mating songs. Robins are
always the
first to start, as early as 5:00, a good ninety minutes
before sunrise; I guess
the early bird seeks more than the worm, especially in
springtime. Last year’s
potato field behind the house is free from snow, and is
covered with redwing
blackbirds. I hope they find every single colorado potato
beetle that overwin-
tered and gobble them all up. Last night the same area
had a half dozen deer
looking for forgotten spuds, which must have been a real
treat after such an
austere winter. The garlic patch has thawed as well, and
it looks like every
single clove that we planted last autumn has emerged from
under the saw-
dust mulch. There are some serious mole tunnels
throughout that garden,
but they seem to have avoided the garlic. The fields are
about 60% bare
of snow after yesterday’s wind and the morning rain,
and I expect that
most of it will disappear during the next couple of days.
The high banks
by the road are another story; the sand that was mixed in
with the snow
sits in a thick layer atop the heaps, acting as
insulation. Isn’t it interesting
that the sand and salt that originally were intended to
help melt snow
from the road now ultimately hinder the mass from melting
?
Today’s question: When is enough too much ?
Have a wonderful day,
Daisy
~
Thursday, April 10, 2008 7:30 a.m.
33 degrees, windy, partly sunny
The sky is a hodgepodge of robin’s-egg blue
and heavy grey clouds
rolling swiftly from west to east. The sun illuminates
the northern edge
of one gloomy bank, creating a flowing sliver border for
the southernmost
strip of clear sky. Birds are scarce this morning,
probably preferring the shelter
of the forest or keeping close to outbuildings to get out
of the bitter wind. Yester-
day we worked hard to remove sand from our front lawn,
deposited there from
the snowplow over the course of the long snowy winter. It
is arduous work, but
the day was warm and our task was accompanied by the
sweet rippling music
of water flowing down the ditch on the opposite side of
the road. Snow is melt-
ing quickly, and when it rains tomorrow I fear that we
may see some flooding
even high atop Tug Hill. The fields are saturated to a
point where water will
not soak in any more, and the woods are still full of
snow that will eventually
make small ponds of the meadows as it melts. Horsie Creek
is up over the
banks on the north side of the road, as the culvert is
too small to handle the
increasing volume of water from springtime runoff; the
ditch on that side of
Smith Road is filled with water that has nowhere to go.
With rain in the pic-
ture for most of the weekend, I am pretty sure that our
dirt roads will be in
danger of some heavy damage from erosion. On a brighter
note, the little
patch of snowdrops on the east side of the house is in
full bloom, and was
being visited by honey bees yesterday afternoon. Some of
the crocuses are
budded, but most of our early spring bulbs are still
under a couple of feet of
snow. While we lost much of our coverage during
yesterdays warm winds, I
would say that 60% off the open land still sports a good
coat of snow, and the
woods are still at 100%. We will continue to rake debris
from our large lawn as
it appears; this winter there were plenty of ice storms
and blustery gales, so there
is more than the usual amount of twigs and branches all
over the place. I imagine
the earth enjoys its biannual back-scratch, and it thanks
us in many ways, from a
surprising array of wildflowers within the lush grasses
of the lawn, to the fairy ring
mushrooms that show up in midsummer. As we rake away
winter, we dream of
spring, with the first wild greens already starting to
poke through the mud.
Can asparagus be far behind ?
Have a fine day,
Daisy
~
Wednesday, April 9, 2008 8:30 a.m.
45 degrees, windy, partly sunny
It is hard to believe that things will warm up into the
mid sixties later
today, as the wind blowing over the snowmass of Tug Hill
is still very
frigid. We walked to Smith Road corners yesterday, and
never quite got
the full benefit of the constant warm sunshine due to the
ever-present breeze
which seemed to sweep the sunbeams away. The sky was a
deep cerulean,
the very word itself from the Latin caeruleus,
dark blue and caelum, sky.
The snowmobile trails are extremely dirty from the oily
emissions of tens
of thousands of machines over the winter; otherwise it
would be tempting
to ski along it later today. The snow in the woods and
meadows has start-
ed to soften, and every third stride finds us breaking
through the top layer
and coming to a screeching halt. Where the snow has been
compacted by
traffic, the surface is firm enough to easily hike along.
At some spots the
roadsides are three feet below the path, so there is
still at least that much
hardpack on much of the trail. It will be a long time
before we are able
to ride our off-road bikes on the seasonal roads up here,
so we are at
that point in our outdoor adventuring where hiking is the
main activity.
Our dog loves it, as he can’t accompany us on ski
trips or bicycle
jaunts. As we approach the busy season of planting and
maintain-
ing our gardens, we will be sure to take advantage of
what free
time we have remaining on these beautiful spring days.
Even
at our busiest, we can all find a little time to enjoy
the view.
Have a great day,
Daisy
~
Tuesday, April 8, 2008 8:30 a.m.
42 degrees, windy, mostly sunny
Last night it was warm enough outdoors to sleep with the
window open,
so there were some cool night sounds that wove in and out
of my dreams.
A couple of flocks of geese passed over the house, and
crows got into a
ruckus in the wee hours. I heard the neighbor’s
hound baying, a high lone-
some sound that is often echoed by a distant pack of
coyotes, but not last
night. Sometime before midnight I heard the door of our
Havahart trap clang
shut, followed by the distressed churrings of a captured
raccoon. Sure enough,
this morning we found the critter rolling around on his
back like a happy baby,
seemingly in no real hurry to be relocated somewhere far
away. The best part
of an open window at this time of year is being awakened
by birdsong before the
sun has even thought about making an appearance. Robins
usually start things off
with their melodious warble, followed by a redwing
blackbird or two, then dozens
more joining in, with mourning doves coo-ing, crows
hollering, and starlings adding
their own sound effects to the score. The yard was filled
with birds when I went out
to watch the sun come up; even little silent juncos were
busy pecking away at the
mud. I saw a kingbird yesterday, back home after
wintering in South America,
where they change their diet from flying insects to
mostly fruits. The Latin name
for this bird, Tyrannus tyrannus indicates its
ferocity when defending home turf
against other birds. It has been observed harassing much
larger birds such as
hawks and crows, successfully chasing them out of the
area. Flies were
abuzz on the barn siding when the sun was high, and I
reckon that
may be what draws kingbirds to our yard this time of year.
This is a beautiful day, must get outside pronto !
Have a great day,
Daisy
~
Monday, April 7, 2008 8:00 a.m.
37 degrees, windy, mostly cloudy
We are expecting warm temps again today, and
coupled with
this wind the snow will really start to melt. There are a
few small
bare spots in the meadows around our house, and we found
a little
open grass and swampland on yesterday’s ski
trek. We headed up the
Evans Road and into the woods, trying to follow logging
roads to connect
with Mackay Road. We reached our goal, but the path was
circuitous, which
is a classy way of saying that we may have skied around
in a circle or two. The
day was sunny and calm, and we were actually hot as we
glided across the fast
snow. Our water bottles were empty halfway through the
journey, lesson learned.
Our final destination was a large beaver pond that has
come and gone several times
since we have lived on Tug Hill. It is currently brimful
and mostly frozen, an active hab-
itat with two big lodges and a long snowcovered dam. We
saw plenty of beaver tracks
and scat, but the critters stayed under cover while we
were there. We skied along one
edge of the pond and across the dam, which was a bit hair-raising
but no one got wet.
This is one of the longest and tallest beaver dams I have
seen; I’ll bet the water is ten
feet deep at that end of the pond. The outflow was mostly
thawed and running freely,
and the music of rippling water filled our ears. Near the
pond we found a huge animal
den, deep and broad and clearly in constant use, big
enough for a bear which gave
me a momentary thrill until we examined the tracks, which
were probably those of
grey fox. We took a more direct route back to the house,
partly on a snowmobile
trail and then through a swampy area which was rich with
rabbit tracks and full-
blown pussy willows. Crows led the way, calling
encouraging notes to speed
my weary self towards dinner and welcome rest. What a
perfect day; if it
was the last long ski trip of the season, it was one for
the books !
Have a great day,
Daisy
~
Sunday, April 6, 2008 9:00 a.m.
47 degrees, calm, mostly sunny
Folks, we have a winner ! The mornings just keep getting
better and better. Robins are all over the place, even on
the
snow behind the house. Three bluebirds were singing from
the
big maple tree and flew right past my nose so I could get
a better
look at their intense spring plumage. There were two
males and one
female, and I’ll bet there are plenty more flitting
about the Hill on this
gorgeous sunny morn. I made a quick check of the nesting
boxes on our
property yesterday and they are all cleared out and ready
for tenants. There
are three houses in the barn still waiting to be mounted
on new poles, but that
can’t happen until the snow is gone and the ground
has dried out. Skiing yes-
terday was some of the best ever, with fast corn snow and
no rotten spots at
all. It was so warm I soon had all my upper layers peeled
down to a t-shirt. One
time I was inspired to ski in shorts, but that limited my
route to places without under-
brush, and part of spring skiing’s allure is the
ability to access any terrain. I saw tons
of deer and dog tracks; the trails of smaller animals
were left only in piles of scat, as
they are too light to leave an impression in this kind of
snow. There were tons of small
insects (we lump them all together in one category: snow
fleas) that scattered at our
approach. I could have skied far into the night, but as
the sun neared the horizon
the temperature dropped; I knew that soon the surface
would freeze and
become challenging. Sunset was exquisite, and now we are
getting ready
for another long trek into the nooks and crannies of Tug
Hill.
Have a great day,
Daisy
~
Saturday, April 5, 2008 8:00 a.m.
35 degrees, calm, partly sunny, flurries
A few snowflakes hang suspended in the still air for
quite a
while before lightly touching down. This morning is the
first this
spring that I have heard robins singing, and it is true
music to my
ears. Today starts an extended spell of warmer days, so
my skis
are chanting the one last trip, one last trip, one
last trip mantra.
If I am lucky, I will be able to have several last trips,
and access the
small miracles of spring that are not readily visible
from walking the
roads. We have been trekking along the Smith Road
snowmobile
trail nearly every day, and were amazed to see truck tire
marks
traveling that path. This gives an idea of how compact
the frozen
layers of sow have become that they can support that kind
of weight.
There is still three feet of snow in spots along the
trail; that motorist was
lucky not to have busted through at any point.
Yesterday’s walk in the rain
was really quite pleasant, and I was glad that I have
held off giving the dog
his mud-season haircut, or he would have been shivering.
Between his long
hair and my long underwear, we were toasty warm even
though the rain and
fog eventually permeated most of our layers. Fog carried
some wonderful
aromas as it swirled around our noses, those of icy
streams awakening
and sweet balsam and spruce sap rising. There is even
something allur-
ing about the scent of thawing earth, the rank mud and
moldy leaves
of the roadside slightly acrid but rich with memories.
Although trout
season has been here nearly a week, I like to fish the
smaller creeks
and beaver ponds of Tug Hill, and I think the trout
haven’t even begun
to think about feeding until the water settles and clears.
Geese heading
north and crows carrying twigs for nesting were the main
birds that
accompanied us on yesterday’s hike; I did not catch
a glimpse
of that bluebird, but it cheers me to know that he is
around.
Have a great day,
Daisy
~
Friday,
April 4, 2008 8:30 a.m.
33 degrees, breezy, foggy, raining
When I was outside earlier emptying ashes and putting our
mailbox out, I was pelted with hard little bits of
grauple. There
was a half inch of snow that had appeared overnight and
it seemed
as if winter was getting in one last little joke,
although, who am I kidding,
this is really standard procedure for a Tug hill spring.
I enjoyed the incon-
gruity of the cold kiss of snow on my face combined with
spring birdsongs
that were all around me; redwing blackbirds led the
chorus and starlings pro-
vided the solos. I saw a bluebird yesterday afternoon,
not too far from here,
perched on a power line and then flitting off with a
flash of blue that matched
the sky. Yesterday’s clear and sunny morning was
absolutely perfect for a walk,
a little windy but when we reached the trees it soon
became too warm for jackets
and hats. The dogs were sniffing the snowbanks as if they
were tracking a felon,
and indeed they may have been. Yesterday morning I
watched a raccoon dash
away from the house, trotting easily along on the surface
of frozen snow that
blankets the land. I opened the window to encourage her
to keep running,
but she climbed one of the smaller maple trees by our
garden and only left
after I dashed outside to pelt her with snowballs. She
then took off up the
road at a good clip. Last spring we had an awful time
with coons cavorting
on our rooftop and nesting somewhere nearby, leaving
toxic piles of poo all
around the house. I certainly hope that there is not a
repeat performance this
year; I like raccoons, honest I do, but they belong in
the forest, happy little
wild critters who won’t infect our pets with fatal
parasitic roundworms if
they poop in the woods like they are supposed to. (For
the whole story,
check the archives, May 25, 2007.) I hope that little
bandit was just pas-
sing through, and is not the same one returning to the
scene of the crime.
We will have to keep a lookout, and oil up the Havahart
trap. It would
be best to relocate adults before their young are born
later this month.
Meanwhile, there is a little break in the rain right this
moment; I believe
I will go scout around and see if there is a bluebird in
the morning view.
Have a great day,
Daisy
~
Thursday, April 3, 2008 8:00 a.m.
35 degrees, breezy, sunny
It has already warmed up twenty degrees since dawn,
and we
have a beautiful day spread out before us. The mud in the
yard is
frozen solid, but it won’t be long before it is
squishy again and filled
with robins looking for the not-so-early worms. Yesterday
I had to
sprinkle sand ahead of me when I went out to the mailbox,
but now
the ice is mostly gone. The local weatherman reported
that meadows
are about 40% bare of snow in Boonville, but here on
Gomer Hill we
still have 100% coverage. It is natural that birds will
congregate on the
only dirt in the area, which happens to be between our
house and the barn.
Most of our neighbors have paved driveways, so picking
are pretty slim for
grubs and bugs. Ladybugs are a different story; the south
and east windows
upstairs are filled with them. I wouldn’t mind it so
much if they were our friendly
little local bugs, famous for eating aphids off of
houseplants, the stars of poems
such as ladybug ladybug fly away home. What we
have indoors this time of
year are Asian ladybugs, who first arrived in our neck of
the woods in the early
1980s via cargo shipped into new Orleans. Later in that
decade they were air-
dropped by the government into Georgia to help control
aphids on pecan trees
there. They have spread and are now found in nearly every
state in the continen-
tal U.S.. They eat aphids just like our domestic variety,
but unlike them they bite
and have a nasty odor when disturbed. They have no
natural predators because
of their acrid taste, and have multiplied into
pestilential numbers. They overwinter
in the nooks and crannies around windows and doorframes,
and every spring just
after the equinox they creep into the rooms like a bad
horror movie plot. Every
April I say I am going to buy a second vacuum cleaner to
save myself the work
of hauling it up and down the stairs. I have tried
opening the windows and shoo-
ing them outdoors, but most of them turn and fly deeper
into the room, nestling in
the bedcovers, just waiting until we retire to crawl on
our necks and give us a
little nip. Soon they will be joined on the windowpanes
by cluster flies as they
wake up for warmer weather. Then we will know that spring
is here to stay.
Have a great day,
Daisy
~
Wednesday, April 2, 2008 8:15 a.m.
26 degrees, windy, mostly sunny
Holy cats, what a windy night ! The anemometer
recorded gusts
in the high fifties around midnight, with a steady blow
at about 45.
It was snowing sideways as well but that didn’t
amount to much; it
probably all blew down to the valley. We lost much of our
snowpack
before the temperature dropped. Sugar River in
Talcottville is at its usual
swift muddy roar for this time of year, and meadows
between Turin and
Boonville are full of standing water. There is still no
bare ground on Gomer
hill, except where snowplows have been at work. The road
crew is up here
this morning clearing snow and ice from culverts,
anticipating another warm
day tomorrow. They have done an exceptionally good job of
keeping our
road safe this winter; I wonder if they know how much
their hard work is
appreciated ? Yesterday I set out on my skis for a quick
tour of the mea-
dows, intending to go into the woods for a look around as
well. The snow
was waterlogged and zippy, and the going was better than
good. The over-
flow from our springbox is running cold and clear, and
has made a small
vernal stream bifurcating the east meadow. Many deer had
visited this
watering spot; their droppings are scant and pale,
indicating a diet rich
in twigs and bark, not optimal for nutrition. I was at
the very bottom of
the field when I realized how much the wind had picked up.
It was a
genuine struggle to ski uphill against the wind, and by
then the rain had
started up again in earnest. I called it quits and came
in early for lunch.
Still, a half hour on skis is better than nothing, and
all too soon the
snow will be gone and the gliding will be a sweet memory.
Have a great day,
Daisy
~
Tuesday, April 1, 2008 8:15 a.m.
47 degrees, breezy, foggy
Rain has stopped for the time being, but it fell pretty
hard for
much of the night. Wind is going to pick up later, with
some hefty
gusts from the west ushering in the possibility of
thunderstorms. I will
definitely be filling some spackle buckets with water in
case we lose power.
If we are spared, I can always dump them into the washing
machine tomorrow
and do a load of darks. We went for a brief walk earlier,
and the fog misted up
my glasses right off the bat, doubling the mysterious
aspects of the morn. I heard
lots of birds, the redwings and crows having a very
distinct sound, but there were
plenty of blurs flying above and hopping along the
roadsides that I could barely see
through the two layers of mist. Taking my glasses off
lent a different kind of vague-
ness to the view, but since I hadn’t brought a case
I put them back on. I am pretty
sure I saw a large flock of mourning doves by the old
barn on the Smith Road,
and the young spruce plantation was full of plump squeaky
birds that must have
been pine grosbeaks. Several deer bounded into the woods
at our approach,
or possibly kangaroos. (April Fool!) The warm moist air
conveys the scent of
sand, melting snow, manure, and rising sap that assaults
the nose in waves,
mostly enjoyable. The road is unbelievably muddy, and the
dog had an
unplanned bath when we returned. It is really quite
pleasant outdoors;
the fog will continue to whittle away the snowpack, and
before
you know it we will be picking snowdrops and crocuses !
Have a great day,
Daisy
~
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