Country life between a river and the ocean in Southern New England.
Monday, May 26, 2003
Memorial Day
From: Caroline Sent: Monday, May 26, 2003 7:56 AM Subject: Memorial Day
Zoë has been taking sedate and ladylike dips in the little fish pool for some time but yesterday she discovered the pond at the back. A big, happy snorting swim was followed by great crashing arcs as she came back through the marshy edge. No young moose could have made more of a disturbance. She was so pleased with herself that she ran in big circles like a puppy.
We seem to have a soggy gray blanket stalled overhead – sometimes we even have a little rain. But everything is growing and blooming and best of all, the world has become green. It is also the time to assess the winter damage. The long dry summer caused a lot of autumnal growth and then came the brutal winter and zapped a great many of the shrubs. My oak leaf hydrangeas, which bloom on old wood, look positively ludicrous, as there is only a little tuft of leaves on top of long canes. Looks like a little grove of lion tails. My Japanese Styrax, which normally would be covered with enchanting little white bells, has so few leaves that we cut it back by one third in the hopes that the root system can support this feeble growth. Interestingly this is NOT the time to fertile them. That will only make the tree try to grow more.
After a brief flurry of interest in grapes and oranges the orioles have left. How incredibly brilliant they were and to see one with a cardinal was a heart stopper. I find that the catbirds love the square suet cakes that I buy from the feed store and even though the grackles eat more than their share I will continue to put them out. A pair of rarely seen chipping sparrows with their rusty little skull caps have found that they can fly into the open top of the suet cage and feast there too. I wonder if fact is an important part of the breeding cycle.
Memorial Day is the day you are traditionally supposed to set out tomatoes and zinnias but the ground is so wet and cold I am going to be pruning dead wood instead and wait until the sun comes out and the iris bloom. (Another indicator of warmer weather.) I didn’t start a lot of seeds this year but I do have two kinds of Ageratum -- can’t find these at the nurseries – and quite a number of tiny perennial Penstemon which I hope will bloom in many colors next year. They have the tubular flowers that both the hummingbirds and I love.
From: Caroline Sent: Monday, May 05, 2003 7:25 AM Subject: oriole time
This is the time of year when my sense of time is thrown off balance. All winter long one day seems just like another and then the world’s tilt suddenly becomes apparent and bleeding hearts grow two inches overnight and then the flowers appear while I wasn’t watching and the fields come alive with daffodils. I love picking them for the house and for friends and I know I have taken more than two hundred from the big clumps of the old fashioned Pheasant’s Eye. The hummingbird is back and the oriole came on
schedule – May 6th – although as yet there are no leaves, so he may not tarry. I caught a glimpse of the yellow warbler although he too may have been just passing through, but I am pretty sure that the catbird has come to stay. Will know for sure when I take Zoe for her walk tonight.
I was really thankful during this past bitter winter that I didn’t have to carry water and feed to my birds and so that I may not be tempted again I have given away my brooder and the quail pen. I am also cutting down on the size of the perennial bed in front of the living room window. Remembering back to the lovely North Shore gardens of my mother’s friends and how sad they became once gardeners became scarce and expensive, I have long had in the back of my mind, ideas to reduce the size of mine. This will be the first step. As for gardeners there is a changing of the guard. Chuck, with his gray ponytail will no longer be able to come after work, so I have Andrew coming tomorrow. He lives less than a mile away and can bike down. The unemployed son of a friend –no spring chicken he as he is a grandfather—is coming today to get started on a number of projects and can come as long as I need him so I don’t feel overwhelmed by all that needs to be done. I never call it work. I tell people if they think it is work they shouldn’t be gardening. My problem is that my body isn’t up to as much as it used to be and two hours is about my limit. Speaking of limits, I haven’t been able to ride as my left knee – the one that bears my weight as I climb into my saddle -- swelled up like a big grapefruit. Mercifully it seems to be pretty okay this morning so I will ride. Probably still in the big ring but I take my Andean music and my little Bose player. Riding alone in the indoor ring can be pretty boring after a while but music helps. Trotting to that stirring music is quite a thrill and I think Milly likes it too.
All of you on the East Coast know about the awful oil spill in Buzzard’s Bay and an oil soaked bird was found on one of our beaches last night. I don’t know whether they are still trying to save them or not as the survival rate has been pretty pathetic.
It’s a beautiful bright blue morning here and I hope this finds you well and able to enjoy the spring – except of course for my friend Tizzie who is deeply involved with the oil spill. Love to all Caroline
