~
Sunday, May 31, 2009, 9:15 a.m.
52 degrees, windy, partly sunny
Wow, what a sky ! The clouds are spectacular, all sizes,
shapes, and
shades of grey from luminous pearlescence through deepest
opaque slate.
They are fluffy, swirly, rippled, some massive as whales
and others vague as a
ghost. All are set off by an impossible blue sky, the
color of a male bluebird’s wing
feathers at the height of mating season. The wind is cold,
the sun is brilliant, and it is an
excellent morning to be alive. As I walked around the
property inspecting our nesting boxes,
I was immensely grateful to have this beauty right
outside my door; what have I done to deserve
all this ? Thanks a bunch, you powers-that-be, for this
gorgeous morn and the wherewithal to enjoy it !
Have a wonder-full day,
Daisy
Saturday, May 30, 2009, 8:15 a.m.
56 degrees, windy, mostly cloudy
The sun has been out just a few times on this damp
and chilly morn, and
when it shines the whole view is transformed into
something pure and magical.
There are some pretty ominous clouds looming in every
direction, and the sharp-
edged shadows cast by swaying trees dance with wild
abandon on rain-shiny spark-
ling green meadow grass. This vivid tarantella lasts only
seconds before the sun disappears
again; it was worth the small effort of bundling up for a
short stroll to appreciate the show
from a panoramic viewpoint. We may see a few rain showers
this morning before the day
takes a turn for the fair, remaining somewhat cool but
partly sunny. I am beginning to think
it was lucky we were out of town last weekend; otherwise,
we might have jumped the gun in
setting out our more tender plants, which would have
surely suffered in yesterday’s high winds
and the downright cold nights we have experienced this
past week. We haven’t even set the
tomatoes and peppers on the back porch to acclimate, it
has simply been too cold. Tomor-
row we will be lucky to see a high of fifty, so it looks
like this will be one of those years
where some of the garden crops get a late start. We hiked
over to the potato patch
yesterday, and they are about half emerged; the weeds are
pretty healthy,
but the actual spuds are taking their time. What a lesson
in patience !
Have a wonderful day,
Daisy
Friday, May 29, 2009, 8:15 a.m.
58 degrees, windy, fog, rain
Although there is a pretty good southwest wind,
the raindrops are fat
enough to fall straight to earth, long strands of water
if viewed with a squint.
The rain isn’t heavy, not enough to count as a
downpour, but it is making sub-
stantial plops in the birdbath, which already sports
little whitecaps from the wind.
Nexrad radar shows the bulk of the storm to have passed,
and it looks like we can
expect a fairly dry afternoon. Yesterday wasn’t a
washout by any means, and we had
a good walk up the Smith Road in the morning fog. I was
looking for daisies, to see if they
are nearing their first bloom. Red clover plants at the
roadside are very tall, with lush green
leaves and tiny dark buds. The few daisy plants I saw are
shorter than usual, and the flower
heads are just beginning to form, tightly wrapped and not
very close to opening their faces to
the eventual sun. The rain has brought out many shades of
green all across Gomer Hill, from
the deep emerald surrounding the mighty maples to the
subtle yellow-green of ash foliage,
some of the last to mature. The meadows’ intense
hues are softened by a fine haze of dan-
delion seedheads, somewhat fluffed out even when wet.
Buttercups are beginning to open,
and soon the fields will be covered with a colorful
assortment of late spring wildflowers. The
wild greens that we have been enjoying are becoming
bitter with age, and the first tender thin-
nings of lettuce and spinach from the garden fill the
salad bill quite nicely. This is perfect wea-
ther for greens, cool and wet. The second sowing of
lettuce has yet to emerge, but as long
as we plant a short row every few weeks we should be
blessed with salad fixin’s right up
until the first hard freeze of autumn. The first crop
includes twenty plants of iceberg lettuce,
which will probably all mature within a few days of each
other, and an equal amount of bibb
buttercrunch, which should be ready a week or so earlier.
The second planting is a mix of red
and green varieties, always a surprise to see what Fedco
has tucked into their packet from year
to year. When the weather clears, I will tuck in a third
little row of red deer tongue, more bibb,
and green ice lettuces, and probably more spinach as well.
If I could only have a very small
garden, to be sure it would be mostly salad greens and
maybe a tomato plant or two.
Lucky we have all the room we need, and the time and
energy to tend to it all.
Have a great day,
Daisy
Thursday, May 28, 2009, 8:00 a.m.
60 degrees, windy, fog
This morning is considerably warmer than yesterday; the
fog and south
wind carried the sweet scent of lilacs and late-blooming
narcissus to us as
we sipped hot coffee on the back porch. The view was
limited by mist, but it
was cool to watch birds come and go through the dense
veil; they are vocal as
ever, with the sweet warble of an oriole being the main
solo du jour. We had a
couple of good hard showers last night, but the main bulk
of rain went around us
for the most part. This is perfect weather for our new
seedlings, and the potatoes
are starting to poke up through the soil after two weeks
underground. As soon as
the sun returns, peonies and irises will open their tight
buds, and the first daisies
should appear in the ditches of Gomer Hill. For now, we
can enjoy the brief
respite that rain gives us from gardening and lawn care,
and pay attention to
stocking the freezer with bread for the coming weeks. I
think a batch of wild
leek and potato soup would go well with today’s fog,
along with a fresh slab of
ten grain bread. The leek tops are beginning to die back,
but the bulbs are fat and
pungent as ever, and free for the digging. Soon the house
will be filled with the sa-
vory smells of a North Country kitchen, a simple thing
but so fulfilling.
Have a great day,
Daisy
Wednesday, May 27, 2009, 9:00 a.m.
49 degrees, breezy, cloudy, drizzle
A little rain fell off and on during the night,
and it certainly looks like
we will receive more today, but for now a light mist
fills the air, not like
fog but not really much like rain either. I guess it is
best described as drizzle,
just shy of a full-on sprinkle. Yesterday we transplanted
lettuce and dill, and
sowed carrot seed, so this soft moisture infusion is just
the ticket. Our broccoli
seedlings finally found their final home in a long neat
row, twenty-four small plants
that should provide us with more stinky little trees than
we can eat fresh, give away,
and put into the freezer. We ran out of frozen green
beans a month ago, and have
been having last year’s broccoli almost daily, as a
side dish, in soup, and even in
a wrap with eggs. Frozen corn is holding up too, and the
last of the fresh carrots
are going into a hearty potroast soon, along with the two
remaining onions that
haven’t yet sprouted long green stems. In March we
put two bushels of potatoes
in a spare refrigerator, so those will last until the
first little sweet new spuds appear
in July. We fill in the spaces during the long winter
months with store-bought greens
and an occasional bag of oranges, but for the most part
we know where our food has
been. This time of year we also have the option of
foraging for wild goodies. We have
picked the last morel mushrooms that sometimes show up on
the front lawn just before
the lilacs first bloom. There are still wild leeks for
the digging, and although they are be
coming a little bitter, dandelion greens offer a welcome
pungent note to salads after a
winter of expensive organic romaine. Now that spinach and
asparagus are flourishing,
we start anew the wonderful cycle of growing our own,
where the extra work involved
pays off in superior quality and freshness. Gardening:
not just a hobby, a healthy lifestyle.
Not available in any store, see Mother Earth for details...
Have a fine day,
Daisy
Tuesday, May 26, 2009, 700 a.m.
43 degrees, breezy, mostly sunny
Ahhhhh, this cool fresh air, how I have missed it
! There was frost in
the valley this morning, but our temp never strayed below
forty here on
top of Gomer Hill. We only have one dry day before the
rain moves in, so
we will try to get some things planted in the vegetable
garden today. One long
row of carrots will go in the ground this morning, and a
second will follow at the
end of June. We can probably sow sweet corn as well, as
long as we choose a var-
iety that germinates in cool soil. Spinach is ready to
thin and eat, the tender baby leaves
just aching to be mixed with some grapes, sweet onion
slices, and gorgonzola cheese, top-
ped with a light vinaigrette and spiced pecans. Asparagus
is just about at its peak of perfection,
and the spears that blasted into little trees in our
absence will serve to make the roots stronger
for next season’s crop. I hope to have time to dig a
mess of leeks, to slow simmer with venison
and mushrooms for an easy supper, but that might have to
wait until tomorrow; we can dig leeks
in the rain, but the garden soil is tillable for just one
day. Our lilacs are in full bloom, and I swear
the white ones have a sweeter aroma than the lavender.
Some of the newer varieties seem to
have been bred for fancier blooms and not for fragrance;
our bushes are ancient, probably
as old as the house itself. Our rugosa rose hedge
is loaded with buds; I’ll bet the upcom-
ing rain will encourage them to burst wide open, adding
their pungent whiff to the olfac-
tory palette of late spring. Wild apple trees are abloom,
with some totally covered in
soft pink and white clusters and others seemingly
affected negatively by frigid blus-
tery winds earlier this month. It will be interesting to
see how this season’s apple
crop develops; I didn’t find one decent wild apple
all last year. Strawberries
are in vigorous flower, and it won’t be very long
before the sweet berries
are ready; the rain will be very good for them, as they
need an inch a
week to bring out their best size and flavor. And now,
off for a
quick walk with the dog before bending to our tasks.
Have a great day,
Daisy
Thursday, May 21, 2009, 6:30 a.m.
60 degrees, breezy, sunny
Our morning coffee was extra enjoyable this
morning,
taken on the back porch with a view of the Black River
valley
near and the Adirondack Mountains afar. We are bound for
a visit
with family, leaving Gomer Hill behind for friends to
enjoy in our place.
We are very lucky to have such excellent company for our
furry friends,
who will appreciate the porch as much as we do. I already
miss the un-
cluttered view and fresh air, but it will be worth it to
reunite with family
that we seldom see. The regular daily View will
return Tuesday.
Have a wonderful long weekend,
Daisy
Wednesday, May 20, 2009, 7:30 a.m.
55 degrees, windy, mostly sunny
It is warm and it is windy, but the wind is also
warm, so the overall
impression is one of (dare I say it) almost summery mien.
There is much
to do now that the gardens have dried out a bit, and we
hope the wind keeps
up so the bugs will be swept away while we work.
Hummingbirds have returned
to our neighborhood, and are investigating the geraniums
in the dining room window.
I have seen them in the myrtle as well, working the
myriad purple flowers that carpet
the wildflower bank. Today we will haul the geraniums out
to their places around the
yard, and give them the full sunlight that they love so
much. I have several ancient
plants that go nuts every summer, overflowing their pots
and gifting us with dozens
of blossoms. Then when frost threatens in the fall, I
prune the heck out of them and
put them on every available windowsill for the long
winter months. As soon as the days
begin to lengthen, the colorful flowers begin to bloom
all over again. Geraniums are best
suited to outdoors, as they drop their blossoms all over
the place and they have the ab-
ility to leave a stain if accidentally trod on; outside
they can shed to their hearts con-
tent, leaving petal confetti all around their containers.
And now, off to set out the
broccoli, sturdy little plants that have patiently waited
for this day, long overdue.
Have a great day,
Daisy
Tuesday, May 19, 2009, 9:30 a.m.
58 degrees, windy, sunny
Wind from the west comes and goes, sometimes very
gusty and yet so
much friendlier than yesterday’s stiff north breeze.
We hope this warmish
wind will help dry out the gardens enough to facilitate
some tilling and planting
during the next few days. I need to transplant a few
volunteer sunflowers before
unleashing the tractor and harrow into the biggest garden;
I tried yesterday, but
sank into the waterlogged dirt and barely escaped with my
boots on. Our first
domestic vegetable is providing us with some tasty side
dishes; asparagus is
beginning to pop up for real. Where before there were
barely enough spears to
mix into a stir-fry, now we are picking a dozen a day.
Last year’s new seedlings
are strong enough to poke through the mulch, appearing as
miniature versions of
the real deal. By next year they will be bigger still,
and the following season we
will be able to harvest those as well. Our bed is very
old, having been moved
once since we arrived on Gomer hill, but the original
roots went in the ground
in 1977. An invasion of witch grass forced us to relocate
the roots, and now
we keep the current bed mulched with well-composted horse
manure and
sawdust to aid in weed control. When we spread the mulch
this spring,
I was uncertain whether the tiny plants that had formed
last autumn
from fallen seeds would be strong enough to survive being
buried alive.
I underestimated these sturdy little guys, a testimony to
their will to prop-
agate. I take my hat off to anything willing to crawl up
through six inches
of crap to eventually bask in the elements of the North
Country spring,
which are often pleasant but sometimes harsh.
Have a pleasant day,
Daisy
Monday, May 18, 2009, 8:00 a.m.
38 degrees, windy, cloudy
I don’t know if things froze in the valley,
but we were safe up here with
an overnight low of thirty-six degrees. It is very cold
out there at this moment,
with wind gusts shifting from north to west and back
again. Yesterday was pretty
darned fresh, never warming up much past fifty. We split
wood in the morning, com-
fortable in longjohns and fleecy hats, enjoying the task
with not one black fly to distract us.
We hiked after a late lunch, going crosslots through
grassy meadows and old woodlots, cros-
sing a swiftly running stream and emerging at an old
shale pit, rich with small broken slabs con-
taining wonderful fossils from eons past. I saw plenty of
brachiopod shell impressions and calci-
fied crinoid columnals, but no trilobites, which I
searched for. A carpet of royal purple violets
graced the base of the tailings, surrounded by ostrich
ferns nearly fully unfurled from their im-
mature fiddlehead state. Violets of all colors abound
wherever we hike these days, from the
palest white to true blue, with yellow and deep purple
and lavender, some living in close con-
tact with others of their species, and some standing
alone. Red trilliums are nearing the end
of their bloom; a few have already started to form their
distinctive fruits which will last for
most of the summer if the ants don’t eat them. Seeds
don’t ripen until autumn, and gener-
ally require two winters before they will germinate to
form new plants in the spring.
We found several clumps of perfoliate bellwort, with
lovely nodding yellow flowers
nestled amid lush emerald green leaves. Marsh marigolds
are just past their peak,
dropping petals when disturbed, but beautifully gold and
green when left in place.
The weather will become warmer as the week moves on, and
then we shall
see all manner of changes. Can the first daisy be far
away ?
Have a great day,
Daisy
Sunday, May 17, 2009, 9:00 a.m.
43 degrees, windy, mostly cloudy
It is a raw and lovely morning out there, with a fresh
north wind
sweeping all illusions of spring away, for this morning
anyway. Yesterday
brought violent thunderstorms with torrential rain for
most of the afternoon.
The drainage ditch across the road flowed brimful with
rushing water long after
the storms were over, and is still running briskly this
morning. We didn’t have a frost
last night as there was in the lowlands, but there is a
hard freeze predicted for tonight.
Apple trees are in full bud, and a freeze at this point
could be disastrous for this year’s
wild apple crop. Hopefully we will be warmer here on Tug
Hill (as is often the case)
and escape the frosty chill predicted for the next two
nights. We still haven’t moved
our houseplants to their summer homes outdoors; I think
it would be wise to wait a
few more days. Broccoli plants have spent the last week
on the back porch to be-
come accustomed to the weather, and by midweek we will
plant them into neat
garden rows. Carrot seeds should go in soon, and more
spinach and lettuce as
well. The trick will be to hit the soil when it has dried
out from yesterdays deluge,
but not too dry. I know many people who plant according
to phases of the moon,
but if we stuck to that we would never get anything in
the ground. We plant accord-
ing to temperature and precipitation, keeping a weather
eye for extremes of either.
We usually plant the bulk of our garden over Memorial Day
weekend, but this
year we will be out of the area for that time, and will
delay those big jobs until
our return. Memorial Day is very early this year anyway,
so the following
week will be more in keeping with our usual timetable.
Have a fine day,
Daisy
Saturday, May 16, 2009, 10:00 a.m.
56 degrees, windy, cloudy, rain showers
A wink of lightning at the edge of our view earlier made
me think it would
be prudent to unplug my modem and shut off the computer,
but the storm never
reached this far south. There is 100% chance of rain
today, and it is already too
wet to consider what we had originally planned for today,
which was splitting the
rest of the woodpile. We ate a lumberjack’s
breakfast, and now it seems like we
will toil no harder than ordinary folk going about
essential household chores. This
can be more of a workout than one would guess; recently I
wore a pedometer for
a normal day of laundry, cooking, and cleaning. Add in
the fetching and carrying of
firewood from the shed to stoke the kitchen range, trips
to and from the garden in
between showers to pick flowers, and I racked up 6000
steps, which with my
stride length is over two miles. Most days I try to get
in over 10,000 steps,
but on days when I don’t get out for a walk I am
surprised how far I travel
just around the house and barn. A pedometer can be an
excellent tool to
keep track of your own activity level; set a goal, small
at first if you are
unused to much walking, and work your way up to at least
10,000
steps a day. Stay active, especially as the years roll on.
The old adage is true; use it or lose it.
Have a great day,
Daisy
Friday, May 15, 2009, 9:00 a.m.
58 degrees, breezy, mostly sunny
After a windy and rainy yesterday, the clouds
parted magnificently late
in the afternoon and we enjoyed some of the best big sky
views ever. Montana
may be advertised as Big Sky Country, but Tug Hill has
some of the best skywatching
opportunities of anywhere on earth, day or night.
Yesterday’s view was filled with bright
blue sky and a mix of shining white and looming grey
clouds, all skittering across the sky
as if in a dream. This morning is absolutely beautiful,
typical of a spring day after a big
storm front blows through. Birds are more active than
ever, singing and trailing nesting
materials from their bills as they glide from place to
place. One of our boxes has a blue-
bird sitting on five eggs; they were cold until I checked
them yesterday, when they were
warm from momma’s body heat. I will begin looking
for hatchlings in thirteen days time.
Swallows are still laying eggs, with three in the nest so
far. We have four baby robins in a
most inconvenient spot on our pickup truck, so when we
planted spuds on Wednesday we
had to move all of our equipment to the potato field with
a tractor and trailer. A killdeer is pro-
tecting a clutch in the middle of one of our harrowed
plot, but I haven’t been able to see any
eggs from my vantage point on the edge. The dirt is too
wet to wade in for a closer search;
I will just take it on faith that there are a few mud-colored
eggs on the bare ground some-
where and look around carefully before we till that patch
for corn. We are off to Old Forge
for the day, to check out Paddlefest, and take a kayak
out for a while on this beauty of a day.
Have a wonderful day,
Daisy
Thursday, May 14, 2009, 7:30 a.m.
54 degrees, windy, cloudy, sprinkles
Tiny raindrops fly across the scene propelled by a stiff
southwest wind,
a little preview of the storm front that is nearly on top
of us. We accomplished
a great deal of outdoor work yesterday under a warm sun
and deep blue sky; the
big job du jour was planting potatoes. The soil
was just right for making trenches with
our Troybuilt tiller and soon the little pieces of tuber
were distributed evenly along each
furrow, mindless backbreaking work that has a curious
kind of soothing rhythm. Bugs
weren’t too bad, although a couple of them snuck
around my barriers and managed
to raise some welts. We also planted some Provider
beans, a variety that will germ-
inate even if the soil hasn’t warmed up much. I
spent a couple of hours whipping one
of the perennial beds into shape, a job that needs
attention only occasionally. Friends
stopped by to gather some forsythia babies, and left with
rose plants, hollyhocks, lilies,
bee balm, and english daisies, all of which will thrive
better after sharing. One of our most
beautiful summer flower displays has always been a long
row of gloriosa daisies that bloom
with big black-eyed-susan-ish heads all summer long. We
dug some of them out and relocated
the plants, but will keep that row tilled bare all summer
for weed control. Scads of witch grass
had encroached the planting, and the only way to get rid
of it is to beat the stuffing out of it and
put down a layer of sawdust before replanting anything
there. The wildflower bank has become
more wild every year, and I just tell folks I meant
for this to happen; indeed, there are worse
sights that a bank of flowering myrtle, moneywort, bee
balm, lilies, milkweed, bellflower, and
daisies. The only thing I do is remove any burdock that
has wormed its way in, and yank the
occasional dandelion rosette. Sometimes, instead of
trying to change something into our
idea of what it should be, it is best to let it go
and appreciate it for what it is.
Have a great day,
Daisy
Wednesday, May 13, 2009, 9:00 a.m.
61 degrees, breezy, sunny
I think it is officially late spring, that time
when the black flies don’t just
swarm around your head, they fly up your nose and bite
you in the assets
even through the thin cotton of your pants. It is time to
get out the pungent
essential oils of spearmint, tea tree, cinnamon, and
menthol, and if those fail
grab that jungle hat and shroud your face from the tiny
marauders. Trade the
fashionable capris for tightly-woven army pants, and
cover up every exposed
bit of skin unless you want to spend the next month
scratching. Tiger Balm, while
primarily used to ease aching muscles and joints, works
quite well to deter biting
insects, just keep it away from your eyes. We split some
firewood yesterday,
and by mid-afternoon the bugs had gone from pesky to
pestilent, especially
after the breeze died down and the sun plus exertion
warmed our bodies,
the sweat of our brows having the same effect on black
flies as ringing a din-
ner bell to a yard full of teenage boys. Today we will
plant potatoes as soon as
I step away from the computer, taking advantage of the
fresh breeze that is sweep-
ing up from the south. It looks like this wind will bring
not only warmer temps but a
few thunderstorms for tomorrow, so it will be good to get
our gardening jobs done
today while we still have optimal soil conditions. I
checked the nesting boxes yester-
day; one has four bluebird eggs, one has three swallow
eggs, and three other boxes
have nests but no eggs. The nests are constructed in a
similar manner, but swallows
tend to use lots of feathers to line the hollow, so I
think there are two swallows and
one bluebird in the eggless houses. It is always
interesting to follow their progress,
from the first blade of dry grass to the exodus of fluffy
little fledglings as they fumble
through the air on their first flight. As stewards for
the wild creatures that share our
land, it is our job to monitor the nests from start to
finish, and correct any problems,
such as blowfly larvae, which tend to invade the sites
during warm humid weather.
I can’t imagine that the momma birds will begin to
sit on their clutches until
the weather warms up a bit, which should be fairly soon.
Take some
time to admire the scenery, wherever your day takes you.
Have a great day,
Daisy
Tuesday, May 12, 2009, 8:15 a.m.
56 degrees, breezy, mostly sunny
Although there are reports that the lowlands sat under a
shimmering
layer of frost early this morning, we never saw so much
as one icy crystal
here on Gomer Hill. Our overnight low was 36 degrees, and
the heat of an
ever-stronger sun has brought it up twenty degrees in
just a couple of hours.
We were soaking up some vitamin D on the back porch and
heard the morn-
ing announcements from the school two miles east of here;
such is the power of
the gentle east wind when the air is rare and clear.
Yesterday we moved three huge
gooseberry bushes out of their temporary nursery but have
yet to decide where to put
them for keeps. We found some growing wild in the
hedgerow, little stunted versions of
their full-blown glory, and relocated them at the edge of
one of the gardens to see if they
would thrive in full sun. That was two springs ago, and
now they are threatening to over-
take the berry patch, so profuse and healthy have they
become. They are riddled with
weeds and grass, another reason to change their venue. I
think if we put them in their
own space, we will be rewarded with lots of gooseberries
somewhere down the pike.
That means digging three big holes and mixing in compost
and manure, a good job for
this sunny cool spring day. I have no experience with
gooseberries (yet) but I think wine
would be a great product for such a beautiful fruit, and
of course a pie or two. Wild straw-
berries are in bloom, and the tame ones are loaded with
buds; that is the first local fruit of the
season, and if we get the right amount of rain and plenty
of sunshine they are the sweetest thing
one can imagine. I won’t buy any from the store,
content to glut myself on them for three or four
weeks of the year, their natural sugars developed without
the use of pesticides or other toxic sub-
stances. Did you know that supermarket strawberries have
the highest level of toxic contaminants
of any fruit or vegetable? Check this link http://www.detox.org/avoid-pesticides-in-your-produce;
I am not making this up. I like to know where my food has
been; that’s why we grow our own.
Have a great day,
Daisy
Monday, May 11, 2009, 9:00 a.m.
56 degrees, breezy, mostly sunny
The back porch is drenched in warm sunshine this morning,
but once away from the east side of the house and into
the yard
a cold northwest breeze reminds us of how close we are to
the great
frozen northwoods of Canada, where ice has yet to leave
the lakes. There
is still a patch of snow on the main trail at the Snow
Ridge Ski Resort, bright
white in contrast to the shiny green grass surrounding it.
A hard freeze is in
tonight’s forecast, so if you have jumped the gun
and set out some tender
annuals or have your geraniums on the deck, make sure you
protect them
from this last gasp of Old Man Winter letting us know who
is really the boss.
We were tempted to plant some early beans last week, and
are glad we waited.
I think we can safely sow carrot seeds and perhaps
another short row of lettuce
and spinach, which can be planted every three weeks until
mid-August to ensure
continuous tender fresh greens all summer long. A huge
load of wood has magically
appeared in the yard; it will be a good morning to unload
and split it, assuming black
flies will be snuggled in their beds until the weather
shifts back towards warm. I think
this will just about wrap up the firewood chores for this
spring, unless someone
has blowdowns they need cleared away. And now, off to
check the
birdhouses, and see if anyone has started to lay eggs.
Have a great day,
Daisy
Sunday, May 10, 2009, 9:00 a.m.
41 degrees, windy, mostly cloudy
Yikes, holy cold snap ! Yesterday's violent storms
certainly have
wrought change upon the land. Branches and twigs litter
the yard from
the hearty bursts of wind that accompanied thunder,
lightning, and pelting
rain at midday. Once the precipitation passed, blustery
wind lingered long into
the night, but the clouds parted for a spectacular sunset
and views of a brightly
waning full moon now and then. It is very cold this
morning for May, but I can
recall a Mother’s Day years ago when we awoke to six
inches of fresh snow
covering Gomer Hill, a big joke from Mother Nature. It
will remain cold for a
few days, but I reckon that will keep the black flies
away. We walked yesterday
along the Smith Road, which has been freshly graded and
is a slippery muddy mess,
impossible for a bicycle and difficult to tread by foot.
We trust the road crew knows
what they are doing; perhaps it will compact back into a
firm surface as the water drains.
Marsh marigolds and false hellebore make beautiful lush
grottos wherever there is a little
creek, intensely green in the noontime pre-storm
light. A raven called from within the
forest, but would not show itself; still, I had the
feeling it was dogging my tracks, as
it croaked out greetings for a couple of miles. As I left
the woods and returned
to open space, the huge bird swooped out of the
balsams and passed low over-
head, silent as the air which bore it aloft. I love
ravens, and feel so lucky to
have a few in our neighborhood. I enjoy crows as well,
but ravens seem a
bit more playful, and mysterious in their comings and
goings. It is a special
day when the natural world integrates its life force with
my own.
Have a very special day,
Daisy
Saturday, May 9, 2009, 9:00 a.m.
56 degrees, breezy, cloudy
We have a morning of change laid out before us. Early sun
has
given way to a whole array of clouds in many shades of
grey, all
skittering in from the west from whence cometh our worst
storms.
If the rain holds off, the laundry might have a chance of
drying before
blowing off the lines into the valley below. There is a
wind advisory in
effect for most of the night, so it would be a good idea
to prepare for a
possible power outage. Last night’s full moon rose
one minute before the
sun went down, but we never saw it’s shining face
until after 10:00, when it
finally breached the huge cloudbank that had concealed it.
First the whole sky
lit up from behind the wall, and as time went by the
edges shimmered with amaz-
ing fluorescence, foreshadowing the brilliance of the
moon itself once it cleared the
clouds. Clouds came and went all night long, and I may
have become a little moon-
struck, enjoying some fantastic lucid dreams filled with
joy and loving kindness.
They were Oscar-quality plots with a star-studded cast,
and the warm
feelings they engendered have carried over into the
morning.
Now the sun has decided to appear for a little while,
what a nice surprise !
Have a wonderful day,
Daisy
Friday, May 8, 2009, 9:00 a.m.
62 degrees, windy, mostly sunny
We have been sitting on the back porch for nearly
two hours, unable to tear
ourselves away from the sights and sounds of this
sparkling greenspring morn.
Rain that fell overnight still clings to everything in
the form of a gazillion drops of
water, massed tightly along every blade of grass and
shimmering new leaf. Bluebirds
are bluer, redwing blackbirds’ shoulders redder, and
robins’ breasts flame with unusual
intensity under the slanted rays of early morning
Maylight. The lawn is long and lush and
loaded with dandelion blooms, miniature suns radiating
sunshiny goodness back into space
after somehow doubling the pigment content. A bank of
dark ominous clouds looms in the west;
it seems that we are wise to grab this luminous view
while it lasts. The soundtrack is as awesome
as the view: robins warble, cats purr, partridge drum,
turkeys gobble, redwings trill, bumblebees
buzz, grackles hiss, bobolinks jingle, goldfinches tweet,
sparrows sing, and starlings do it all.
Tying it all together is the soft sough of the west wind,
subtle as the tide coming and going
at the edge of the land. It will be a fine morning for a
walk, as long as we tuck some rain
gear into our packs. I arrived home from work last night
to find a surprise on the counter;
Gomer had found a new patch of fiddleheads, where they
are still tightly curled and plentiful.
I think tonight we will try a pizza, loaded with sweet
onions, garlic, fiddleheads and a mixture
of cheeses, including a bit of tangy gorgonzola. I had
thought the last traces of this fleeting
seasonal sprout had disappeared with the final slice of
fiddlehead pie at yesterday’s lunch;
happy to be wrong! Ah, here come the clouds, there goes
the sun. It’s all good, yeah !
Have a wonderful day,
Daisy
Thursday, May 7, 2009, 8:30 a.m.
53 degrees, breezy, fog, rain
We have had enough rain overnight to fill the
birdbath,
and even though the meadow is rife with puddles the
little
concrete pond is ringed with goldfinches having a merry
splash.
These beautiful birds returned to our neighborhood
yesterday, a little
earlier than usual. Most years they show up after the
forsythia has traded
its flashy yellow blooms for masses of glossy green
leaves, but this year the
finches and the flowers blend into a single mass of gold,
and the hedge looks
as if it has come alive. Even on a foggy rainy morn such
as this, the luminous hues
shine right through the mist and brighten the whole view;
the sight of it all lifts my
spirit as if taking flight myself. We are still having
some pretty dense showers,
and any doubts about whether we would be facing a drought
situation this
month are waterlogged. The early greens we planted are
loving this cool
wet weather, and garlic has grown a half inch taller
every day. Yesterday
we cut up potatoes for planting and have them spread on
screens in the shed
to cure before setting them out on the next dry day. The
potato patch is all ready
to go, plowed and tilled and soaking up the rain like a
dark brown sponge. One of
our gardens that hasn’t been touched since last
summer has hundreds of sunflower
plants coming up. I believe I will move some to various
places around the property,
fodder for the wild birds come fall and easy on the eyes
wherever they end up.
Sunflowers are easy to grow in any sunny patch of dirt;
do you have a
spot for a few plants in your neck of the woods?
Have a great day,
Daisy
Wednesday, May 6, 2009, 8:30 a.m.
48 degrees, breezy, cloudy, mist
Water droplets too fat for fog, too tiny for rain, almost
more like
seaspray, that’s what waft through the chilly
morning air, propelled by
a south breeze. The vehicles are shiny with water, and
thin trickles run off
the roof to splash in the catch-buckets; whatever we want
to call it, it is definitely
precipitation of some kind. The birdbath is nearly empty,
so no real rain fell during
the little sprinkles that peppered yesterday
afternoon’s activities. We had a good tour
of the meadows and hedgerows, gathering more leeks for
the larder; I think I will dry
some in our dehydrator and see how they reconstitute for
soups. Fiddle-head season
is nearly done, being one of the shortest of any wild
vegetable; it is usually less than a
week once spring rain becomes consistent. We enjoyed both
fiddleheads and leeks in
a pie for last night’s dinner, a rare and seasonal
treat with plenty leftover for today’s
lunch. The buds on our maple trees are fat and ruby red,
as beautiful as any orna-
mental flowering shrubs around. The lilac bushes are rich
with green leaves and
tiny little cone-shaped clusters that will soon be dense
fragrant blooms. Wood-
land violets make carpets of white, yellow, and purple on
the forest floor.
The vintage violets that have overrun the front yard
present thousands
of heart-shaped deep green leaves a week in advance of
their rich
royal hued flowers, saving the front lawn from the
mower’s blade
for several weeks. The rest of the grass is long enough
to cut, but
we like to wait until after dandelions bloom, filling the
yard with
sunny yellow even on a cloudy day such as this. Spring
is in full-tilt boogie; savor every lush minute !
Have a wonderful day,
Daisy
Tuesday, May 5, 2009, 7:30 a.m.
51 degrees, breezy, mostly cloudy
The sun is making an effort to shine through some high
thin clouds,
but until it succeeds it is a cool breezy morn, and I
came in from porch-sittin’
coffee-sippin’ bird-listenin’ and dog-skritchin’
when my bare feet started to get
cold. Tulips have opened, orange and melony hues
accenting the yellow and white
of our prolific daffodils and narcissus. A few clumps of
daffodils have sprung up in the
hedgerows, hundreds of yards from the formal planting,
courtesy of birds spreading the
seeds. Five spears of asparagus have poked out of their
thick layer of mulch, forerunners of
many tasty side dishes yet to come. I walked to the fern
patch at the edge of our east meadow
and was delighted to find that fiddleheads were perfectly
ready to pick. I gathered half a pailful
and will make some into a pie for supper, along with
leeks, cattail shoots, dock leaves, dandelion
greens, mushrooms, bacon, eggs, and cheese, all in a
light whole-grain biscuit crust. Yum! This is
a meal all by itself, but even better as a side dish to
slow-roasted chicken, and a dollop of bour-
bon stewed apples for a cool spicy contrast. The greens
we planted in the garden are growing
quickly, but the first fresh vegetables of the season are
always from the wild, free and fairly
easy to find. For more information about fiddleheads,
check out this site. Above is an ex-
cellent photo of some ostrich fern fiddleheads,
considered the gold standard of baby
ferns. Remember, not all fiddleheads are edible, so do
your homework.
Have a great day,
Daisy
Monday, May 4, 2009, 7:30 a.m.
52 degrees, calm, hazy sunshine
Everything about this morning is a little muted; sunlight
filters through
high clouds, the breeze only skips by briefly now and
then to rustle tender
poplar leaves, and even the birds seem a little quieter
than usual. The grackles
must be done mating, as they have remained silent and out
of sight for several days,
after weeks of being one of the dominant birds in the
yard. I chased a robin away from
our outdoor wood stove; she had started to build a nest
behind one of the doors. A bluebird
showed interest in the pipe of the same stove; we must
not have had it outside during nesting
season last year. The big grey tomcat that we relocated a
month ago is stalking something
down by the spring. He found his way back to our
neighborhood, must be he prefers it here,
even though our own three cats are unfriendly towards him
and we chase his stinky old self away
when we find him around the buildings. He is very
handsome, long-haired and glossy, with a massive
head and shoulders, a tom in his prime. Spring is in full
swing here on Gomer Hill. We rode bikes to the
beaver pond on Plumber Road yesterday afternoon, and
conditions were just about perfect. There was
very little mud and the dirt roads have firmed up nicely.
The pond is brimful with water, cold and spark-
ling clear. Trout lilies, red trilliums, spring beauties,
wild oats, marsh marigold, and bloodroot were
among the many flowers blooming along the roadside, and
we made frequent stops to admire their
beauty. There are so many coltsfoot blossoms that it
seemed we were riding next to paths made of
gold. Stately columns of false hellebore line every
streambed and freshet ditch, intensifying the spring
green theme that is beginning to paint the whole area
since rain has fallen. We saw several clumps of
bracken fiddleheads, their tight curled heads covered
with a soft down. I need to make a quick trip
to the lower meadow to see if our ostrich fern
fiddleheads are ready to harvest, this being the pre-
ferred species for food. We have been enjoying wild leeks
for a week; one of our favorite spring
dishes is fiddlehead pie, rich with leeks and cheese and
plenty of smoky bacon. Is this the night ?
Could be.
Have a great day,
Daisy
Sunday, May 3, 2009, 7:30 a.m.
46 degrees, breezy, mostly cloudy
When the sun is shining it helps take away the morning
chill,
but it seems that more clouds are rolling in that are
skittering away.
The forsythia is especially vivid this morning, seeming
almost fluorescent
with its intense yellow-gold blossoms. Willow bushes wear
a softer shade
of spring blond; where recently was a puff of furry
catkins is now a burst of sun-
shine on earth, a soft halo surrounding sturdy shrubby
trunks. The poplar leaves have
taken on a smaller version of their heart shaped form,
and are now big enough to flutter
in the wind, like their western cousins the quaking
aspens. Of all the things in motion the
most eye-catching are the bluebirds, flying from house to
house with a flash of bright
blue unrivaled by anything else in nature. The males are
very blue, and the females
must be getting ready to lay some eggs, as their bright
mating plumage has already
started to fade a bit. One female has made it a habit to
perch on the chimney of
our little backyard stove; I hope she isn’t getting
any ideas about nesting in a
cast iron box. We are riding bikes later today, and there
is much to do to
prepare for the arrival of friends from afar, so I’d
best step away from the
desk and do a little cooking. Wild leek chowder sounds
just about right !
Have a wonderful day,
Daisy
Saturday, May 2, 2009, 6:30 a.m.
44 degrees, breezy, mostly sunny
Some pretty good clouds sit over the valley,
moving away from Tug Hill after releasing quite a
bit of rain last night. We are off to help sell books at
the fire hall, a fine fundraiser for our local library.
Here
is a little poem about May, one of my favorite months.
Have a great day,
Daisy
To This May
by W. S. Merwin
They know so much more now about
the heart we are told, but the world
still seems to come one at a time
one day one year one season and here
it is spring once more with its birds
nesting in the holes in the walls
its morning finding the first time
its light pretending not to move
always beginning as it goes
~
Friday, May 1, 2009, 9:00 a.m.
54 degrees, overcast, windy, raining
May is coming in with a roar, perhaps a bit jealous of
March’s leonine reputation.
Every wind gust drives the rain into the windows with a
raucous rat-a-tat-tat, in the
rhythm of any good North Country storm. I dashed out
barefoot first thing to gather some
of the cold drops from the grass, splashed them on my
face and hurried back inside to light a
fire in the kitchen range. I think morning dew is out of
the question, but I think the intention of
capturing youthful vigor is all that is really necessary.
Today is May Day, traditionally reserved
for goofing off, gathering flowers, and welcoming spring
back to the land. When the wind dies
down I will suit up in rain gear and walk the perimeter
of our meadows to gather trout lilies,
spring beauties, strawberry leaves, and anything else
that is appropriately green and festive,
to adorn my windowsill and honor the season. The last
time I looked, fiddleheads had just
breached the surface of the ground; after this good rain,
it is just a matter of days before
we will be able to cut those tender little fern shoots
from the clump and bake them into
a savory pie. We have been enjoying wild leeks for
several days, both raw and in vege-
table mix-ups. I minced some into some homemade french
dressing; when used in place
of onion, a salad takes on a life of its own, pungent and
pleasantly spicy. Tomorrow
we will take the spading fork to the leek patch and
gather a few dozen of the bulbs
to make some wild leek chowder for weekend guests. Leeks,
potatoes, and corn,
with add-ins like grated cheddar, home-cured bacon bits,
and raw leeks make
it a treat for vegetarians and omnivores alike. I can
almost taste it !
Have a great day,
Daisy
~
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