Spring time

Northern Spring 2023

No, we have not disappeared.  Many of you know we are back at our northern home.  As is getting to be more normal, we have spent the better part of a month visiting several medical people, mostly regarding Rebecca's various conditions.  She is still cancer free but the risks of fixing her other problems outweigh the benefits.  In between those visits we have managed to get the household up and running.  And we have reconnected with several friends in Zanesville and Columbus.

And each year when we return The Muse is keenly interested in the flora.  She wants to see what is in bloom and get her hands dirty putting more plants in the ground.  Unfortunately she tires rather quickly these days and the planting goes rather slowly.  But she finishes it eventually if she has not overbought plants and bulbs.  And the yard demands some other tending to bring it to a more-or-less civilized look.  On to her short commentary.

It is high spring.  The ephemeral wildflowers are fading or gone.  I still can immerse my senses in the last of the lilacs.  The flowering trees enchant me now.  I have a maroon colored calycanthus - a sweet spice I think they are called - which is quite interesting.  I have a white one also but I prefer the red.  My rather spindly mock orange which is has a light entrancing scent and is sometimes included in wedding bouquets.  I have a red buckeye that I bought at Dawes Arboretum which grows larger and lovelier every year. Great flowers but very little scent.  Dan's large-leaf magnolia is not blooming yet; sometimes it doesn't, so we will have to wait and see.  The white dogwood are past their prime but still making a valiant comeback from the fungus which decimated them a few years ago.  And throughout the woodland there are little streams of the subtle perfume of the black locust.  A thorny tree, yet when it is in bloom I can forgive its stickers.  I understand that in olden days they planted locusts in fence rows to keep the cows in.  

We just passed the cut off date when serious gardeners believe it is safe to plant things around here.  Of course I am not very serious but I am planting nonetheless.  I have ordered some moonflowers like my Grandmother used to have planted on arbors around the patio.  We used to watch them open in the evenings.  Do you remember?  I am a little disconcerted to find that the flowers which I remember from my childhood are now heirlooms.  Humph!  You are supposed to scarify the seeds before you plant them.  I tried it twice with no results so this time I am ordering plants.  I hope to have them creeping up around the posts of  our front porch. Dan is against this plan. (We'll see if they attract bugs or other critters. -dt)  I also have the tall orange oriental poppies, some yellow woodland poppies, a green dragon - this is the same family as Jack-in-the-pulpits - some Siberian Iris and other flowers I don't really know but they were on sale at Ollie's. I planted the poppies today. I wonder if you can make narcotics from them?  (Wrong kind. -dt) Just a thought. I bought ten large bags of garden dirt. Dan was appalled but I hope it is enough; our soil is mostly clay and stones.  (Mrs.T bought ten bags of an expensive brand, not a generic type. -dt)

I bought a new mini chainsaw, marketed for women and elderly persons.  (Rebecca qualifies as both. dt) My small chainsaw was becoming too heavy for me. (And she did not fix it the last time the chain fell off. -dt) This works pretty well but it does not quite fit my hand.  I can recommend it for people whose spouses took away their chainsaws for their own protection; you know who you are! (It wasn't me!! -dt) The machine cuts very fast.  It is supposed to cut limbs up to 6 inches.  It has a dead man switch so hopefully you cannot injure yourself too badly.  I have used it very carefully and have not injured myself and the chain has not fallen off.  I hate it when that happens.  I cut down a dead peach tree and a bunch of small encroaching volunteers.  Everywhere I look I see branches that need trimming.  The thing is I can only work 15 or 20 minutes and then it takes another 15 or 20 minutes to drag the limbs and push them over the hill. (And then a nap. -dt) Still it does look nice in the places I have chopped away.  I am kind of like a beaver.

   

Dan has taken to baking potato chips.  He got this slicing machine (A mandoline -dt), but at any rate they are quite tasty.  Now if I could only get him to stop dumping the ashes from his grill on my flowers everything would be copacetic. (I did not make the chips on the grill. -dt)

I love funny words and the spell check is so convenient, especially to the spelling challenged. (Sometimes her mangled spelling is beyond the program's ability. -dt)  I don't understand how his brain works but Dan can spell just about any word.  And if he is not sure he writes it down and then he looks at it and knows.  This makes him a great help with my crossword puzzles at least until he gets tired of me and tells me to look it up.  How can I look it up if I can not spell it?  I am doing crossword puzzles as therapy for my stroke brain.  I think maybe I am getting better.  Of course I am not in the same league with Ruth who has been doing them for years just for fun. (And let's not talk about playing Scrabble with Mrs.T. -dt)

Speaking of which, Ruth, Rita, and I are planning a little sortie to a barrier island in Virginia to see the resident wild ponies and the lighthouses.  Ruth is a great fan of lighthouses.  Some people seem to like them.  I can't see the attraction myself but I like oceans.  So there will be something for everyone.  Rita and I can pick up little pink shells on the beach.  I am not climbing up a million steps to the top of the lighthouse like I did when I was younger.  When we get tired we can loll about by the beach.   Nothing is better than lolling. (Virginia should be warned. The three R's may be lolling by the time you see this. -dt)

Very few pictures in this issue.  We are particularly pleased our budding artist next door, Emory, received a prize for best kindergartener in a recent show of student art.  https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjAFsiy

Please send positive energy to our friend PD; he is facing significant health challenges.

Heat wave coming to Philo.  Hope you all are staying cool.

Dan and Rebecca

www.casa-de-terrible.blogspot.com

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