Yippee This! Yippee That!

Yippee! Daffodils are nodding in the sunlight.



Yippee! The daffodils are displaying perfect timing by holding back in others parts of my garden so I get a long display.




Yippee! The sedum is sprouting its blood red leaflets.









Yippee! The yarrow is exposing its feathery fronds.











Yippee! Snowdrops! Need I say more?































Yippee! Easter colored crocuses.

And The Cycle Continues

It was sunny but still breezy & cool today. Nevertheless, it was above freezing and there is very little snow left around the yard. So that, right there, is reason to celebrate with a little early spring yard work.

I clipped all of last season's echinacea from the front of the house. I enjoy looking at their dark brown seed heads all winter, but now they are bent and broken. There is also signs of life around their roots- I need to make way for that!

I clipped all the Miscanthus backs to its base to make way for this year's growth. Most of their beautiful stalks were broken in the ice storm back in December so they are not as graceful as they might normally be anyways. I also raked a large pile of twigs and pine needles over the banking- the detritus of a fallen tree from the same storm.

There is not much to look at, unless you get down on your hands and knees and lift up dead basal leaves to take a peep. It is still satisfying work. All that promise!

Silver Linings

It has been a harrowing week. What started out as a pain in my jaw (What the hey! Have I been gnashing my teeth in my sleep again?) , began to look like an abscessed tooth. Definitely a problem to ignore! Finally giving in to the pain I visited my dentist who passed along the bad news that it might be two teeth that were abscessing. So depressing. In my mind I was already toting up the cost of two root canals and the possible replacement of one of the crowns which dated back to 1981.

Today I went to see my endodontist. He was incredibly thorough what with all the tapping, application of cold towelettes and X-rays. After a final placement of my head between my knees and the description of the pounding in my nose, he sent me along to my regular doctor. Diagnosis: sinus infection. This doesn't mean that I won't need a root canal in the future, but it may mean I have dodged this particular bullet.

But with this whole week of fitful sleep, massive doses of ibuprofen and numerous visits to anxiety producing dentists I did have a chance to brush up against one of my most favorite harbingers of Spring. While walking my precious pooch this evening I heard the "peent" of the Woodcocks. Their distinctive call fills up an hour when everything should be quiet- catching you by surprise. They thrill me in the classic sense of the word- I slow down, my hearing is sharpened, I quake just a little bit. I want so much to catch one in my hands just for a minute- to see what makes such a thrilling noise.

Sigh... Spring fills me up.

Talking Dirty...

There is some dirt visible outside of a few of my windows. There are still large snowbanks and most of the yard is either covered in snow or knee-deep in water, but this dirt signals spring... and more importantly- gardening!

Every fall I think I have gotten my fill of gardening chores. But the (relatively) warm winds and birds screaming about their need to procreate make me long to get my hands into the dirt.

Soon this blog will return to its original focus of gardening... until I get my fill again.

God, I love talking dirty!