Thursday, April 20, 2017

Rainy Wednesday - April 20, 2016

New garden plants have begun to arrive and as fast as they come, they get planted. The ground is ready now and so am I.  April showers are kind enough to water them as soon as they get into their new homes. My favorite white-berried Swiss Alpine strawberries have also been dug, divided, and moved around the yard and benefit from these spring rains. I'm hoping they all survive. I love the work break I get when it rains. I enjoy the free watering of all my plants, new arrivals as well as recent transplants. The rain ensures the evergreens and rhododendrons get the fertilizer that I broadcast last winter diluted and sent to their roots.

The first of two storms arrived early and quickly advanced over Lake Huron; within minutes the thin lighter colored sky was eclipsed by the large thunderhead rain cloud. Clicking on photos enlarges them


Sunrise from earlier in the week.
Note the morning star in the second photo below.



Late afternoon "Turner-Sky" (or is it Constable?).



As spring advances the algae blooms turn the water green-ish.

They say forsythia flowering means it's time to plant crops. 
It's Time!

This forsythia vine-like grew up into 
the neighboring trees for about 20'.


This image spooked me until I realized that it was Kathy's recent birthday gift to me.
It has a solar powered light that lights it up at night.



Tuesday, April 11, 2017

Rainy Tuesday - Thankfully Rainy

The yellow spring flowers below are from a plant I found growing near "our" creek (Behnke Creek) by the picnic waterfall. I rescued a very small plant that was about to be eroded from a rock island in the creek and planted it next to my pond here. It produces enormous decorous leaves which is what I wanted near my water. Unfortunately they got too big so I moved it into the edge of Nordmark and this spring it surprised me with these flowers. If you know it's name, please share.



Photos don't do any justice to shocking pink long petaled flowers of Buldocodium vernum, below on the left. The honeysuckle-like flowers on the right are a species of Corydalis - I think.



I have over-enjoyed myself because of the gorgeous spring like weather we've had here lately. The small vegetable garden had been weeded and prepared for late plantings. The three kinds of garlic I planted late last fall are up are growing, and the peas and Swiss chard have been planted (because they go in as soon as the soil can be worked). I'm thinking of broccoli, Brussel's sprouts, and maybe cabbage to tempt the rabbits (hmmm!). I'll have to wait a while to plant green beans, yellow beans, zucchini, and maybe winter squash. Last spring/summer the builders were tramping over the area where my vegetable garden is so I didn't plant until mid-July. Bummer.

As a natural result of all my work, I act like a teenager sometimes, I have a backache. Like David and Dad! Genes.

Bear and wolf


The freighters have returned in force. The other day after several days of stormy weather it was almost a parade as the freighters traffic-jammed their way up north.


I love my first lights!
Here are three day's worth of them.







I have been working on various parts of the yard cleaning things up and doing some early transplanting. I do not work outside in the summer, ubiquitous skin cancers have finally convinced me to avoid the sun as much as possible. Plus I don't like the heat so the strong summer sun makes a good enough excuse. I have many white alpine strawberries scattered around and I've been trying to transplant them to make picking these very small delights easier. They are extremely easy to grow from seed. When I'm ambitious I push the spoiled berries into the soil and many of the seeds germinate. These are runnerless strawberries; they have one big long harvest and then throughpout the summer and fall continue to produce berries to fuel garden wanderings. It's never too hot or sunny to NOT do garden walk-throughs. (Yes, double negatives do work sometimes.) Love them (strawberries, that is) with a passion. 

Any guesses who this is?

Enough "said."

I took a chair to nearby Caro, where I saw this car, on Sunday. Very nice capital city in Tuscola county. I only wish our capital city were as nice. Still it would be a nice place to occasionally visit - as would Frankenmuth which I passed through on the way to Birch Run with Kit.

Monday, April 3, 2017

Sunday, April 2, 2017

My Icelandic Sheepdogs and I enjoy the beautiful Lake Huron sunrises whether the skies are clear, cloudy, or stormy. Today it was just calm, peaceful.


My cousins Kathy and Andy came over to relocate a section of my cyclone fence so that I could finally use the north door of my sitting room to let the dogs in/out. Some things I might have been able to do a few years ago are harder now. I really appreciate the help and support Kathy gives me. Bear and Korpur  are sources of constant help and support. Icelandics LOVE people.



Jon and Tracy arrived soon after with Warhol and Frankie. I had a wonderful day; the weather was perfect for early April, after Andy removed yet another storm-felled tree from Nordmark, the north forest we celebrated my birthday with a marvelous grilled dinner - first one of the season.



Tracy brought Frankie over from the Pole Barn and introduced him to Kata, queen of her pack. After welcoming him, she went to help Andy and Kathy finish up the fence - like they really needed another kibitzer.







I like the pointilism-shot through the screen.