Oh, My!

Rhizomes, pips, seeds, and bulbs were planted today; the tubers were yesterday.*  I forgot to call to see about having mulch and soil delivered. Hopefully I will remember and it can get here before the next frost. I’m so happy that I got so much planted. I still have some more to plant on another day. Other happy things for today:

• 

  Flying turkey.

  
  
• Nanni, the brown tabby, woke me this morning. It may have been so I could hear Aesop, the dog, whining and wanting to go out. For this first short walk we saw some turkeys. Aesop scared them and they flew away. At least one ended up in a tree.

He is still trying to get up.

He's safe up in a tree!

• There are some flowers that I only seem to see blooming when I walk Aesop in the morning. According to Lens they are either white campion or night-flowering catchfly. My initial research says that both of these bloom at night. Maybe I will find the time to get more information before winter.

• Frost covered the ground this morning.

• Sunset set the trees aglow.

It was a good day.

☮

Currently reading:  Mount Washington A Guide and Short History, by Peter E. Randall.

Thank you for being part of my happy things. Stay safe.

*Rhizomes---iris

pips---lily-of-the-valley

bulbs---tulips, crocus, paperwhite (narcissus)

tubers---daylily 

seeds---cereal rye (winter cover crop in the garden)

Old House

The to-do list I set for myself today was a little bit long, so I didn't expect to finish it.  One item I gave myself a time limit to only work so long on.  I ignored that and got a small section of the front triangle weeded and then planted.  I moved the wild sweet William and tried to make that the center of the triangle. Around that I planted some of the iris, daylily and lily-of-the-valley from the thinning I did a week or two ago.  I also planted some of the paper white bulbs I got from my aunt over the summer.  There were a few bulbs that I found while taking out the weeds that I replanted and then a few more from the package I bought this year.  Wow!  Hopefully I will do something similar to the rest of the triangle area before it gets too cold.  

It doesn't look like a big area,
but it felt like it!

Other things I am happy for today:
 

• At first glance I thought the bird was a sparrow.  Zed pointed out to me the pretty yellow spots though and I looked up.  Lens thinks that the bird is a yellow-rumped warbler and a small search agrees that it is a warbler.

Yellow-rumped warbler.

• Keziah was hoping to sand and repaint some areas of the house where the paint is chipped.  Unfortunately, there was a bit more rot than anticipated.  The happy part of this is the tiny bit of history.  According to the side of the house, it was built in 1745.  Some old nails have been pulled out!  There is a door that was used as a wall too.

Keyhole in the former door.

Mostly nails made by a blacksmith.

• The sunset and the crescent moon that followed were both lovely.

☮

Currently reading: Mount Washington A Guide and Short History, by Peter E. Randall.

Thank you for being part of my happy things. Stay safe.

                                  

And Then the Rain Came

 Somehow, I slept in today.  Just after nine this morning I woke up hearing Gideon talking excitedly with his dad.  I was not awake enough to remember what caused the excitement, probably just morning.  When I finally got outside I worked first for a short time on the triangle part of the driveway.  I only weeded out a small area there today before I started to weed out the area where the strawberries are.  When I came in for lunch I started looking at some of the Google Map and Google Earth views of the house.  I was hoping to find some clues as to what the property looked like over the years.  There used to be a way to search the history, but that is only using the Google Earth Pro version, so I had no luck there.  All I found was a very unkempt property with the images from 2019.  Eventually, perhaps the images from Google will start to look a little better.  Getting outside and working on the yard is a happy thing for me today.  Why?  Well, all the little happy parts that include:

•   The feeling of accomplishment I am getting as things start to look neater and grow.  There are things that I planted-like the tulips in the front; and things that are just growing-like the bluets in the back; and things planted years ago-like the daffodils, roses, and fruit trees that will hopefully benefit with less competition for resources.

Varigated tupip.

Pink tulip.

Someday there will be a tulip.

• When I came in for lunch I learned that Keziah and Gideon were planning out a playground for the property near where the pool used to be.  The pool has been gone since before we moved here, but the deck for it is still there.  They have some fun ideas and I look forward to seeing them work on this over the summer.
• After lunch I put the SD card back into the wildlife camera.  I doubt I will get out to check it again for a few days.  I did notice that even more bluets seem to be popping up.  One set in particular though looked more blue than others nearby.  I wonder what causes that?  A nutrient, DNA, or maybe just the lighting?

So many bluets!

These looked bluer in person.

This patch was maybe one foot away from the patch above.
The blue is far less striking.

• Oddly enough, I feel like the blue on the bluejays is more vibrant this year too.  I also saw sparrows, robins, mockingbirds, and a goldfinch.
• While digging up weeds near the strawberries I found more rocks.  I vaguely remember coming across them briefly last year.  This year I decided to investigate closer.  

The rocks were under a layer of dirt and grass.
They seem to have been placed there...
I pulled them out.

Other things I found along with the rocks
include a hinge and perhaps a gate latch?
There is also some glass, brick pieces, and
maybe a piece of porcelain.

Digging the weeds up turned into a minor archaeology dig.  I like rocks and these will probably end up on top of the dirt when I am able to get back to this area.  And then it started to rain.

Dark cloud rolling in.

• There were also strawberry blossoms on two of the plants and some of the peas are starting to sprout.

Strawberry blossom.

☮

Currently reading: The Backyard Homestead, by Carleen Madigan.

Wash your hands.