Hello friends,

 

     Despite my negligence and absence, I'm glad I still have some faithful friends that still visit! Thank you Jorge and Beth Marie.  Our spring hasn't been particularly nice. I always have such hope for a warm and joyous spring and in some ways it always disappoints! I watched  the Master's Golf event and marveled at all the azaleas and wonderful flowering bushes and whispered......our time is coming. And when it comes, it's fleeting maybe a day here or there and nothing really sustained. Today will be mostly in the 50's, windy and rainy and if you can believe, I have the wood stove going just to knock out the dampness.  Anyway.......

 

the lilac has been blooming and has been fragrant and lovely.  I'm not sure what they will be like tomorrow after the rain but will pick a few bouquets if still in bloom. I did get my trees planted and my privacy fence erected. It always takes more time than one thinks but that isn't new.  And after it was in place, then it needed to be painted white in keeping with the little garden house. My brother Paul has offered to tend to our gardening needs.....primarily the vegetable garden and I am pleased about that. I especially like the herbs; the chives are up, the parsley has reappeared from last year, the dill is reappearing and the basil plants have been hardened and are on their own. I need to talk to him about the thyme and rosemary. I bought him a Mantis - one of those small tillers that is wonderful for weeding and digging up the soil. He loves it and it helps keep things loamy and somewhat weed free. Some of you might remember that I replanted all my irises last fall.  They were just getting too thick so decided to give them more ground.  Well after replanting, I had several bushel baskets extra that I needed to make new beds for. I was temporarily planting them with the rose bushes,and daffodils, anyplace where is could get a fork in. So now I'll have to rethink new spaces for the fall.

 

     I came upon a poet and writer that I really hadn't spent a lot of time acquainting myself with - Donald Hall. It wasn't my knowledge of him that drew me to him but the titles of two of his books; "Unpacking the Boxes," and "The Painted Bed."  "The Painted Bed" is about the last years of his wife, the writer Jane Kenyon who dies at 47 of leukemia. Then I decided to had to buy "The Seasons at Eagle Pond," his purchase of his grandparents old homestead in rural New Hampshire  and his book, "Writing Well." One of the beautiful things about reading is that one reader always leads you to another. Now I'm intrigued with Jane Kenyon.

 

      So now we walk with spring and soon we'll be talking summer.  Until........Bittersweet on the Hill.