We’ve got the Adirondack chairs and the small table up on the deck, along with the big table that lives there all year round. The few big pots we have out are doing fine.
I’m thinking about getting a few pansies and putting them in the hanging pots in the front, even if it’s only for a few weeks. It would be cheerful.
The new septic tank goes in on Monday, and they might need to pull up part of the deck to do it. Which means we won’t be able to sit out and enjoy the deck after that, will we, for however long we still have here.
I hate not knowing where we will be, or being able to plant a garden. It hurts my heart.
Hopefully, we will find a place that has at least a little bit of green space that is just our own. I would hate to give up the plants in the big pots that I’ve nurtured for nearly ten years.
The photo is of the forsythia in the backyard, with the chimes from the deck. It’s in full bloom now, and lovely.
The lilacs are starting to bud, and the maple is showing red buds. We still have daffodils and hyacinths in the front yard, although the rain battered them a bit. I’m enjoying whatever time we have left with this yard.
Today is Earth Day. I still have the tee shirt from the first Earth Day.
How much do you want to bet the jackasses will be out today, since it’s sunny, cutting down more trees and destroying more habitat on Earth Day? Pretty soon, there won’t be any trees left on Cape Cod, except in the Audubon sanctuaries.
Weather’s been all over the place this past week, reeling from snow to warm enough to sit on the deck. I’ve taken Willa and Charlotte out in their playpens a few times. The other day, I took Willa out, but it was so windy, her playpen got blown over, so I took her back inside.
I hate not having any tomato or lettuce seedlings, but it doesn’t make sense to plant them, since we don’t know where we’ll be, or if we’ll have any green space.
The indoor plants are doing well.
I just want a nice, safe place to live with a little green space. I hate being in limbo.
Yes, that is a photo of my potted forsythia, started a few years back from cuttings from the forsythia in the yard. It started blooming in the garage. Last weekend, I moved the forsythia, the potted lilac, the two potted Roses of Sharon, and the clematis onto the deck, with the Adirondack chairs and the small table. We might as well enjoy whatever nice days we have left here.
We have a few daffodils blooming at the front and side of the house.
It’s been much cooler here than in the rest of the state, although Worcester is set to get snow tonight into tomorrow. Here, it will be heavy rain, which we desperately need.
People move to Cape Cod, claiming they move here for the beauty. Then, all they do is cut away trees and bushes and add chemicals to grasses and make it look like any subdivision in any bland spot in the world. Why do people come here to destroy? Why can’t they ever appreciate the beauty that’s here?
Coyote mating season is February/March. This year, I didn’t hear a single coyote call. Not one. Usually, they keep me up for at least a few weeks while they get busy. This year – not once.
Between the idiot with his landscaping and heavy machinery across the street, and the sketchy neighbors on the property behind with their late-night deliveries, odd heavy machine noises, and stack of old mattresses stacked in their back yard, this neighborhood is turning into a mix of industrial park and short-term rentals. It’s very discouraging.
On a happier note, we are moving into the Tree Month of Willow. I love Willow trees. They are about healing, growth, and protection, all of which I could use right now.
Yesterday was a nice enough sunny day, albeit a little chilly, to sit outside. Willa and Charlotte wanted to come, so I put them in their playpens, took a book and a glass of white cranberry peach juice, bundled up in a jacket, and sat outside for about an hour.
The traffic is as bad as it would be in midsummer. The neighborhood idiots keep buying bigger and louder leaf blowers, and running them all day every day EVEN THOUGH THERE ARENT’ ANY LEAVES. Quiet enjoyment of one’s space is no longer an option.
But the perennials in the terraced bed are poking up again, determined to make it for another year. The lilacs – both the old lilac by the fence, and the two potted lilacs I have near the fence – are starting to bud. There are some birds. Somebody built a big old nest in one of the oak trees.
Charlotte was a good little princess out there on her playpen. She sniffed the new smells, gave herself a bath, played with the toys in her playpen, and settled down to enjoy being out.
Willa did sniffy-sniffy and paced like a caged lion. She had a few things to say, and also played with her toys. But she’s learned how to roll her playpen, and I have to keep an eye on her, because she’s gotten pretty good at it, and can cover a lot of ground fast. I don’t want her rolling down the steps and across the yard.
Tessa, meanwhile, was up in the window, and in her new bed (more about that on today’s Ink in My Coffee post on the other blog).
Even with the noise and the chaos, it was nice to sit outside in semi-fresh air (all the leaf blowers and heavy machinery leave a weighted scent of machine oil around all the time, so it’s hard to smell what’s budding).
Maybe, just maybe, it will clear up a bit over the weekend, so we can sit out again.
In the meantime, how’s your garden growing? Have you started any seeds?
There are finally signs of spring. The potted forsythia in the garage is blooming, and I’ll move it out on the deck soon. But even the in-ground forsythia are shyly starting to show yellow buds.
I love forsythia. They’re such a cheerful plant, and to me, mean spring. It makes me feel cheerful and hopeful, something I desperately need right now.
I have some daffodils in vases – not ones from the house, ones I bought. They’re lovely.
The hyacinths I planted out front about eight years ago bloomed. Another spring favorite.
We had a smattering of snow into Saturday morning. Woke up with it on the roof and the roof of the deck. Barely saw it on the ground; if I hadn’t looked out of the window early enough, I wouldn’t have seen it.
The bunnies survived the winter, living under the deck. We saw them last night, coming out for their supper. We love our bunnies. We’ve lost so much wildlife in the neighborhood, due to people cutting down their trees and overbuilding. Fewer birds, too, although a fresh robin watched me pull out of the driveway yesterday, and I can hear the mourning doves when I wake up.
We still don’t know where we will move, and I haven’t done any planting. I will be so sad if I don’t have any garden this year. The stress of not knowing where we will end up is taking a bad toll.
But I am trying to enjoy each moment still here, and I’m trying to stay optimistic that we will end up in the right place.
We’re getting some much needed rain today, and temperatures are dropping. Upstate NY was supposed to get snow, poor things.
I like lying in bed listening to the rain. I find it soothing.
Not much to say on the garden front. The potted forsythia in the garage has started to bloom, and it’s lovely. The forsythia outside are still bare and shivering.
Since the landlord will be doing work on the house, and we will be moving soon, we aren’t doing any yard work. It would be a little early for yard work anyway, in spite of the neighbors’ incessant leaf blowing for non-existent leaves.
We’re taking care of the indoor plants, although I haven’t started any seeds.
I will be sad if there’s no garden at all this year.
Gratitude and Growth: A Garden Journal 