Glorious day yesterday! Sunshine all day long. Sunshine has been nearly nonexistent around here (and will be again for the next week or so). I took advantage of it and worked outside all day long. The temperature was mild, birds were singing all day long, I was potting plants on the porch – I felt content.
Then I went a bit too far and mowed the back forty at the end of the day.
I always take on a bit too much. Don could write a book about me “doing just one more thing.”
But I got a lot done. There’s more to be done today, weeding, laying out the top soil, sowing seeds, and just a tad more mulching.
Tomorrow is going to be a thunderstorm kind of day and I have to take my car in for an oil change. I deliberately scheduled it for a rainy day.
Just a few pictures from around the property. I’ll take some proper pictures of the porch soon, but by the time I was finished, it was late in the day.
As I was dumping debris on the pile near the shed, I saw these lilacs off in the woods. They’re on my neighbor’s property which flows right into ours. Anyway, we’ve lived here almost 14 years and I’ve never seen these before. I walked over there to investigate. They are on a branch that is at the top of an old lilac bush – the only part of the bush that’s blooming.
Amazing!
On that section of the property – just beyond ours, there are the remains of stone foundations in two different areas. I wonder if this was connected to those long ago buildings? There are also the remains of an enclosure for some sort of farm animal.
I wish I had a photo from long ago. It would be fascinating to see who lived there. It’s all overgrown now.
I’m convinced that if I left everything to itself, our property would become completely wild in a few years. Much of gardening is about trying to control something that is, by its nature, uncontrollable.
And just off from our shed – on our property – these lovely daffodils:
So many of them!
These same daffodils are in the big garden bed but for some reason this year, there are no blooms, just leaves. Go figure. There are lots of oddities this year: reliable perennials not emerging, less leaves on the climbing hydrangea, daffodils without blooms…I’m sure it’s due to the bizarre winter we had. I wish I knew more, but as I’ve said before, gardening has a mysterious element to it and you can’t always figure it out.
Happy Thursday.
good work, claudia … it’s all beautiful!
that daffodil’s petals look mostly white … i’ve never seen that before.
is there a historical society around that might have photos of your property and the neighbor’s?
hope you can finally take it easy. know you have a book you can read during the oil change and rain. :)
working on the rest of the paper sorting here today so hopefully i can take tomorrow 100% off with no work on anything) … just in time for an opportunity to get it all shredded for free at a bank here on saturday. :)
and a local tv station just reported that a mountain lion has been spotted in town … right by a junior high school two blocks from where my sister lives. weird and sad.
back to the papers!
happy thursday to all!
kathy in iowa
We live in a very small town. No historial society!
Wow! A mountain lion! I hope he moves on and everyone, including the lion, is safe.
Oh I see someone mentioned this already! Maybe the next town over? Or a regional one? And there’s a ton online these days… although how you go from property (you have to know the parcel # or #s) to names, I don’t know… County seat maybe?
Maybe. We’ll see!
“Gardening has a mysterious element to it”….you speak the truth! Every time I think I have this gardening thing down…something comes up and let’s me know that I haven’t really mastered all that much! Our Japanese maples haven’t budded yet…I’m wondering if they will? Or if this last winter may have finished them off. Hope not!
Your flowers are really pretty….it’s exciting to me to see what can be. I’m just itching to plant a pot or two. But, we are no where near that stage yet. Good news..it has appeared to stop raining. Forecast is for no rain for next 7? days. Fingers crossed!
Sorry to hear you have rain in your forecast…but…you deserve to rest a bit. You’ve been working really hard, and it’s paying off. So get those seeds planted…and take that rest. You earned it! ;)
See today’s post. I’m most definitely resting now!
Beautiful, Claudia!! I am so glad you are enjoying your time outdoors. Your garden is going to be lovely this summer, especially with all the rain you get. As for info on your property, you could contact your local historical society, the library and start asking around town about pictures of the area. You could even try nextdoor.com if your area participates. You may just find someone with a treasure trove of memories and photos! Good luck, it sounds like a fun thing to pursue!
Happy Thursday,
Christy
We don’t have a historical society. This is a very small town. There are probably pictures somewhere. Thanks, Christy.
You are a whirling dervish in your garden, Claudia! The pots look like they’ll bring lots of color onto the porch and other parts of your garden. I’ve had a strange growing season too…the daffodils exploded, whereas I had not so many flowers last Spring. The peonies are flowering, which is excitingly because they didn’t flower for two seasons. The rose started flowering before my usual pruning schedule, so I’ll leave it alone for a while. And no camellia flower shop this year.
For some reason, my cars got onto the same oil change schedule. Drats…I have to take both in within one or two weeks of each other. I really hate car stuff…my husband used to do all the car maintenance because I wasn’t interested. Now I’m still not interested but I have to do it!
I am a whirling dervish who is exhausted, Wendy!
Love that plant stand!! I’m on the lookout for something similar for my porch.
Been meaning to tell you that I just got back from 2 weeks in Scotland and Ireland. Had my first visit to Edinburgh, and thought of you the day we went up to the Castle. What a beautiful place, and I loved the city!! Don’t know if you’ve been to Ireland, but it was amazing!! So pretty, every way I looked.
Have a great day!
Happy that you got to visit Edinburgh! We haven’t been to Ireland, but would love to go there some day.
Sweet mysteries of the gardens. There are so many. Maybe sometimes they just need a bit of a rest after delivering so many blooms the previous year. A Sabbatical of sorts!
You are WAY ahead of our season!! I haven’t seen anyone planting anything ~ even in pots ~ in our area. I bought 3 hanging baskets last weekend which are all in the garage as temps in the eve have, and will again, fall into the 30’s. The rain has stopped here. We received over 2 inches the past 2 days, but it is still cloudy, windy, and cold. As it seems in most areas, sunshine is hard to find.
Hope you have a good day and finish all on your Thursday To-do list. I know it is never-ending!
We are out of the danger of frost, though we did have one last week. Temps are still going down into the forties, but the plants seem to be fine with that. Thanks, Chris.
I am so envious of your sunshine and all the planting and yard work that you’ve been able to accomplish! The only sunshine we’ve had was some peeking in and out last weekend. Otherwise, this entire week has been cold and rainy. I was at the garden center a couple of days ago admiring all the plants. I even had a few picked out and one of the employees said to me, “I hope you’re not planning on planting those outside just yet – it’s still too cold.” Ugh. I put the plants back. No sense buying them now and having to keep them in my garage. And Brian’s been working non-stop and has had no time to pull weeds, mow, or mulch. I can’t do any of that right now because of my back. I know it will all get done eventually, but I’m getting frustrated and chomping at the bit!
We had just one day of sunshine, Melanie. Only one. Every other day has been gray and cold and rainy! I do hope that your weather improves soon. I know you must be frustrated by not being to plant anything.
Hang in there!
Those lilacs “high up in the trees” are amazing! Nature WILL find a way. So true. Have a great day in the garden [I know you will]. 🐝
#Resists
#ImpeachTrump
#DisBarr
And how have I never seen them until now? That’s a mystery!
I love the lilacs looking out over the trees. Tough bushes they are. We had some big old bushes when I was kid and we climbed in them, and under them. I think we played house.
The pots are wonderful. It is always fun to watch them fill out.
There are shades of green in the tree tops here, but as yet no leaves. I drove past my favorite nursery the other day. I almost stopped so I could get plants for my pots. I am so glad I didn’t. We got 2 inches of SNOW! last night. And, yes most of it is still here. We have been under a Winter Weather Advisory. I don’t know, but maybe that day last week when it got into the 60s was our spring and summer and now it is winter again.
The bear are out. One got the neighbors bird feeder that was 10 feet in the air and came up on her deck. Time to have a watchful eye and wear my bear whistle when I am outside. You take care when you’re outside too.
Oh no! More snow? I’m so sorry, Trudy!
I love your plants, especially the coleus. I pinch mine back often to keep them compact. The bonus being that I can root the “pinchings” and multiply my plants.
I sort of like them being ‘wild’ in those pots. It suits the wildness of the secret garden!
Doing the same thing here. Finally got the whole lawn mowed. Longest it’s been in 10 years. Bought some plants and herbs today. Got three unusual Coleus plants. They take sun or shade. So many new varieties. Also Sunpatiens. Rain predicted for like the next ten days!! Very frustrating.
So, so frustrating! You know that we’re going to have very little spring and go right to summer. Grrr!
Your flowers look lovely. Yesterday was a spectacular day to be outside enjoying the warmth of the sunshine. Rain, Rain go away…..
Come again no other days! (At least for a while!)
All of your hard work pays off; just lovely blooms. And those ‘wild’ lilacs; wow. What you said about the yard growing in over itself if left abandoned, I’ve seen that sort of thing in the Texas plain, where prairie grass tried to cover up an old cemetery and you had to be careful of falling through a farmer’s old root cellar, house long gone. Like the lost cities they have found in the jungle, hidden under all that tropical foliage. I have spent time working on my family history in previous years (ancestor stuff) and wondered with never an answer of why they lived where they lived in certain time periods, what they were doing, who was related to whom, trying to connect the dots, but it will always be their story, not mine, so I’ve had to let my brain work out all sorts of imaginings about it which can actually be kinda fun. With your house, I’ve always thought it was so intriguing how you’ve found the bits of china and what would be the tale behind THAT! In my former house (had been in the family; my relatives had lived there for MANY years…an old 1920s cottage), we found curious things that I know had nothing to do with my kin but instead a previous owner although there had only been two. Like a tall artist’s easel almost completely buried in dirt under the house; intact and functional. Had easily been there for, at the very least, 50 years; untouched. Why was it there?!!
Vickie,
I am fascinated with your story about the Texas prairie grass growing over old properties. Did you really find an intact easel under your house?? I wonder too why it was there! Thank you for sharing!
Christy
Vicki, sorry I misspelled your name above!
My dad’s youngest sibling (newborn that didn’t survive, 100 years past) was buried in that overgrown cemetery; some old cemeteries are lost forever, but this small one has now been restored in the last decade (wish my dad could know that; he was so disturbed when we could barely locate it some 40 years ago). It was his house growing up that had the root cellar as the only thing left. His mom would store all her canning jars down there; the bounty from her summer vegetable garden. Kept things nice & cool; natural ‘refrigeration’. We might have missed that cellar hole except for a tree near it that my father remembered; it was the identifier for him. There were towns that just went away with The Dust Bowl and then, later, when bypassed by the building of the Interstate, which stole the business from the old Route 66.
We cleaned up the artist’s easel and painted it white. It stands taller than me, so I have it in a deep corner of a room and showcase certain things on it; has that little ledge you can prop stuff up against. Makes a nice display piece. There wasn’t a thing wrong with it!
Why did people bury beautiful plates in the ground? Why did I find a children’s toy up in the woods? It’s all so fascinating!
By the way, I have yet to find more of that red transferware plate. I constantly check the ground in the corral.
Oh, I want you to find more! It’s a treasure hunt!
xo
All your hard work was worth is. It’s lovely. xo Laura
Thank you, Laura!
Claudia, your garden is shaping up to perfection. It is lovely.
Marilyn
Thank you, Marilyn!
Everything is looking beautiful.
Thank you, Kay!
You and Don are such caring conservators of your property. I love how you’ve created special little spots here and there and also taken advantage of what was previously planted. This year more than every before, and I don’t know why, but seeing the colors this spring has been so delightful to my spirit!! Despite the clouds and rain. When the tulips and daffs finally came up they were brilliant and I saw some hues of orange/salmons/pinks in the tulips I’d never seen before. The lilacs are out and I am tempted to pull over on every side road I see so that I can bury my nose in them but so far no safe places. They don’t last long as you know, so I’d better go on a hunt pretty soon. Here’s to another tough winter survived and the promise of a gentle summer. XO
Make sure you sniff those lilacs while you can, Nora. Ours seem especially fragrant this year!
Coming in a little late, but you’re in the Hudson Valley right? There surely has to be one or more historical societies who might have censuses (censii?) for the area around and property maps and such. Might be fun to figure out on a rainy day or ten….
I’m mildly interested but I’m not sure I’m interested enough to investigate!
Gorgeous. Simply gorgeous. Love your plant stand and those daffs are just beautiful.
Last year deer ate all my tulip heads. Not sure if that’s part of the problem — who knows?
Lilacs soon!
Maybe. We only have the one tulip and it’s very old, so it’s unpredictable.