ALL ABOUT JACOB

Still in High School, he came to visit Puck's Glen Farm with his parents and little sister. Just a young boy really. Still asking for his dad to "flutter" him when he went to bed, which is, from what I could tell, a movement of raising the sheet high above the bed and letting it float down settling on the occupant.
I ask him to climb the ladder to change a light bulb for me, and upon completion, I said your hired. "Really, could I come work for you!". It was a done deal.
He came to me that summer, totally disarming me. Here was this young man, who loved to sit out on the porch with these old folks in the evening and watch the world of the farm slip into darkness. He saw his first fire fly, learned to mulch, dig, hoe, the difference between a weed and a wanted plant and drive the tractor. He help build the first shed, and made a lasting friendship with the man I got him a part time job with. I don't know if I have ever met such an open person before. No defenses, no large ego, confident, but humble, not to mention thoughtful and sweet.
He is back for a repeat this summer. He is more mature to be sure, but not much else has changed. He is still that open lovely man that I got to experience the first summer. It is bittersweet in the garden with him this year, as I know his life journey will take him on a road that will not allow for these litttle summer detours any more. He will marry, finish college, go on to graduate school, you know have a life. For right now though, I can share the joy of him learning to drive Big Blue Bertha the dump truck, watch him learn to do some woodwork with Frank, and know he will leave behind a legacy, here on the farm, where ever he has moved a stone, planted a tree, or placed an urn.

HELP HAS ARRIVED

I guess I have been out in the garden working, and not in the house blogging.
Work is moving forward at a fast a furious pace, now that I have reinforcements. Jacob(my nephew) has arrived to help out on the farm and in the garden for a couple of months. There will be more about him later, but one note, Jake my beloved boy now considers me only if Jacob is not in the vicinity. When we picked Jacob up at the airport, Jake and Zoe acted as if they were receiving the King back into their myst.
The Peonies are starting to bloom, with the rain yesterday their big buds started pulling the plant to the ground, a few blossom removed, they were upright again with the kitchen being the beneficiary.
The Killdeer couple on the walkway has successfully hatched all 4 eggs. The little chicks were out of the nest, running around on the lower driveway within 12 hrs. of leaving their shells, tucking back in under their parent when they were cold and tired, then off to the races again. It served as great entertainment as we sat out on the patio at days end. This morning as the poodles and I left for our walk, we scattered all of them much to the consternation of the parents. One very small chick was scurrying through the wet grass with great difficulty. I carefully picked him up depositing his fuzzy little body back onto the more easily traversed drive, and then we were on our way.

MIST

The house had disappeared when I turned to look half way down the lane to the river. The mist is so thick I can't see the hedgerows, and the air has settled onto the grasses, making them wet. There has been day after day of rain, at times heavy with wind, at others light drizzle. But the grey, wet has been unrelenting. True it makes everything look fresh and new, the greens stand out more against the monochrome of the sunless sky. We do not let it dampen our spirits, Jake, Zoe and I. We can still walk the edges and marvel in the rapid growth of the forest canopy.

FIRSTS

A single Eastern Tiger Swallowtail and two male Orchard Orioles, appeared in the garden yesterday. First sighting this year.
There is a new Robin's nest being built in the cherry tree, right next to the deck, this is the replacement for the nest that was abandoned on the deck chair. I fear too much activity prompted them to start over somewhere safer, after laying 4 eggs and starting the incubation for about a week. Not so for the steadfast little Killdeer. They continue to use every tool to protect their eggs. I am the usual target, but Jake and Zoe also hear the wrath if they venture to close.
There are lots of buds forming in the garden, iris, peony, blue eyed grass, and Bay Leaf Magnolia. The best of all is the beginnings of a bud on my Gladiolus segetum. I planted this 3 years ago, with the caveat that is would need time to mature before it bloomed. It took its own sweet time growing up, and risk being destroyed by mistake every year if I forgot it was there. I have three, but only one is showing signs of a bloom. It better be glorious after all this time. The other bloomer this year (4 years in the making) is my Pseudocydonia sinensis(Chinese Quince).
I have received some of the plants that I ordered on line during the dark winter days when the garden seemed just dead. It is with great excitement and expectation that I unwrap and catalog each little verdure.