ZACHARY

On Thursday, August 5, 2010, our friends lost their 19 month old Standard Poodle to AIHA, a devastating disease. It is hard to believe that puppies can die. I wanted to remember Zachary, for the lovely little bundle that he was. He will most certainly be missed by those that loved him.

VISITORS

We sat on the porch, laughed, walked, ate and talked. All the while, taking in the abundance of birds and other wildlife in the gardens around the house and the fields and woods around the farm. That was the events of last week when Karen and Nels, my dear friends from California, paid a visit to Puck’s Glen. There is a certain pleasure that comes with being with those we have known for many years, comfortable and easy.Taking time out of the normal rhythms of life here on the farm and seeing through new eyes, helped to sharpen my observations as well. I stopped long enough to hear the call of a Bobwhite and actually spot him on his perch, I would never have known that the Brown Thrasher was a visitor to my yard or been entertained by watching the young male Orchard Oriole dart about in the trees and sing. There were discussions of what books were being read, and sharing in the news of friends and family. Although I took them to the airport yesterday, they left behind pieces of themselves that will stay with me as I make my way around the edges on my morning walks with the dogs and tend to the gardens that sustain me.. (Photo credit: Nels A.)

FARM UPDATE

Their blue is electric neon, those little Indigo Buntings that populate the woodland edges. So chatty too. They are sometimes hard to spot, but you know they are there by their incessant conversations. We are finally having temperatures out of the 50's and the rain has cleared, so now maybe we can really count on warm days ahead. The juvenile Eagle has fledged. It happen the end of last week with a tentative flight and awkward take off from the corn field, but now he seems to have really mastered this flying thing. He took off from a branch right above my head and soared out over the river this morning as the 4 of us made our way down the lane. Zoe is on her usual spring time schedule of constant patrol for the stray rabbit that she might catch off guard enough to actually capture. This is not a frequent occurrence and it really tuckers the girl out

HOT AND COLD

The vacillations in the weather are so typical of the Springs here on the East Coast. It is hard to count on anything constant. Rainy in the 50s, sunny windy, in the 90's, back to cloudy but 75. The plants experience their own set of problems with these changes, being misted and happy one day, hot and parched the next. I think the ideal temperature for any plant in about 70, but thank goodness they have adapted otherwise they would be in a dire state.
The males always appear on my radar first. They are the orneriest boys about having others in their territory. They dart about in the and out of the trees at lighting fast pace chasing being chased. Their rusty colored breasts catch the sun with quick flicks as the sun comes up. The Orchard Oriole males will be happy to know that I finally spotted the female today, although I somehow think they already knew that she was here.
The most prevalent sound along the edge of the woods this time of year is the drumbeat and trill of the woodpeckers that inhabit the stream bed. They tap away at bark of the trees and call back and forth to each other incessantly. I can hear different pitches to the tapping and the calls, but the only one I am successful at identifying by sound, currently, is the Flicker. I do spot the Pilated, the Downy, and the Red Belly Sap Sucker, but I can't identify them by their calls yet. I downloaded iBird pro onto my iPhone, which I hope helps me increase my identification skills.
On Sunday not much was happening in the garden. There of course has been a hugh flush of green as the plants spring up out of the ground, but flowers were few and far between. Lots of buds. Well today after a day of warm rain yesterday and bright sun this morning, everything is opening at once.

STILL MORE RAIN

I know it is all good, but the constant rain is getting old. This is a warm spring rain, as opposed to a cold windy(frozen) moisture, but it still dampens the spirits.
My Edgeworthia chrysantha, in the best bloom of it's life, which started about 3 weeks ago and is now completely and utterly glorious. The blossoms have the sweetest scent that pulls your attention to beautifully arranged florets as you pass by.
The Killdeer are now officially parents in waiting. We have a pair of the screamers nested under the bench by the fishpond(4 eggs) and another pair in the east garden under one of the newly planted Birches(4eggs). Parker gives them no rest. He thinks they are great fun to chase as they scurry away to get him directed from their eggs. They are very successful, but he soon loses interest in the chase and is off to other adventures.
Our walk this morning was punctuated with the Fox passing very close by in the field, which sent Zoe on a mad dash to catch her nemesis. She really tries her darnedest, but her legs can not carry her quite as fast as the nimble little fox. She catches up to the group, as we move around the edge of the farm,having given up on the chase, with tongue out and breathless.
The Robins are here in great abundance, and I know I will be cleaning nests out of nooks and crannies, trying to redirect them to safer ground. Some will get by me and we will have to see about protecting them until they can hatch those little blue eggs and fledge their young.

SPRING FEVER

We may not be completely finished with the winter weather yet, but somehow that doesn't seem to matter when the air is warm and the sun is bright. Spectacular is all I can say for the the state of the outside world as we made our way around to explore the farm this morning. Lots of new discoveries. There is is a second Eagles nest being built in the woods, about 100 yards from the first. It is much smaller. We 4 were back in woods by the older nest this morning when a adult Eagle flew overhead and called an alarm He then settled in a tree not to far from the old nest waiting for us to leave. Next the skunk cabbage(Symplocarpus Foetidus) is in bloom, and that is a real indicator of warm weather to come. There is also an abundance of fungi growing, helped this spring by all of the moisture we have had. The crocus and early daffodils are bursting into bloom along the walkway.There is also evidence of the 1000 tulip and daffodil bulbs, I planted last fall, erupting through the soil. Now that is going to be something when that blooms. There are other little things starting to polk through the surface, but most prevalent are the weeds. Today will mark the official beginning of the war, for this year, against the pesky weed population. The task will put me outside in this glorious weather, which will make the work easier.

ALL HOPES DASHED

The snow is coming down sideways! The point is not about the amount of snow, just that it is doing it once again. We will be spared the deep cover that those farther north will sustain, but still. There had been hope for the past few days. The warm sun was melting the snow banks, and a day of rain help to increase the melt as well, even as it turn the farm into one large mud hole. But now as I look out the window, it is again a whiteout.
Not that any of this phases Parker. Zoe has better sense, when I let her out she poked the air with her nose and turned right around to look back into the warm house. Jake is sort of impervious to anything, although the big bed in the back room was looking pretty good to him. He did not wander off to explore the property as he usually does in the morning. I made the executive decision to cut the daily walk very short this morning.
While all of this is happening I thought it a good time to order some seed and plants for the garden. Wishful thinking on my part I am sure.

IT IS OVER

We, Jake, Zoe, Parker and I, are confined to the roadway that Frank has begun to restore to a drive, instead of a cross country ski course after the 30" of snow that fell yesterday. The depth of the snow is too great to try to walk through. Parker of course hops across it with great energy, but the rest of us stay on the plowed surface not trying to breech the walls of snow. There is lots of enthusiasm for this snow, in particular little Parker, who finds the whole thing such a big adventure, but Jake and Zoe understand the fun of it all,too, scrambling ahead of me tussling with each other as we move. Even though the sun's energy is amplified by the reflection off the crystal surface of the snow, we will be days "melting" out of this, there is little warming predicted for the next week. The farm will remain under this white blanket of ice crystals for the time being.

ANOTHER 3 INCHES

The snow just keeps coming. I have not experienced this amount of snow since moving to the Eastern Shore. Mostly it has snowed a bit but not consistently throughout the winter, never hanging around to long. It certainly dresses up the farm, but I am ready for some other kind of weather. It is February, how much longer can this last? The sun will come up and warm the air making the snow slip from the branches and slide noisily from the roof. The patio and walkways will begin to uncover and show through the snow, waiting for the next offering from the sky.