White coral bells
Upon a slender stalk,
Lilies of the Valley
Deck my garden walk.
I learned a little song with those words when I was a child and every year when the lily-of-the-valley blooms I sing it as I walk down the path through the woodland garden. I can’t help myself. I love lilies-of-the-valley. They seem so simple – just a few bright green leaves unfurled right from the ground with one stem of waxy white bell shaped flowers – but they are elegant in their simplicity. And their perfume is one of the finest in all the floral world. I love them even more because they thrive where other flowering plants do not – in the dry shade under trees. And they are rambunctious growers. From my original little one foot square patch, they now cover more than half the floor of my woodland garden. They are in full bloom right now and on a warm afternoon I can smell their sweet perfume before I set foot on the garden path.
May is almost gone now. That makes me a little sad. It is one of the best months of year. My sadness is tempered somewhat however because June, the finest month, follows it. This May has been a little unsteady – a few more cold spells than I’d like, a bit too much rain, but here at the end, it is glorious. With apple and crab apple trees in full bloom, the last of the spring bulbs still hanging on, asparagus for dinner several times a week, and hints of summer flowers and fruit appearing, how can I be sad?
Upon a slender stalk,
Lilies of the Valley
Deck my garden walk.
I learned a little song with those words when I was a child and every year when the lily-of-the-valley blooms I sing it as I walk down the path through the woodland garden. I can’t help myself. I love lilies-of-the-valley. They seem so simple – just a few bright green leaves unfurled right from the ground with one stem of waxy white bell shaped flowers – but they are elegant in their simplicity. And their perfume is one of the finest in all the floral world. I love them even more because they thrive where other flowering plants do not – in the dry shade under trees. And they are rambunctious growers. From my original little one foot square patch, they now cover more than half the floor of my woodland garden. They are in full bloom right now and on a warm afternoon I can smell their sweet perfume before I set foot on the garden path.
May is almost gone now. That makes me a little sad. It is one of the best months of year. My sadness is tempered somewhat however because June, the finest month, follows it. This May has been a little unsteady – a few more cold spells than I’d like, a bit too much rain, but here at the end, it is glorious. With apple and crab apple trees in full bloom, the last of the spring bulbs still hanging on, asparagus for dinner several times a week, and hints of summer flowers and fruit appearing, how can I be sad?
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| One of my orchard crab apple trees. |
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| Apple blossoms. |
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| The very last of the spring bulbs and Aunt Joyce's amaryllis. |
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| Asparagus for dinner! |
During the week I tried to work on repairing skunk damage to the lawn. I think I’ve mentioned before that we have stony soil here. We are on the southern edge of where the glaciers stopped during the last Ice Age and as they retreated, they left lots of stones behind. Anytime I dig into the earth here, I hit stones. That’s what happened when I dug into the skunk damaged areas of the lawn. In just one spot I removed 300 pounds of stones. After removing the stones, I raked the areas smooth and planted grass seed. I hope the grass grows quickly. The lawn looks terrible in those spots.
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| Stony lawn repair. |
We have been monitoring the robins nest tucked in the clematis vines over at the Shillig’s house. First there were just two eggs, and then four. And then last week two of the eggs hatched. The baby robins are about as ugly and yet as cute as an animal can be.
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| Four eggs. |
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| Two ugly babies. |
This is Memorial Day weekend. The Thayns arrived on Friday evening to spend it with us. We spent the day yesterday working in the yard. We got a lot done. It was Planting Out Weekend. I drove into town in the morning and bought lumber and Miriam, Rachel, and I built two new raised beds. Then we filled them with compost from my compost pile, and planted the tomatoes that I started from seed way back in March. The tomato plants were very tall and, as usual, I grew more than I can use. I’m sending some home with the Thayns for their garden.
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| New tomato beds. |
I also planted out my zinnias and dianthus. And I planted the dahlia tubers and gladiolus corms that I’d stored down cellar all winter. I still have some things waiting on the back porch to be planted – peppers, basil, and parsley. They’ll go in the ground sometime this week.
Midday yesterday we took a break from all the work at home and went over to the Raymond Cemetery to put flags on the veterans’ graves. It’s a tradition we’ve observed for at least ten years now.
Midday yesterday we took a break from all the work at home and went over to the Raymond Cemetery to put flags on the veterans’ graves. It’s a tradition we’ve observed for at least ten years now.
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| At the cemetery. |
In the afternoon, we also cut down trees. Tabor brought his chainsaw and we began cutting down the dead and half dead spruce trees that stand on the property line between our house and the Shillig’s. There were five of them and we managed to remove three of them. They are/were pretty big trees. Tabor did all the sawing and the rest of us hauled the branches away. There are still two trees to bring down. I’m hoping we can finish the job tomorrow. When the trees are gone, our plan is to put a blueberry hedge in their place.
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| Tabor and his chainsaw. |
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| Three trees down, two more to go. |
When the work was done for the day and there was still light, there was time for a game of croquet and then a group went over to Uncle Dick’s house to do some fishing. As the evening advanced, a thunderstorm blew in. There was thunder, lightning, and pouring rain for a few hours. We went out on the front porch to watch for a while. It was a nice ending to a busy and productive day.
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| An evening game of croquet. |
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| Fishing at Uncle Dick's. |
Yesterday Stacey and I celebrated our 35th anniversary. I say celebrated, but we didn’t do anything amazing. We reminisced a bit. It does not seem possible to me that it has been 35 years until I reflect back on all the things we’ve done, all the things that have happened to us – the places we’ve lived, raising our children, and now loving our grandchildren. Then it seems like 35 short years of a good life. I’m ready for a thousand more.
We’re home from church now. It rained here while we were gone, but the sun was shining as we drove in. Then another thunderstorm rolled through and it rained hard for ten minutes. It is warm and the air has that softness that comes after rain. We just finished lunch – biscuits and sausage gravy, delicious. We’d like to take a walk up to the hollow and through the woods this afternoon, but certain people (young and old) need to take a nap first. And I don’t know if we’re done with storms and rain yet. We’ll see. Days like today should not be wasted indoors if it can be helped.
Tomorrow is Memorial Day. Rachel and Tabor will be here most of the day and then they are leaving to go home. Hazel, June, and Mabel are staying here for the week. It will be fun having them here. I still have school on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday and Stacey will be at work all week as usual, but Miriam will be here to keep the girls entertained all day. I will have three little helpers doing the chores with me all week. Rachel and Tabor will be back on Thursday to spend next weekend here. Sarah and Tosh are arriving on Thursday too to spend the weekend. Sarah has been asked to be the guest speaker at the high school commencement on Friday. So it looks like the week ahead will be full of fun and excitement.
We’re home from church now. It rained here while we were gone, but the sun was shining as we drove in. Then another thunderstorm rolled through and it rained hard for ten minutes. It is warm and the air has that softness that comes after rain. We just finished lunch – biscuits and sausage gravy, delicious. We’d like to take a walk up to the hollow and through the woods this afternoon, but certain people (young and old) need to take a nap first. And I don’t know if we’re done with storms and rain yet. We’ll see. Days like today should not be wasted indoors if it can be helped.
Tomorrow is Memorial Day. Rachel and Tabor will be here most of the day and then they are leaving to go home. Hazel, June, and Mabel are staying here for the week. It will be fun having them here. I still have school on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday and Stacey will be at work all week as usual, but Miriam will be here to keep the girls entertained all day. I will have three little helpers doing the chores with me all week. Rachel and Tabor will be back on Thursday to spend next weekend here. Sarah and Tosh are arriving on Thursday too to spend the weekend. Sarah has been asked to be the guest speaker at the high school commencement on Friday. So it looks like the week ahead will be full of fun and excitement.
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| Hazel and June. |
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| Mabel, my cute chore helper. |
