Emily Dickinson's Bluebirds

Before you thought of Spring
Except as a Surmise
You see - God bless his suddenness-
a fellow in the Skies
Of independent Hues
A little weather worn
Inspiriting habiliments
Of Indigo and Brown-
With specimens of Song
As if for you to choose-
Discretion in the ritual
With gay delays he goes
To some superior Tree
Without a single Leaf
And shouts for joy to Nobody
But his seraphic self-

Emily Dickinson

Listening -perhaps- to the descendants of Emily's neighborhood songsters on this rainy June morn.

(image from fotopedia.com)

Before and After

Before and after...a child's desk and chair for a special little guy's 4th BD.

Collage Table: Version 1

When in Chattanooga recently I found this small table with a removable glass top. There was one like it in my childhood living room and I hadn't seen once since. So, of course.... I brought it home. Today I arranged a selection of family pictures, from about 1984-1991, under the glass for after Easter dinner viewing. I plan to paint the table over the summer and brighten it up but couldn't resist using it this weekend.

Sweet Magnolia!

Sweetside Garden is smelling sweet indeed as the Magnolia is in full bloom. If the predicted rains come, they may end it's display prematurely but for today, it is lovely! It is always such a wonderful, welcoming sign of to Spring. My gratitude to whoever the gardner was who planted it decades ago.

new role: tree doctor

I just couldn't give up yet. Today I went to the Hadley Garden Ctr and asked Tom what I could do to try to save my Japanese Maple that was seriously damaged by the winter storms. Three of its main arching limbs are torn away from the main trunk but they are not totally severed so, it's worth a try. On Tom's recommendation, I tied the branches up to take the weight off of them and bring the tear back r together. In the largest of the 3 limbs I drilled a tiny hole and used a screw to connect it to the main trunk. Then I applied black tree goop to the cracks to keep water out (which can cause rot). So, we'll see. I am not terribly hopeful. Apparently it might leaf out but when it needs to draw nourishment up from below, there may not be enough intact surface area to get what it needs.

I guess many people had damage to their Japanese Maples this year.....too bad, they are so lovely and grow slowly. On the positive side, the scilla and daffodils have begin blooming and the Magnolia buds popped! I got all the oak leaves raked off the main garden and it's beginning to look like Spring. Yay!

Baugh!!! Winter damage to garden....

Here in New England, as elsewhere, this winter was the worst in a long time; it really has been a trial in many ways. It finally looks like the coast is pretty clear for Spring to slide in....but, this weekend, when I was able to walk around my garden again, I found three seriously damaged or destroyed plantings that really put me over the edge. The heavy snow and ice has damaged my calycanthus BUT worse still has destroyed (!!) my climbing hydrangea as well as my much loved Japanese maple, the centerpiece of my primary garden. One more big check mark on the "Reasons to Move to a Warmer Climate" list......

(no: I have not had the heart to take any pictures)

Unravelling - A Spring Journey

Just started an online course called Unravelling that is run by British artist Susannah Conway. The assignments are a combination of writing and taking photos. This week's photo assignment was "feet." The class, 160 people from all around the world, has a common flickr photo stream where we can upload as many as 4 photos per week. It is amazing the variety of ways people interpreted the prompt. Here are the 3 that I uploaded: (1) inspecting my water garden -- still frozen! (2) sitting out back waiting for Spring, and (3) playing fetch with Mia