rainy friday

If you are looking for the giveaway,

it's right here!

Please join in - you have plenty of time.

I am so happy to read the comments

and think about all the wonderful things

you lovely, lovely people

are doing to help shelter cats.

Thank you for sharing your ideas with us,

and your kindness with them.

~~~

Thank you also for your comments and suggestions about my seedlings.

Last night I moved one into a big planter,

for an experiment in container gardening.

It's the only one of six seeds that germinated:

It's a cucumber called Poona Kheera.

Have you heard of it? Do you grow it? 

It sounds rather unusual,

and has lots of features I hope to appreciate.

Last year, my vines did their very best,

but time was not on their side.

Good luck, little Poona Kheera!

(I think I'd better find out if it is self-pollinating.)

~~~

Today has been muggy and gloomy, in the 60s, with rain off-and-on all day.

I walked around outside between showers, thinking, dreaming,

planning where everything will be planted.

Piper flatly refused to accompany me on these watery walks,

so no pictures of her today. Sorry!

But I did find these violets,

which had furled themselves up last night as usual, 

and wisely remained furled today.

(Maybe that's what Piper was doing on her couch. Remaining Furled.)

And here is the jack-in-the-pulpit you saw the other day.

Wait...was that yesterday?

Is it not amazing?

I gardened around this plant last year.

and will be happy to do so again.

Magical plant.

One of the first woodland plants I remember from my childhood.

~~~

Tomorrow is supposed to be rainier and hotter.

Sounds like a good day for...housework.

But then, the forecast has changed: four days of 10-20% chance of rain.

So if the ground has a chance to dry out,

maybe all the seedlings can be planted early in the week after all!

That is, if I don't panic and buy bigger peat pots,

and transplant them all this weekend.

Gardening is so dramatic!

Or is that just me?

~~~

Speaking of me, when downloading my camera

I found a surprise.

It took a moment to figure out what it was.

First I thought it was some random piece of Piper.

Then I recognized a non-Piper ear and realized...

I must have tripped the shutter while I was cleaning the lens.

And that is how I discovered I'm going grey.

Clearly, parts of me are already there.

Funny, I notice so many details about so many things,

but this quite obvious fact had gotten right past me!

I had to laugh.

~~~

Have a lovely weekend, everyone!

I'll be spending part of the rainy Saturday

enjoying a good catch-up on all your blogs.

~~~~~

here

I've been watching Spring appear on blogs all over the northern hemisphere. 

Watching and waiting.

Waiting and watching.

And now it's here.

It's HERE!

Wildflowers are coming up,

the early leaves showing the nipping effects of frost.

(And sometimes, hens.)

It's not always a smooth entry into Spring. 

But the plants prevail!

There's green everywhere, but also purple.

Lots of purple.

And soon, unless we have more frost (or snow),

there will be tiny yellow lilies blooming here.

It's the madcap rush of Spring.

The view is changing by the hour.

~~~

With the little barn up,

I must now focus on the gardens.

And quickly.

Lots of prep work still to be done, 

but I had to wait for the heavy equipment

to come (and tear things up) and go

before making final decisions about locations.

Meanwhile...

I think some of these little seedlings

are ready for the big world.

But...it's rainy today.

And rain is predicted for the next nine days.

NINE days.

(That's just how far the forecast goes.

For all I know, there's another 31 predicted.)

So, what should I do?

Should I be trying to get these fragile, housegrown plants

into the ground right away?

Or should I be glad I haven't planted them already,

just in time to be washed away? 

I don't know the answer, but I hope you do!

These leggy seedlings seem to need more 

than their tiny peat balls and a window,

and someone to turn the trays around every day.

Dear gardeners:

How can I help them through this phase and into

a bright and productive future?

Advice very welcome!

~~~

And one more picture,

of one of my very favorite trees:

Fagus grandifolia, American Beech.

Beautiful at every season.

~~~~~