Paradise
is downright paradisiacal these late April days. For once the spring blooming
flowers haven’t been blasted by occasional hot winds out of the south, nor have
the fruit blossoms been killed by frost. The weather has been consistently cool
with a few well-timed rains.
I’ve
loved watching the parade of perfect spring blossoms, one kind succeeding
another. First came the daffodils and forsythia, then narcissus, then tulips, early,
mid-season, and late. A couple of days ago the first humming bird showed up
just in time to sip nectar from the opening columbine blossoms. Lilacs have
come and gone, and now the purple iris are in their glory along with the more
modest wild blue phlox scattered here and there along the woods’ edges.
Dennis’s vegetable garden
is going to town, producing rhubarb, early onions, and greens in abundance. He
has been thinning the thickly planted lettuce, escarole, and spinach; we’re
eating salads of the thinnings that are even better than the baby greens sold
in grocery stores.
The apple trees and gooseberry bushes bloomed in abundance and busy bees are making sure
every blossom is fertilized. It looks to be a banner year for fruit,
including black raspberries and even the newly planted strawberries. Our 17
hens, some of them four years old, are doing a spectacular job, laying a dozen
or more eggs every day and bragging about it.
Tonight the spring peepers are croaking
down by Chicken Creek and all is right in our world.
Copyright 2015 by Shirley Domer
No comments:
Post a Comment