Garden Festival at Tranquil Lake

Saturday we visited Tranquil Lake Nursery for their annual Summer Open House. They are located on River Street in Rehoboth, MA. As usual the fields of colorful daylilies were breathtaking (should have brought the camera). Try to visit in the next few weeks when the lilies are at their best.

Athyrium hybrid, “Branford Rambler”

Always looking for something unusual, I purchased a trailing fern for my shade area and two air plants. I put them on a piece of drift wood next to the garage. It’s very interesting how they get their nutrients…not from soil. They collect dew/rain and transport the water by way of specialized cells, to their plant body…cool! I may try to wire the TBX to a crook in the driftwood. The plant uses its short root system to hang onto host trees.

Tillandsia Hondurensis (left), and Tillandsia Brachycaulos X

Canoeing the Mashpee River

Here we are, me the grunt up front, and Linda Catalina, the rudder woman, crusing down the calm waters of the Mashpee River. We spotted a Green Heron feasting under a dock. Linda claims she saw some jellyfish. I think she was just seeing things and was a bit dizzy from steering us in a zigzag pattern for many miles.

Wanted
Ruddering Lessons
(for my friend)

Out of focus Green Heron

Summer is Finally Here!

Summer has finally made it to Seekonk. Our tomatoes and peppers are growing nearly as expeditiously as the weeds. Mother nature brings us all things....I happily watch the tadpoles turn to frogs and toads, and note the young birds, bunnies, woodchucks and opossums scurry in the backyard. Of course I am not so delighted about the consequences some of these little creatures bring about as they voraciously devour the flowers and vegetables. The carrot tops have been eaten as well as the entire snap pea population. Thanks to those adorable little bunnies, I have very few buds/flowers on my annuals.

Despite this downside of nature, I would never hurt these little creatures. This is not the case for the "Mr. McGregor" in the neighborhood. Last night as I was walking around the yard, there was a commotion by the trash bin. A large woodchuck appeared to be trapped between the garage and a trash bin. He was on his back making some blood curdling sounds. I moved the bin, but he did not run. He appeared to be in distress and died a short time later. My main concern is that he may have brought some of what killed him onto our property. I am worried that the dogs and cat might find it...whatever it is.

Steve finally hung some of the bird houses he made over the winter. I especially like the yellow house with the glass flower on the front. We bought lights for the pergola at the Christmas Tree shop. They are strands of silver stars with star cutouts in the (tin?). Uh oh...does that mean they'll rust soon? We also have some interesting lighting by the pond. Steve hung a gazing ball in the Mimosa tree and a large wine bottle stuffed with tiny lights. Last night he noticed that moths were flying around the globe. I'm hoping the bats will notice...we need help keeping the mosquito population down.I've posted a few pictures...I hope to be able to get one of the humming bird soon.

Take care and enjoy each day!

Steve can shoot flames from his head.

The glowing globe

A heart shaped bottle on the ground with lights inside and baskets of Impatiens hang from the Mimosa

I'm Back!

Wow...it's been months since I posted...that's what teaching first grade does to me. I spent most of my waking hours planning and gathering, grading and recording. I made more work for myself because I wanted to have the children experience more than the standard curriculum mandates.

We observed the lifecycle of frogs and butterflies, experimented with magnets and made a compass from a pin and some cork. We tested it with a real compass...ours worked fine! And thanks to Mr. Auclair for lending the class a microscope...we were able to observe many interesting things.

What ever happened to the old adage, “don’t like the weather, wait a minute. This is New England, It’ll change.” ????
I’m surprised that our tomatoes are doing so well. Some of the potted plants are suffering though. The soil is growing mold. I don’t know if I should cover them…or just wait for Mother Nature to have a change of heart.
The only thing that is really doing well is the mosquito population, especially now that my neighbor shut down the pump in her pond. It is now a 100 gallon breeding pool for the little disease carriers.

School is out (for me) for the summer. I didn’t get the job that I had last year and never heard from the director about subbing for summer school. There isn’t much out there for jobs. I’ve got to update my resume and get copies of my transcripts so that I can renew my certification. It’s hard to believe almost five years has passed since I graduated.

Here is a little bit of sunshine from the pond. Steve bought this yellow lily last year. The blooms are quite large compared to the white and pink lilies.

Adios for now...

Global Warming???

I just read an article titled "Global warming hastens arrival of springtime," (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23709253/ ). The author, Seth Borenstein, cites some signs of Spring that are happening months ahead of time. For example, a butterfly that typically emerges in April/May has been spotted recently "fluttering" in California. He mentions that various trees are budding much earlier than usual. This reminds me of a situation that happened last year. Steve and I noticed that the Wisteria was loaded with blooms in early Spring. I never thought anything of the timing though. I just couldn’t wait to see the pergola covered in beautiful orchid tendrils. A week or two later we had a heavy frost….that was the end of all those buds. The Wisteria bloomed later…but it wasn’t the spectacle we originally anticipated.

With the calendar announcing Spring approaching, in less than 24 hours, I wonder how the plants and creatures will fare. On my morning walkabout, I noticed a sure sign of Spring, but now I worry that it’s way too early for the Bullfrogs to emerge. I didn’t have my camera with me at the time, so no photo today of the very healthy looking frog. However, I thought my nature loving friends would like to hear the sound of the backyard babbling pond. Steve just jump started the filters yesterday. The fish are quite active now that the water is moving.

For the Birds

What a beautiful weekend. I feel terrible that I am inside, but I wanted to post a clip of the birdhouses that Steve built and he and I painted. I just love his bird condo. Six families can enjoy this "old barn" facade.

The next short video is of the single family homes that I painted. Once I know what I'm doing with the airbrush, I'd like to sell them to support my craft habit.

Till next time....

It's a Sign

I'm not much of a housekeeper so I'm taking this as a sign from Alyssa and Jillian that I should hold off vacuuming for a while. I mean really...look how uncomfortable Alyssa seems. Her body language just screams, "take a break...go have some fun...take us outside and fill your pockets with biscuits!"
Your wish is my command.