Today is our second full day without the furnace. Windows open; 23C Woo hoo!
So much easier to get out of bed when there is light, warmth and the prospect of warmth and sun at 6, 7 and 8 PM.
Tour of the garden in the early evening. The ginger lives! Now some of you got excited about The Leafs making the playoffs but the reappearance of the Wild Ginger trumps all that. The plant was on life support late last summer and I thought the experiment was over. Of course, the rabbit has been treating it as an appetizer to the tulip course.
Should I pull the dandelions? I eat the leaves in salads but would I eat them out of my garden? There is a couple down the street that can be found regularly pulling plants out of the ditches for their supper table.
Surveyed the lawn. "What lawn?" I hear you ask. Ok, it's maybe one third crab grass, one third clover and one third yet-to-be identified plants (which do look rather attractive, though). Fiddleheads, Aquilegia, Periwinkle (spent quite a while watching a bee feasting on the pollen), Black Eyed Susan, Lamb's Ears, Foxgloves (such an elegant flower), Peonies, Maltese Cross and St. John's Wort all showing signs of life.
I wrote some time back about how we Ontarions get excited about plant life after Winter's long embrace.
However, I'm not so keen on the neighbour's Invasives tunnelling through four feet of earth to pop up in my garden. A Chameleon may look attractive but any plant capable of bursting through asphalt needs to be banished. The tendrils make it a touch challenging to eradicate. On the other side of the fence, the Wisteria has been left to do as it pleases and is in the process of murdering its fourth tree.
Something very refined about a tulip just before it's ready to bloom.
Someone asked, "Have we had enough of Daffodils, yet?" I would argue no. Look at the structure next time you're up close and personal with one. We have about a week and a half left of daffodil season.
Bird Song. Is there anything better? I can even tolerate the doves cooing now.
Robins. It always seems to me that they know you're watching and they give you that knowing glance. Maybe I'm reading too much into this. My knowledge of birds ends with what's around me: sparrows, starlings, cardinals, jays, finches and orioles.
We've had a butterfly in the garden. Just the one but it was a welcome sight.
Favourite time of day for birds is early evening which reminds me of the UK after a little rain when the birds start up again before nightfall. People call it an excuse but there is a reason to leave the garden cleanup for a few weeks more. Birds are nest building and those leftovers from last summer provide the raw materials. So don't be too hasty to spit and polish the beds. I don't like a bed that looks too sterile.
And so, it is time to get the mower out. Seven years and going strong with my reel mower. You will not convince me to go gas. Do you realize you're cutting it at least twice as much as I am mine?
My only regret is that we have such a short spring. From a financial perspective, we never get our money's worth out of the clothes. There just isn't time before we're perspiring heavily into something that's not breathing. Neighbours emerge from their homes looking pasty after nearly seven months of indoor living and they return to their air conditioned environment soon after. There is noise in heat that you don't get in Spring.
Important to stop and smell the proverbials. Get out into your garden, your balcony or visit someone else's garden and watch the ever maturing delights.
