Category Archives: Country Living

March into battle

After the Williamsburg and Smithfield delights, we returned to winter white. While I waited for the melt I gave into the lure of catalogs. Not that I planned to garden this year, but the ground is calling me.Through the light snow loom piles of brush waiting for me and then our best tree guys to get things in order but I thought it might not hurt to look… and a couple of days later, the sun was warming and signs of spring beckoned to me.

And I found that the bambi-ites having wrecked havoc on azaleas, rhododendron and blueberries this winter, now march through the garden just outside the kitchen door and drink the birdbath dry. (My most creative efforts to keep them from the bird feeder failed.) They had eaten tiny shoots of new growth daylilies and tried out the iris leaves. There was quite a mess from stomping about. You may not be able to tell, but this is deer print.Out came the jug of “go away bambi-ites“; battle has been engaged with the sprayer.

That said, the last days of March were glorious making the yard clean-up rather joyous. My chore list for the house gathered more dust as I worked through the hours picking up sticks, stacking wood, raking debris and enjoying signs of new life. I hope spring has shown up in your neighborhood!.

March observations

In a futile attempt to keep the deer from lapping all the seed from the feeder, I had poked stakes in the ground to hold some fencing. I should have known they would just trample it and walk in at snack time. I pull it back up as much as possible and we repeat. The lingering snow has made it easy to see the birds. A murmuration came through and introduced a pair of Rufous-sided towhees to the feeder. Such beautiful birds!

There is a warming trend which is allowing a slow melt and the snowdrops are coming into view.

And a few hours later, the melt softens the icy white and I can begin gathering great piles of pine and maple brush from the lawn. As I commented to a passing motorist while shoveling the other week, 2014 is providing great opportunity for fresh air and exercise. It is also drawing me to search for beauty unfolding.

Weather or not

There are those among us who have endured an unusual winter of steady, deep cold and white and now look at the turning of the calendar page as magical. Not so Theresa who serves at the local bakery café. “March is mean.”, was served with my coffee this morning. She’s right, that is the history here. No magic March will happen this year either; the forecast continues for bitter cold and more snow to come. No magic acts here, at least not the kind that folks want, of disappearing coats and hats and snow shovels.

But under the snow and ice and cold, wonders are happening. I’m waiting for the real magic show to begin. As a preview, here are some photos from last March.

Learning to see

At the end of our Christmas visit to Longwood, I found an enchanting book ion display in the shop, Seeing Trees by Nancy Ross Hugo. I was taken in by the photograph on the cover and leafing through the pages, I knew this was a book for me. Robert LLewellyn has transformed photography to open my eyes to wonder. When I settled in with her prose I was not disappointed. Then, I had the opportunity to hear Mrs. Hugo speak a few weeks ago between ice and snow storms. It was so fun to be taken into her passion and joy for the wonder that is a tree. Taking advantage of the season, I had been looking at bark on some trees in the yard.

cedar tulip poplar black oak

After reading about the American Sycamore and learning that this tree likes to follow along watercourses, I went looking for them. The soughing off of the old bark reveals their startling white beauty in the winter barrenness and makes them easy to spot in the landscape. Beautiful!

Earth dreaming

The Snow Moon will shine tonight. Whether or not we will see it or just more falling snow is still unknown. There was much snow this week; much more than I cared to shovel. But shovel we do. Dig out the heat pump and shovel a path to the bird feeders. Then there is the driveway to consider. Normally we don’t consider it too much any more; Joe plows for us. Except when his rig breaks down, like it did yesterday morning leaving us with 14 inches or so to contemplate today. So we shoveled and chopped ice and made phone calls and repeated the process. Then the phone rang and our new neighbor offered to come with his tractor. Such blessed relief!

Today I learned the proverb, “St Valentine brings the keys of roots.” Within it is the thought that this is the day when plants start growing. Last week I noticed a slight swelling of the magnolia buds and I found this… a snowdrop! It is now blanketed with deep snow but its bravery was a sign of the earth dreaming Spring!

It’s going to be a long winter…

…”and what will the birdies do then, the poor things…” an old camp song goes through my mind… be sure to drag out loooong. Yesterday with everything covered in ice, they foraged at the feeders, sought shelter under the shrubbery or just sat on ice covered branches thinking bird thoughts.

We were grateful to have shelter, cold sandwiches and a warm fire.Cold, hard beauty could be found.

Late in the afternoon, the temperature rose above freezing, the sun came out, and it rained a thick layer of “ice cubes”.

Melt will come and the work will begin to clean up all the cold, hard sad.

The birds were happy this was not the branch that holds their feeder; we are happy it did not fall on the house itself although it certainly woke us up when it hit.That mound of icy greenery totally hides the shed. From every window and door we see piles of winter storm prunings to be gathered up.

The pine tree that welcomed us home all these years and weathered many a hurricane and winter storm has fallen. I shall miss this old friend.

Weather repeat

I don’t really collect stats on weather or seasons in my life. I do remember cold winters and snow and ice winters but this one does seem relentless. Heavy rain in the night turned to rain and snow and sleet and left a coat of the heaviest kind to be pushed and shoveled.

But it was very beautiful and perhaps it was that beauty and the slightly perceptible lengthening of daylight that was energizing. I enjoyed creative time in the kitchen and we were delighted to share our muffins with the man who plowed and then helped to shovel, too! God bless Joe!

January energizing

When Bonnie, the Faith Barista, announced the prompt for this week – photo journaling – she linked back to a post on Whitespace: a photo journal. I need this getting away, this time in nature, in quiet. But it has been so very cold. This past Tuesday, it was “warm” so I drove to the reservoir. A few minutes in the roaring wind and I retreated.

I sat a while and watched the gulls and geese and enjoyed the beauty. The wind seemed to keep the gulls huddled on the snow. In “the one that got away”- I didn’t have my camera ready – all the gulls rose but could not fly into the wind and were forced back and down onto the snow. This time they kept low to the water and made a turn back to the road. Someone had stopped and was feeding the geese and gulls from their car.

And then I went home, feeling like I had not accomplished what my soul needed.

Thursday: But it did warm a bit and I wanted to go away and I wanted to stay at home. So I pulled on my boots, coat and mittens and walked out the door to my own back yard. The focus of the day in the devotional I am following was peace and the verse I was thinking about was from Luke 19.

Jesus was weeping over Jerusalem when He said, “…if you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace…”

I stop on the step as a goldfinch lands on the feeder just a few feet away. He seems at peace with my presence as I pull the camera from my pocket and snap away while he busily feeds from his provision.

I walk slowly listening to the crunch of snow as I walk through the field. I stop to look at tree bark and seed stalks and the beauty of light and shadow and think of things that make for peace in life.

And the things that steal peace till I wander around in confusion.

I keep crunching along among deer tracks and rabbit trails and other critters trails too, caught up in the beauty of glittering snow and grateful for whitespace in my own back yard!

Carolina’s morning visit

A sweet new visitor for us. This Carolina Wren is very quick and this is my first photo capture. Leaves continue to fall and blow about and this energetic little bird barely stops for a photo op as he races around turning them in search of a juicy bug. The other day, he plucked a stink bug from the door. I don’t know if he ate it, but I do hope he has an appetite for them!

I’ve mentioned it before – this is such a great site – Cornell Lab of Ornithology Click and you can hear the song of this wren which is what draws me to the window! These little guys are loud and distinctive from the House Wrens that nest here in summer.

I haven’t put out a suet feeder in a while because the squirrels and crows are adept at stealing them. Today, I’m plotting where to put one to entice this visitor to stay a while.

Do you have a favorite bird in your neighborhood? Do you feed birds over winter?

November Sunday Gift

Ever changing patterns of light and shadow illuminating leaves like jewels.

Feast for the eyes. Calm for the soul.