There really have been a lot of surprises for me in the last couple of days. One of the most pleasant ones was the result I have had in treating my arthritic pinkie with supplements. After a certain amount of research, I decided that vitamin E, and B12 would be a good thing to try. They seemed to help some, but there was also information that said selenium would help, and one of my friends highly recocommended I try it. Since she is 68 going on about 46 (if you can judge by her looks and activity level), I decided to add selenium to the mix. Darned if it didn’t have a positive effect in about three days. I am very happy and intend to keep on with this regime for the foreseeable future.
I spent some time weeding the herb garden today, and cutting back the dead tarragon to make room for the new sprouts. I was investigated by the honeybees, who were out eating the sugar water food we provided for them in force this fine afternoon. They were fascinated by my purple sweater, and one of the landed on my hand for a while, walking around tasting my salty flesh before flying away on urgent bee business. I didn’t have my camera with me, or I would have definitely gotten a picture of my little visitor.
Another surprise, not so pleasant, was what I found down in the sinkhole when I walked down into it with Ruby today. I should have taken a large trash bag, but instead I had my fleece pullover, which I took off and converted into a sack by closing up the drawstring at the bottom. In addition to an automobile tire (which I did NOT put in the pullover) and the complete ashtray assembly from some old blue car, I hauled out about 30 pounds of assorted pop bottles, oil cans, antifreeze jugs, beer cans, miscellaneous plastic, and glass pint whisky bottles as well as just general trash type trash. It wasn’t quite warm enough to be walking around without my pullover on, but the extra effort required to haul the stuff up out of the sinkhole kept me warm enough.
The Stroll Garden afforded me a small surprise yesterday. I don’t suppose I should have been surprised since I am responsible for planting these bulbs, but I have to tell you that quite often I come across bulbs in the course of my weeding or planting and I just stick them in anywhere that seems likely and then I promptly forget all about them even though I tell myself I should go in and mark it on the garden plan (which never quite seems to happen, there is always something else to do — like massage, or laundry). But whatever. I was surprised, and pleasantly so, by this cheery row of miniature dutch iris and yellow crocuses.
These are out in the area where I have planted two kinds of campanula, both tall, one is blue and the other pink. The little bulbs really fit into the mix nicely. When you get up close and personal, the little irises are a perfect blue, with amazing detail painted onto their petals.
Just around the corner from this spot is the Rose Garden, where I have my species tulips and miniature daffodils planted. A couple of years ago I strewed cilantro (coriander) seeds around the base of the roses, and this has turned into the cilantro source for Jim’s Mexican cuisine. It surprised me to find that an herb which is an integral ingredient in such tropical cuisines as Mexican and Thai is quite winter hardy.
This is the cilantro patch after being picked over thoroughly for some enchiladas the other night. Bear in mind that this area receives no winter protection whatsoever and just a few days ago it was covered with snow.
It’s no surprise that the hellebore is hardy, but I am always entranced by its beauty when it blooms so nicely so early.
Right outside the back door is another bulb surprise. These are a few crocus bulbs that I planted near the herb garden in a fit of madness about ten years ago. Why I thought such a high traffic area was a good spot to put in dainty little spring bulbs I will never know. But it must have seemed like a good idea at the time, and apparently the crocuses don’t really mind being walked on.
A few days ago I surprised myself by noticing this feather lying on the grey and white path through the woods when I walked Ruby. I have no idea why my eye was drawn to it when it was so well camouflaged, but it was. I picked it up and brought it home to see if I could identify the original owner. I believe it was some sort of woodpecker, and from the looks of it probably a hairy woodpecker. But I’m not sure. Still, it is quite beautiful, and I love the black markings connected by the dark feather shaft.
My reward for dealing with the not so pleasant surprise of trash in the sink hole was to discover an owl feather caught on a bramble as I was trudging up out of the bottom.
This was torn out of the owl as it stooped to catch some small creature bustling about in the lacy brush petticoats the oaks wear. I was so entranced by the delicacy of this feather, I spent a long time trying to capture its beauty. The camera had a hard time focusing on its softness, and it was so delicate and light that the slightest breeze set all the down drifting magically about.
I hope all your surprises this weekend are beautiful ones.
how lovely! I’d planned to plant some crocuses and other early spring bulbs last fall, but (of course) didn’t get around to it. I’ll be certain to this year!
My favorite source for all my bulbs is McClure and Zimmerman. You can order your fall planted bulbs now and then they will arrive at the proper time for planting and you will remember to do it…
Is the sinkhole on your property? so much trash! Makes one despair, but then there’s so much beauty in the rest of your post with the flowers and feathers…..
In a way it is my property since it is actually on the State Conservation area where I walk Ruby all the time. As a state park, I nominally own some of it. Anyway, the sinkhole is very close to the Interstate 44 corridor, and trash blows down into it and then can’t get back out. In addition, the local Buick/Cadillac/GM dealer sits up on top of the edge of it, which is most definitely the source of the antifreeze and oil containers as well as the tire.
I have been a trashpicker from way back, and every year I go down there and do a walk through to clean up. The whole bottom of this sinkhole probably covers two acres, so it is a big job. Next time I’ll remember to come properly equipped, but yesterday I just did it on a whim. Mostly it was motivated by the fact that when I looked down in there I could see yellow, which I knew was a plastic container of some sort.
I don’t despair about trash, I am infuriated by it. But rather than just be angry, I choose to do something proactive about it. Next time I look down in there for the view and to catch sight of a bird, I won’t be distracted by that unnatural yellow blob…
Irises are one of my favs. Isn’t it a little early though?
Yes, it is early, more than a little bit. Usually I am seeing these bulbs in early April. But it has been extremely warm this winter. It makes me fear for the conditions we will experience this summer….
This is a wonderful discovery you have made about the cilantro being winter hardy. How cold does it get where you are? I’m going to try this.
Your photos are all so beautiful. The irises and the feather on the rocks seem especially fine to me.
That feather really pleases me. I just love the colors and forms in it. Those particular rocks are favorites of mine that I collected on Ocean Beach in San Francisco when I lived there. They seem to have to move with me, like many of my rocks…
The climate here can be very variable. This year the coldest it has gotten has been 8 degrees F, which is -13C. I have had cilantro in my garden for about 8 years now, and when it gets down below zero F here it freezes back to the roots, but as soon as it warms up above freezing it will bounce back. What I do is allow it to self seed in the fall and then again in the spring. During July I generally have a cilantro “dry season” when the spring crop has gone to seed but the new growth has not actually started growing yet.
Like garlic, cilantro seems to self-adapt to the micro climate it does best in. We grow garlic here too, and what we do is save back the fattest and happiest bulbs for replanting in the fall. Eventually what happens is you select for the mutation that likes your micro climate the best.
I also have dill which reseeds itself happily in an area where I never imagined I was going to have a garden at all…
That Hellebore is a lovely thing and the feathers too. I had two surprises this weekend: on Saturday afternoon my camera phone presented with a totally black screen but also a small indicator light. It refused to respond to any button pushing whatsoever and it would turn neither on nor off. So I’d pretty well resigned myself to taking it to be serviced on Monday. On Sunday morning when I looked at it the indicator light was off. So I pushed the on/off button and made a little yelp of delight – it switched on! I was so pleased!
This is exactly the sort of thing electronic devices do to me all the time. I guess it just wanted a little vacation. Perhaps you did not get the memo about the required day off…..
sounds like a good weekend – i like the approach of turning your anger into action. it’s easier to rant and move on. i’ll tuck that little lesson away for the next time something gets my dander up…
no surprises here – but a good weekend all around. and news that my daughter will likely be home for a visit in a couple months! whee!
How cool that you’ll be seeing your youngun. I’m sure you’ll have a grand time together.
The energy of anger transmuted into action makes in constructive rather than destructive. Also, one feels less hopeless.
the iris are beautiful. had to stop and look at that picture a bit more than the others.
selenium for arthritis? who’d a thunk it? i’m currently not thinking that any of my aches and pains are arthritis related. more from making the body do what it’s not used to doing. still, wonder if it’d work on those aches.
If you are sore from making your body do what it is not used to doing, then you should keep doing it and eventually you will stop being sore. Ibuprofen or aspirin and epsom salt baths are good for those sorts of ailments. That being said, I am a pretty strong advocate of supplementation, and there is lots of information out there to steer you in the right direction in choosing what is right for you.
Spring is definitely sprunging … which is good ….
Hope it stays sprung and doesn’t sproing back into winter