Oh my aching back

I had to dig up a photo of last year's garden to keep me going. My garden in springtime looks awful and bare. Who would believe it. Tomorrow, I will take a photo of what it looks like now...so you can see what I mean...by ..U G L Y
I raked and pruned and raked somemore. Then bagged it all. I don't think I will be able to stand tomorrow.
This old garden wench is aching. Where's my tiger Balm?
I am happy to tell you that I have a mating pair of finches and cardinals and of course sparrows and doves!
And I saw a woodthrush in the bushes....oh I love nature and all it offers....even the mouse that ran in front of me this afternoon....he was so tiny and so scared......or I'll take your coat! Oh that was Peter Rabbit.....
I had a bumblebee stalking me for quite awhile...maybe he liked my perfume....and I had ladybugs and lots of big earthworms....
I am truly sore, but what a wonderful day I had.....I will sleep well tonight
Now if I can only remember to plant my morning glory seeds tomorrow!!!

I know I am not a traditional gardener liking rabbits in my garden
Sure they eat more than they should
but they bring me great joy finding them hiding in the flowerbed
hunkered down hoping I don't see them
I pretend I don't see them and move on

So much better than the poor rabbit in my daughter's neighbor's yard
that was attacked on Easter morning by the neighbor's dog
kids screaming and crying watching the killing

No bunny, there is no dog here
and the gardener looks the other way
even when you sneak on the deck and eat my expensive petunias
Life is joy and you bring me joy
so good morning

Walking the garden this morning I was surprised to see these little mottled leaves sticking up through the earth. I believe they are trout lillies. I did not plant them. I don't remember them here last year.
My the mysteries of a garden when you don't over tend it.
I also discovered a bloodroot plant across the garden from where I planted the others...now how does this happen?
Oh the things that go on when I am not around or are done behind my back in my Open Bar of Joy!

Solomon's seal
looks like a flank emerging
through the earth
waiting their
commander's
orders to proceed

The wild hyacinth
a Cinderella flower
weedlike in its tattered leaves
waiting for heat and sun
like every other flower
in the garden
But when her time comes
she has the dance floor
for the day
filling the air with her
perfume and delicate purple
gown....
as suitors buzz around her
hoping for a chance

You were on the discount table
Aconites, half price
Tiny corms hidden in brown mulch
in a plastic bag
You looked dead to the unknowing eye
but I knew the beauty held tight
in your brown body
waiting
I planted you
on the northeast side of the house
under the honeysuckle
Forgot about you hidden there
But on my daily walk of the garden
I filled with joy finding you
in the dappled shade
finding
your full price blooms

Yes, the Open Bar of Joy is Open!

The sun is out this morning, but last night, Easter evening, we had torrential rainful.....
but the glory of this and a few days of warm weather and bright sun
have awakened the horsechestnut tree...it's tightly held buds..that were set in fall
have opened their fists full of flower buds and leaves....soon the baltimore Oriole will be here
and the bees will be (!) performing their symphony all around the tree
It is a miracle unfolding....
... a day which the Lord has made
I rejoice
and am glad....

Easter Sunday

Everything is bursting open in the garden!
Oh the joy in my open bar of joy!
Bee...today....just bee
Stick your nose in the day
gather up the goodness!
It nutures you!

I love rusty items in my garden
They show a passage of time
and a relenting
a retirement from purpose
Now they just
enjoy the wind and rain
and morning sunlight
A support for any vine that may
wander over to them
Still needed

This morning I found the first trillium
hidden in sweet woodruff
bathed in morning light
reaching for me

A beautiful morning in the garden. It's going to be 70 out today and I will be babysitting. Oh the itch to get out there and clean and clear...get ready for the new season of garden. Notice I didn't say gardening,but garden. It is my sanctuary, a place to go and be.

This bunny almost fooled me hiding in the dried flowers. He stood so still......what practice.

I will learn from him.

Oh, in case you don't know...this is Handsome....guardian of my yard...feral Cat- Local 26

Quick-get the camera!

Every year this pair walks through looking at my messy backyard for a place to nest. This morning he chased her around for about 10 minutes....literally chasing her. My husband was yelling at him to take charge! Finally they scooted away scared by you know who..Handsome! Last year this couple actually laid an egg.....but they abandoned it within a few days....too much traffic in my yard I guess. But who are the dummies back this year..looking for a condo!?!?

A walk in our Galena woods

In a silent walk through the woods
I stopped to take a break,sit a while
and just reflect on the stirring of the woodland floor
a spider dashed in front of me through the fallen leaves,
now dried versions of autumn's glory
But at my feet almost unnoticed
a pair of dull red feathers, from a cardinal
I almost bent to pick them up

But no, I left them... to return
to their creator like the rest
and walked on

Glory Glory

 The sky is such an important part of the garden
like a wonderfull set design
Where all the actors can be their best
or worst
But they are on stage,telling a story
...moving us
to feel
.....and leaving us always wanting to come back for more
I love theater
...curtain call last night!

The heavens declare the glory of God...

Looking up from the garden last night....what a master lighting guy!

BEGIN AGAIN A GARDEN JOURNAL

The garden journal

Yes, I used to keep those kind of journals too. But through the years I got busy with life and the journals were set aside....a sad mistake on my part. I have found a few hiding in that writing closet of mine and it thrills and saddens me all at the same time reading the entries of my past gardening life. I used to write down everything....including a list of birds and insects that I saw that day.....there used to be far more of them. Now I am lucky to see one warbler and a few walking sticks and praying mantis (although I sort of distain them..they ate my butterflies) and Oh yes, butterflies....their numbers and types have been dwindling too.
I wouldn't have these facts infront of me if not for these old journals. So I am resolved to keep a journal again. I will record weather,plants blooming and growing,birds visiting,insects-good and bad ones...soil concerns...weeds....and my thoughts while in my garden....my open bar of joy
 

steadfast crocus.....these little beauties can be missed if you don't take a walk outside and welcome them

Peonies....before I was a gardener I commited the hideous crime of pulling out a garden full...including some I have never seen the kind again.....I will spend the rest of my life repenting of this.....