Mood Swing

After the rain melted all the snow, a thick fog rolled in for a day long visit.

I got called away midday by a flash flood in progress on a stream fed quarter acre pond at a client's house. There wasn't anything I could do but fiddle around the edge of the flow. I could tell from the high water marks it was ebbing down. All is well.

The fog was still thick when I got home. The snow was gone. I was literally inside a cloud. I wandered out to the garden.

I am impressed. I never would have expected the witch hazel blooms to come out of a winter blast looking half decent. Tattered yes, but that happens no matter with time.

The plan was to let things dry out before doing any garden work. That is still the plan. Maybe it will warm up a bit. The fog was getting cold.

The fog turned to a fresh layer of snow in the night. The witches got frozen once more. Snap. Right back to snow.

Witches In The Clouds

Fog is a normal occurrence. Thick wet ongoing misting fog from the moment I wake up until I return to bed at night is not so normal. I was in the clouds all day long.

I gave up waiting for it to lift at noon and headed outside. At least the ground had finished melting and was able to drain. It was just very wet without the slop. 'Diane' was in full bloom.

So was 'Jelena'.

Fog drips rain.

I spent an hour and a half doing some chop and drop after visiting the witches, a warmup to full activity.

The days ahead are looking soggy. 

Activity will have to work around the wet. This kind weather is going to make thousands and thousands of bulbs begin to rise.

And The Rains Came Again

Rain is good. It had been getting a bit dry. Now it is getting a bit wet.

When it gets real wet, the Tall Flower Meadow wants to fall down. There is nothing to do to stop it. I am aesthetically opposed to plant bondage. One can only hope for a round of lifting dry. Stand on your own or perish.

A little loss is normal and easily tolerated. It comes mostly from me cutting or pulling the fallen to keep the paths open. That doesn't happen in the wet. I wait for the fluff of dry.

In The Time Of Blue Asters

It is dry, very, very dry. It is so dry the twenty foot plus long crack in the garden is getting wider and deeper. A small animal could hide in there.

The blue asters bloom on, the asters that are not brown toast anyway.

The plan for this bed was a low mounding lawn of sedges. You can see how that went. Blue asters and Boneset moved in and I did not have the heart to evict them.

There are blue asters everywhere you turn. There are so many blue asters even a dozen or more cows could not eat them all in two days of trying in the ridge top garden. They did however make a major dent in their numbers.

In the time of blue asters, I walk slowly in a world of ethereal blue.

They are returning to a meadow that was once buried in clematis.

Edit and they will come. So will plenty white ones.

So I tell myself fog is a prelude to rain. I heard it dripping from the trees this morning. I had to stop and pay attention. What is that sound?

There is a chance tomorrow. I'm not sure if it is hurricane related or cold front related and I don't care. It is wicked dry out there. Please give me rain.

It Ends In A Fog

I have a feeling it may start that way too.

Life begins and ends pretty much the same way.

It was 35 degrees at the North Pole today. That is summer melting weather in 24 hours of darkness. The average temperature there is 20 below at this time of year. I have seen cherry trees in bloom. Today I saw a Magnolia stellata in bloom. I got a report of hosta waking up.

I have alliums in full spring growth with five nights of freezing temps on the way. Winter, if we will be having one, has not even begun.

It's going to be a bumpy ride, in a fog.

All I know to do is hang on and look for pretty along the way.

Gardening is going to get a lot harder when abnormal becomes the new normal.

My hope for a new year is that the world stays relatively calm. I will garden on and make more space for winter squash and storable root crops.

Stuck In El Nino

Can I just say I am tired of rain. I am tired of rain. My laundry is done. Even folded. That is the hardest part of laundry.

During an intermission, I went for a walk. Both 'Jelena' are in full bloom. 'Diane' is in the contemplation phase. One of the 'Diane' did not set very many buds at the end of the growing season. It won't amount to much bloom wise this year.

Will these be the only kind snowdrops I see this winter? Cold is coming. There has been no suggestion it would be joined by snow. At least it is looking to be rain free. I am tired of rain.

The rivers are full. The streams are running high. The ground is saturated. The air is thick with wet. Compared to many others, my El Nino is being kind.

But I am tired of rain. Give me snow. Plenty snow. Maybe I will mop the floors.

Rain Drippings

The dry spell is over.

More rain is good. The forest was looking crispy in places and looking like it was ready for an early rest. Autumn has been scheduled for October 17th. We need to stick to the schedule.

The grasses have started blooming. They are part of the late season and in to fall show. One clump is having issues remaining erect. I think it will need to be divided in half come spring.

The Tall Flower Meadow is getting closer to the earth. I know tall things flop. I just don't recall such a concerted effort by the whole meadow to fall over in the past. I want my meadow perky. I'll be needing another dry spell after this bash of rain.

Foggy Mountain Meadow

My day did not go as planned. I woke up entirely too early in a fog.

I got up so early there was plenty time to sit and watch the fog swirl by on incoming waves.

I went for a walk in the fog. I didn't know spiders could make dinner bowls.

As the fog began to lift and the coffee coursed through my system things began to take an ominous turn.

The vacuum started calling to me. It was all down hill from there. I got way more accomplished today than I had planned.

The plan was to do nothing slowly. I guess I wasn't moving fast, but I was moving until 7pm when I finally headed inside with a sack of fine produce for supper from the now tidier roadside vegetable garden.

I'll try to do nothing tomorrow.

Looking For Snowdrops

On the very first stroll as the fog rolls in

They are out there blooming on a soil thawing day.

And then some.

Soon the thousands and thousands of other bulbs will be released from the grounds icy grip. I felt spring today.