Groundhog Day (02/04/2024)

A light exists in Spring

Not present in the Year

At any other period - -

When March is scarcely here

A Color stands abroad

on Solitary Fields

That Science cannot overtake

But Human Nature feels

It waits upon the Lawn,

It shows upon the furthest Tree

Upon the furthest Slop you know

It almost speaks to you

Then as Horizons step

Or Noons report away

Without the Formula of sound

It passes and we stay - -

A quality of loss

Affecting our Content 

As Trade had suddenly encroached

Upon the Sacrament.

EMILY DICKINSON

Sunday, February 04, marks the beginning of Spring. It is also know as Imbolc. This time of the year is half way between the winter solstice and the spring equinox.

I love this time of the year when the bulbs that I tried to erraticate when I was originally mulching the entire yard here bloom. Now I am happy the bulbs were tenacious. The bright yellow flowers bring "happiness" to myself and all passersby. 

Daffodils blooming
along the front
driveway.

Daffodils blooming
along the west fence
among the strawberry plants

Daffodils blooming 
by the NE corner of the house

The vase that Dwight created
is filled with daffodils.
It is such a bright and joyful addition 
for any meal at this table.

This terrific vine is so spectacular with its pipe bowl flowers. It is just beginning to flower. Almost daily I walk to behold the progress of the California Pipevine's flowering  The only sadness I experience is that no butterfly finds the leaves of this to lay her eggs. The caterpillars are stunning! Watching the process of a butterfly emerging from its cocoon is remarkably incredible.

Aristolochia californica (California Pipevine)

This past Sunday evening I poured water into the small jar in which I had saved some of last years' pea seeds. On Monday I planted 3 or 4 seeds/hole on the inside of both raised beds.I love Cascadia peas. They are one of the few peas that I have found you can harvest the pods to sauté for a delicious veggie. Then if the pods are allowed to remain on the plants peas will form. These peas are just the most tasty I have ever eaten whether raw, steamed or frozen in broth to use for winter soups. Typically when the peas are first available for harvest, they don't make it into the house since I routinely eat them. Delish!

Unfortunately the backyard is visited with a plethora of squirrels. Shasta does her best to keep them away from the seed tray for the birds.Alas, they are persistent”bushy tailed” critters.  AND they forage by digging up anything resembling food.Thus I immediately covered the holes in the raised beds with a layer of remay. Then rolls of wire were laid on these beds to secure the reemay.

This "shrub" pictured above is one of my very favorite. 

Lepechinia fragrans ‘El Tigre’ (Pitcher sage)

The leaves are fragrant as well as soft and slightly "furry" to the touch. The flowers are in my all time favorite color, lavender. When I read an article written by a hiker who had come upon this plant, immediately I searched for where I could be purchase two: planting one the front along the ditch between the road pavement and the beginning of the yard and the other beneath the plum tree in the back yard. The latter thrived while the one in the front did not.

I am hopeful that the one pictured below (relocated from the front to the back) will now flourish. 

Perhaps, now that I reconsider the water I provided the one in the back, what the one in front was lacking was daily watering. After the rainy season has passed judicious watering will be resumed most in the back since the annuals require more water to be productive.

The Johnny jump ups growing in large clay pots on the back patio chase away the gloom wintery days. The diminutive flowers exude cheerfulness on otherwise gloomy wintery days here in Northern California when the sun is hidden by the thick layer of clouds. Many seeds are created by each flower so I suggest cautious where you sow since you will have a plethora of plants. These pansy like plants do love the cooler weather and die after the warmer weather arrives.

Viola tricolor (Johnny jump up)

My friend Tanis, and Shasta's Auntie T., says the rabbits love the little plants. So she has some major challenges to have them bloom and spread. She has an expansive space with a plethora of plants that the rabbits devour. The rabbits do not seem to have a preference as to the type of plant; they just have a frenzy feeding on "green".

Why I Wake Early

Hello, sun in my face.

Hello, you who make the morning

and spread it over the fields

and into the face of tulips

and the nodding morning glories,

and into the the windows of, even the

miserable and the crotchety --

best preacher that ever was,

dear star, that just happens

to where you are in the universe

to keep us from ever darkness,

to ease us with warm touching,

to hold us in the great hands of light --

good morning, good morning, good morning.

Watch, now, how I start the day

in happiness, in kindness.

                    MARY OLIVER

Isn't Shasta endearing?

She wakes early, as do I,

and 

fills my day with delightful

companionship.

Hopefully you take delight in reading this post. And may I, and each and everyone of you, benefit from a hardy belly