Eleven year old Rory came to visit last week. All the grandchildren had school vacation and we nabbed one for some fun in the snow.However, it was so cold that we enjoyed a lot of indoor activities as well. He needed to study up on light opera in preparation for finishing his requirements to become a Boy Scout in May so we listened to The Pirates of Penzance, Gilbert and Sullivan's tale of a slave to duty who,…
Since I took this photo of Krishna, chest deep in snow, early in the week we have had more snow. More wind. And more snow. Krishna is now neck deep in the white stuff, and snow shoes are required to get out to the hen house. However, the sun is bright. The days are a bit longer. Our bedroom is bright by 6:45 am and getting up is easier and easier. The weather man even forcasts temperatures of…
It snowed and iced last week and the radio today promises another bad storm tomorow. It has been a very very long winter so I was more than usually eager to find flowers and dream of spring.The Amherst Orchid Society provided the perfect antidote, an exhibition and sale of hundreds of fabulous orchids from the big corsage type cattleyas, all ruffle and frou frou to airy dendrobiums to the elegant phalaenopsis, which is my favorite, and not just…
The lunar eclipse was very clear up here on our Massachusetts hill. We have perfect conditions for star - and moon - gazing because there is no light pollution. The skies are dark, but brilliant with a splash of the Milky Way and the host of heroes and gods from the Greek and Roman mythologies including Selene, the goddess of the moon whose chariot is pulled by two white cows whose horns are symbols of the crescent moon.Of…
William Cullina, director of horticultural research at New England Wildflower Society's Garden in the Woods in Framingham has just come out with the third book in his Native trilogy. This is an excellent reference book, but one that is so charming that it make frequent dips into it irresistible. The helpful and copious color photographs, many taken by Cullina himself, are easy to use and easy on the eye. From Emerald Carpet to Amber Wave: Serene and Sensuous…
Two days late and a photo short, but my abutilon or parlor maple is the only things blooming in the house at this point. I'm using last month's photo, but there is no substantial difference. That is one of the benefits of the abutilon; it is always in bloom. I have enjoyed the health and vigor of this plant which is undeterred by nights that routinely dip below 50 degrees. We live on a windy New England hill…
On Valentine's Day some girls get the kind of ice that is measured in karats, but the only ice up here in Heath is the kind that makes life difficult. The walk out to the henhouse might be better made with skates than boots.With all the ice - albeit bright now today, my thoughts turn to the New England Spring Flower Show in Boston at the Bayside Exposition Center from March 8 - 16. Flowers! Greenery! That wonderful…
Over the past 24 hours another five inches of snow has fallen already blanketed fields. The snow has fallen wet and deep, laying heavily on the pine trees, and even on each twiggy branch of the bent birches, like lace tutus on bowing ballerinas. Snow began falling again this morning on my way home from church. The wind picked up, blowing snow across the road, and knocking it off the trees. Between the falling and blowing snow, and…
Out here in the country where most of us have to communte to work in our cars, the state of our roads in winter is of paramount importance. However we are not only commuters, most of us in Heath worry about the environment and are always seeking ways to live more lightly on our beautiful landscape.This desire is not only felt individually. Last year and this the town is using a new method of 'salting' the roads to…
You can get alfalfa sprouts at every salad bar, and you can even buy them in little plastic boxes at the supermarket. If you spout seeds at home you can use a mix of flavorful seeds - radish, broccoli, clover, lentil and others inaddition to alfalfa.I used to have some plastic screened lids that were intended to be used on canning jars for sprouting, but I have been told that in order to give sprouting seeds proper air…