Wild Comlumbine

3 years ago I was walking into the food market and this little columbine attracted my eye. It looked so lovely to me. It's the small flowering type that I've always known as being called wild columbine. I chose one little pot and put it in my cart. When I got home, I put away my groceries and went right outside to find a home for my new friend. I planted it here and as they say if it isn't the right spot it will at least be a decent burial. As it turned out ..it was the perfect place. I instinctively knew what was just right for this little thing. The soil could be a little bit richer but it seems quite happy the way it is................ All it needed was a place to live.

It was in May

Bring flowers of the rarest,
bring blossoms the fairest,

from garden and woodland and hillside and dale;

our full hearts are swelling,
our glad voices telling

the praise of the loveliest flower of the vale!

Sweet Violets

SWEET VIOLETS

At my steps and in my soul
the sweet violets of early spring.
Nodding heads and waving hearts
in mass profusion what joy they bring.
---sigh---
Isn't that lovely? And Violet I do mean it.
But here's the dirt little Miss V.
consider well the source
Steer clear of the beds and borders

or your luck will run it's course.
Persnickety gardeners curse you
for your annual brigade.
You mind your P's and Q's
to make it in my shade.
---smile---

Come on now ...please be happy.

You have lots of room to roam.

We've known eachother all our lives.

You're welcome in my home.

- Elaine M. Vermette 2009

White Weeds

"A weed is just a plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered."
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Yesteryear

I have been trying hard to clean and organize my things. One thing that is just pouring out from boxes and bags are old photos. I have a steamer trunk full of them and then some. I came across this one of Emma and a garden that is no more. We had an addition put on the house and the town used my lovely garden as a second test hole for the new septic system we needed to have. One hole wasn't enough....they just had to dig THERE. I lost it all. I'm thankful for this Kodak reminder of the way it was.

I will make it my goal to get it back. It can't be the same, I now have a much needed clothesline nearby but it will be fun gardening again and it might even be better someday.

Oh and for those of you loving the chards of pottery bordering the garden? I do remember it was a pain in the neck. Not only was it hard to cultivate the weeds but the ants had a field day playing amongst them. At the end of summer I gathered them up and saved them for a serious mosiac project that I have yet to get around to. Maybe it will be in the near future however because my Mother- in -Law dropped 2 of her nice old mixing bowls today and they smashed and broke together. She was going to throw them away but I rescued them with loving hands and hope to make something good come from it.

Thanks for stopping by ... sorry that my posts are so sporadic.

As far as crafting goes----well?

I just can't create when my house is a mess and I'm still working on how to fit a set of bunk beds.

(which we still haven't found yet)

Don't give up on me. xox~Elaine

Say No to Mud

These are pictures of last spring in my backyard.

A little while ago I got a magazine in the mail and I was meaning to share a little of it with you. It's called Birds and Blooms. It only comes out every other month so I'm constantly going to my back issues for my garden fixes. I love looking at gardens. Flowers make me happy. I have shelves of gardening books and magazines. I can never get bored with anything in nature.

Living in New England has advantages and disadvantages when it comes to keeping a garden.

Sometimes after a long cold winter we're over anxious to get out and get things started.

I would just like to pass on this bit of info for any impatient gardeners out there reading this.

This wisdom holds true no matter where you live.

I'll write it here for those that can't read the picture.

Working soil that is too wet can actually cause long term damage.

Squeeze a handful of soil --- if it crumbles through your fingers, you're ready to garden.
Otherwise give it a few days to dry.

xox ~Elaine