Picking a favorite season of the year isn’t an easy task. I find that whatever season it is, that is my favorite!
This Spring has been more welcome than most. Record breaking cold and SNOW..oh the SNOW..I have never seen its like! The *big storm* that hit left its mark…within 48 hours we had 46 inches of snow. Thank God for a solid roof over our heads! The snow wasn’t a bother,though my back protested the movement of snow shovel full by shovelful, but the thought of the weight of the snow on 200 year old, and the 100 year old parts of the roof weighed on Michael and I, and we repeatedly scanned the flat part of our home’s roof and pondered ladders, brooms, and snow removal. The sun and its warmth helped us before we were moved to those drastic measures, and the roof remained where it has for the last 100 plus years. Without leaking, as an added special bonus!
As soon as the snow melted, I began looking eagerly for signs of life on the trees and in the gardens. Slowly but with determination, the perennials are pushing their way up thru the soil and mulch and stretching towards the sun. I could do with the weeds staying asleep, but they are as eager to wake as any of the other plants! Gloves, trowel and muttering accompanies their removal with a special added grumble about wild onions and dandelions making a wonderful salad were they not so annoying.
The first to bloom in the yard was the Magnolia tree. What a beauty she must have been in her hayday! At one time this gracious soutehr lady stood over two stories tall. Now,she is being slowly reduced to a height of 5 feet or less. Michael has been slowly cutting the dead branches that are masuring 10, 12, 14 feet in length. The wood will come in handy in the Fall for the backyard fireplace we are going to purchase soon.
The Magnolia bloomed wonderfully from the new growth on the bottom! Brenna looked beautiful in front of the Magnolia blossoms on Easter Sunday in her new spring dress.


In the gardens,the tulips slowly followed the snowdrop, crocus,hyacinth bulbs as they burst into color and then faded.



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The 2 story tall crab apple behind the garage exploded into color just as the wind blew all the white blossoms from the black cherry tree. The wild cherry at the edge of the meadow bloomed along with the crabapple, and as the crabapple is fading the huge old apple trees that stand along the meadow edge explode with blooms. I can smell their sweet scent as soon as I open the storm door.

This is our second Spring at this house. I am enjoying it even more this year as the old plantings and the new put on their Spring-time show. Soon the mulberry tree will bloom, and then the blackberries will follow. The blueberry and raspberry vines that we are about to put in are greening up and will flower about the same time.
My herbs are starting to perk up, and soon annuals such as basil, lemon grass, dill and marjaram will join the perennials in the bed: rosemary, lavender, lemon balm, lemon verbena, sage and many others.
As soon as the rain stops this week, I will be getting my hands dirty again! The vegetable bed needs to be weeded and planted. I am a month behind on my work on teh vegetable bed. But the front of the house looks wonderful! We have had people drive by and comment on how nice the house looks. It feels good that others are enjoying all our work as much as we are. )This year we hope to have the whole veggie bed dug and ready for planting. The area is large, about 25 x 30…so canning and freezing will keep us busy this year!
Brenna helped plant seeds the other day, and was very excited this morning when she came running in to tell me that we have new *sprouties*. Sure enough, the poppies, morning glories, sweet peas, and sunflowers are starting to pop out. No sign yet of the Black Eyed Susan vine, or the Cypress Vine, or of several other perennials that were recently planted. But that is ok, I enjoy planting and the anticipation of the new growth. It makes me feel good that Brenna enjoys the gardens and planting as much as Michael and I do. It keeps coming to me how the first job that God gave man was to tend the Garden. Could that be why I enjoy gardening so much?

I think Spring is definitely my favorite season. At least it is at the moment. We will see what summer brings…. D Blessings!