And summer Saturday, May 28 2016 

Uncategorized acairfearann 13:33

It is really an overnight transition.  It is most evident in the tree leaves.  The hills lose that light, soft green with its yellow, silver, and pink tones.  All of a sudden they are the green, with blue shades, that characterize the June landscape: clean green, blue skies, white puffy clouds.  Later in the summer they will start to pick up olive and brown tones as the leaves harden and absorb the damage of wind and weather.  But right, now for a few days or weeks, they are at their fullest extent, their greatest promise, undamaged.  A few are still expanding, but most trees have finished this year’s growth.  Now the work of the summer follows.  Young branches will stiff and harden, leaves will absorb the hours of sun and endure the rain or wind, buds will start to form at the level of the cells.

Summer is here.

 

Glimpses in the woods Wednesday, May 25 2016 

Uncategorized acairfearann 21:55

I grabbed my lunch hour, and instead of having lunch, went for a quick walk on a project property I am supposed to be doing research on.  A lovely piece of old fields and high ridge woods, mostly oak and cherry and quite open.  Very pretty in the spring greens, with the warm scent of hay fern, the silence of the trees, and the grey stone walls stretched out in sleep.*  The fields had carefully tended bluebird boxes. I didn’t see the bluebird there though, not in the fields. But he was there in the woods.  A shining blue moment of life and time resting on the arch of a dogwood branch.  And then off into the shadows and the light. One living point in time.

 

*I can appreciate such an open forest, even though it means a very high deer population, too high.  It is very pretty.

 

Random snippets Monday, May 23 2016 

Uncategorized acairfearann 18:21

I don’t do product placement….but, we just got new work clothing* and I think I might just be a devotee.  Usually, insecticide makes me ill, which isn’t so great in the land of the tick**, but this stuff fits nicely, looks good, and Works.  Now will it last as long as they say? I don’t know, but if it does! http://www.insectshield.com/

Saw an indigo bunting today, must be doing something right around here.

New favorite singer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eQuej8pxg0

*I’m a contractor so no logos on my clothes, but my boss added me to the official order anyway, and my boyfriend in his own words: ‘I just found you, I’m not losing you to a tick.’ The combination means I’m well supplied.

** And if that isn’t symbolic of Connecticut’s politics, what is?

 

 

Progress Saturday, May 21 2016 

gardening acairfearann 18:01

It is remarkable how something as simple as lifting and resetting a brick edge improves the whole look of a garden.  The vegetable garden beds are edged with brick and it has been several years since anything was done.  I have gotten almost halfway through the process of a simple lift/re-set.  And the garden looks ever so much nicer with those clear edges.  Which means I should keep going…..

There is a lot of brick out there…..

Still, it is an important consideration in garden design: wild can be lovely, but it works best when it is balanced by that touch of formality. Or vice versa.  Order and chaos working together in balance (or eternal tension), I seem to recall some interesting classical Greek commentary on that….

 

Changes Thursday, May 19 2016 

gardening and Landscapes acairfearann 20:12

Pretty much the same view….just about sixty years apart! Use the Ginkgo for reference, the angle is not quite the same, but close enough to give the sense of it.  There is a reason no one sees the place anymore from the road, at least not in summer.

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Trillium Tuesday, May 17 2016 

gardening acairfearann 07:22

One of the quiet glories of the garden is the trillium.  This is the classic white trillium that I will forever associate with Mont-Royal in Montreal.  But also with here.  Planted by my grandmother, it has slowly, slowly spread.  It takes seven years from seed germination to flower…if all goes well.  And the germination rate is low.  One of the best things is that the patch, once concentrated in one spot, has now spread out.  Helped by human hands, and its old friends the ants which carry the seed, there are now a few trillium on the other side of the drive, elsewhere in the garden, and under a few other trees.  This is good.

They had made me nervous this year, with very little rain, they had come up small and tight. And since that single whorl of leaves is all they have for the year, that is worrisome.  But with that week of rain, the leaves expanded and they are blooming away. Perhaps fifty plants now. Maybe more.

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Post of Personal nature Saturday, May 14 2016 

Uncategorized acairfearann 20:48

Just coming up on a year on the project really getting underway.  (which is not my actual hire date, but the date we first got out there finding things in the woods)  A remarkable amount of learning, growth, a pair of boots, thousands of pictures, some bears, a few moose, and some very nice people met along the way.  And yes, a thoroughly unexpected, thoroughly wonderful relationship.  Where to next?

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Snowdrift Thursday, May 12 2016 

Modern Photos acairfearann 20:06

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Gardening Tuesday, May 10 2016 

gardening acairfearann 20:50

In little bits and pieces. I just managed to get the onions in the ground and some parsley.  I have also finally created the bed for the winter squash.  As I did last year, it is mostly old composted manure with a heavy mulch of old hay and paper bags.  It seemed to work last year, so why not this year? It cuts down on the whole weeding thing too.  I did nearly get the little tractor stuck doing this, amazing how slippery young hayfield grass on a steep slope is.  But, more’s the fun. Eventually that area will be a very nice area for a tamer garden, but since the winter squash vines hit nearly thirty feet in length last year, tame isn’t part of the agenda.

It really did work too. (though I don’t have seeds for that particular hybrid butternut: Polaris F1, this time around, it sold out in record time, no surprise considering the amount and quality of the crop)

We are still eating winter squash.  I highly recommend roasting peeled winter squash until it begins to brown (centimeter thick slices) and then mixing it with well sautéed mushrooms, bacon, and onion (a bit of sage and thyme added in).  Serve over pasta.  It might be that I have gotten somewhat bored with the standard presentation of winter squash: Mashed!

 

Landscape Sunday, May 8 2016 

Landscapes acairfearann 21:46

This was taken last year, but I still like it for the composition. It is the apple tree that makes it work particularly well.  This year the apple has a few blossoms, but not many.  I can’t say I am surprised that it is taking the year off! The crabapples are blooming, but rain for a whole week followed by wind has not left much in the way of a full flower show.  So it goes.

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