Acair Fearann

I know my western readers will promptly pipe up with an objection….but here is the thing, when it is so dry that the three foot tall ostrich ferns have turned to crunchy candlesticks….it is dry. In fact, we are in the same weather pattern as the west, it is just a little less obvious, there being less commercial agriculture here, but for the last three years the better part of each year has been dry. It is also less extreme in strict terms (measurement of soil moisture), but since drought is not a normal part of the New England climate, even a mild drought causes serious issues for plants. We can’t grow true succulents here normally, but we do grow temperate rain-forest plants.

There have been worse and there will be worse. But I’m not going to tempt the gods of the well to water that much though.  Something about getting the data results from a large set of shallow wells (9-25 feet) that show: dry, dry, dropping, dry, dropping, dry! I can’t imagine how the people who used to use those wells managed a year like this….how much we take for granted every time we turn that tap!

One Response »

grumble about the general public and a remarkable lack of understanding about any number of unalterable facts of reality.  But I won’t!

So, instead:

This was last year on this date:

(That center tree branches out at five plus feet up, by the way)

This year? Bare ground. New England at its best!

2 Responses »

Strikes me as a little much. On one hand, it will kill off certain bugs (woolly adelgid) at least partially.  On the other hand….so much for some of the hydrangeas, roses, and clematis.  And I am sure the fig is caput.  Maybe not.  Maybe it will pop up in the basement! I wouldn’t blame it.

It has gotten all the way to -1 this afternoon.

It could be worse.  The house is fine, the horse is fine, and most plants are fine.  So.

2 Responses »

are done with winter, they have been busy pairing off this week. As are most of the other birds, the goldfinches, for example, are beginning to regain their golden colors. For them the sun is king, not the temperature or the extended forecast.

Winter isn’t done though.* Last night’s snow was elegant: a fluffy (if very slick) eight inches. It hung in the trees quite nicely. Tomorrow night is forecast to hit -11 F. Yay?

Despite major efforts, the driveway remains shut, except at both ends.  You could build very respectable igloos out of the drift snow. So we wait. What else can one do, but lie to oneself about one’s power over old Mother Nature?

*Today it got above freezing, however! I have a feeling that the winter/spring transition is going to be short and wet.

Comments Off on The chickadees

Don’t get me wrong, I am very glad it isn’t snow, especially this year. But water on frozen ground is mighty close to useless. All it is doing is running down the hill into the rivers.

I am equally glad it isn’t ice though, just a touch of true freezing rain this morning to glaze things.

But my real question…why is it colder down near to the shoreline and warmer up here? I am sure the weather people said it would be the other way around….

Weather: providing jobs for frustrated prophets since year one.

Comments Off on Five feet high and rising