On May 4 we had a definitive signal: at 5:30 PM the blackflies arrived; spring has officially begun. We mowed the lawn between swats. The next day, there were far fewer flies and more wind and cooler weather. Today it is blowing wildly and quite chilly. Still, May 4-5 for the first lawn mowing must be close to a record. We have had a wide variety of spring weather over the last 16 years (this April!), but this is one of the earliest so far as snow loss and grass growth. I do recall getting a bad sunburn in late April at Dave's cottage.
Most of the trees in the yard and grove are doing well, but the 5000 is now something like the 50--terrible losses, most due to deer foraging, I think. Meanwhile, drainage progresses steadily. Panama now has a respectable stream gurgling its way through some dramatic bends. We're filling in the old skidder tracks and widening and deepening the channel down the slope.
I notice I recorded the death of Loki before. I might add that we have three dogs in the ground now: Freya (2006), back in the grove; Loki (May, 2008), near the stream just below the workshop; and Milow (August, 2008, Lucy's spelling), next to the dead fruit tree. Freya was first--liver failure, it seemed. She spent the day lying in the sun, and the next morning Pam came. She had been panting hard all night, and just let out her breath. Loki struggled through a long undiagnosed cancer of the shoulder--rotten "homeopathic/chiropractic" veterinarian hospital frauds!--and struggled even when the needle went in. After that, Milow grew careless of his life. He was struck and killed by a car on the road as we returned from St. Mike's. Ollie, his replacement, is slightly more loveable than Milow, who was always a rather distant dog. He at least interacts more definitely. He is nothing like Freya and Loki, dogs who took their relationship to the family very seriously. Frey is a better match, but even he lacks the fierce, protective loyalty of the earlier dogs. Diane's Abbie, the latest addition, is a bit of a nut. A kennel breeder till the age of four, she had no idea of life beyond the pen and feared men, open spaces, and trees, in roughly that order. She has been here one year the day before yesterday.
We were busy on Sunday transplanting some quite large pine and spruce trees to make a border parallel to the road in front of Diane's. We cut a lot of roots; I hope they manage to thrive! None was as large as the cedar, which is still slowly recovering after lying dormant for about two years.
The grass over the new seepage bed (clover mix, really) is thick and well-integrated with the rest of the front yard. It no longer looks like a badly-concealed septic field. All the trees did better this year. There were fewer ice storms. We still lost some boughs, but far fewer than the year before. Now we are doing some culling.
The fellow with the tractor tilled the garden, expanding it in the process. I think we can eventually run it most of the way down toward the road. The soil seems deep and rich all the way--an anomoly, considering how close the clay lies everywhere else.
Most of the trees in the yard and grove are doing well, but the 5000 is now something like the 50--terrible losses, most due to deer foraging, I think. Meanwhile, drainage progresses steadily. Panama now has a respectable stream gurgling its way through some dramatic bends. We're filling in the old skidder tracks and widening and deepening the channel down the slope.
I notice I recorded the death of Loki before. I might add that we have three dogs in the ground now: Freya (2006), back in the grove; Loki (May, 2008), near the stream just below the workshop; and Milow (August, 2008, Lucy's spelling), next to the dead fruit tree. Freya was first--liver failure, it seemed. She spent the day lying in the sun, and the next morning Pam came. She had been panting hard all night, and just let out her breath. Loki struggled through a long undiagnosed cancer of the shoulder--rotten "homeopathic/chiropractic" veterinarian hospital frauds!--and struggled even when the needle went in. After that, Milow grew careless of his life. He was struck and killed by a car on the road as we returned from St. Mike's. Ollie, his replacement, is slightly more loveable than Milow, who was always a rather distant dog. He at least interacts more definitely. He is nothing like Freya and Loki, dogs who took their relationship to the family very seriously. Frey is a better match, but even he lacks the fierce, protective loyalty of the earlier dogs. Diane's Abbie, the latest addition, is a bit of a nut. A kennel breeder till the age of four, she had no idea of life beyond the pen and feared men, open spaces, and trees, in roughly that order. She has been here one year the day before yesterday.
We were busy on Sunday transplanting some quite large pine and spruce trees to make a border parallel to the road in front of Diane's. We cut a lot of roots; I hope they manage to thrive! None was as large as the cedar, which is still slowly recovering after lying dormant for about two years.
The grass over the new seepage bed (clover mix, really) is thick and well-integrated with the rest of the front yard. It no longer looks like a badly-concealed septic field. All the trees did better this year. There were fewer ice storms. We still lost some boughs, but far fewer than the year before. Now we are doing some culling.
The fellow with the tractor tilled the garden, expanding it in the process. I think we can eventually run it most of the way down toward the road. The soil seems deep and rich all the way--an anomoly, considering how close the clay lies everywhere else.
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