Snow Day

We spent most of yesterday, and probably will spend a couple of more hours this afternoon, cleaning up after last week's snow and ice storm. The roof of our house and those of many of the neighbors have become dangerously heavy with snow, and if we don't clear off at least some areas we will have terrible ice dams. So Bill spent a couple of hours tied to the chimney shoveling the roof. And I spent much of that time chipping away at the inch or so if ice on the driveway and front walk. Then we both had to dig away the piles sent down from above, compacted and heavy as they were it wasn't easy.

Also went out and took a few pictures. There is certainly beauty to be found still, but it is really getting tired. Looking foward to Phoenix next week, and hope that by the time we get back there will be significantly less snow in the yard.

There are many fewer birds at the feeders lately. We fear that we've lost quite a few to the extreme weather. But a pair of sparrows is all over the neighbor's little birdhouse lately, and it is noticably brighter day by day. While we were chipping away the ice dam over the front porch we heard and then saw the first robin of the year. Spring is almost certainly on the way.

A Major Storm Begins with a Coating of Ice

Here is a photo series of some of the plants in the yard this morning. We are due to have a major storm, with maybe a foot of accumulation by tonight. Everything is closing around town. But the yard is beautiful, and it was very pleasant going out to take these pictures.
The storm, did in fact, arrive, and dumped at least 8 inches on the already buried yard and deck and driveway. This is now officially the third largest snowfall of all time in this location. Enough is enough.

And it keeps Tolling...

I've talked a few times about brushing snow from evergreens in this winter of what seems like daily accumulations. Well, I didn't get to it often enough, as this poor globe Arborvitae shows. I'm recording this now to compare with its spring profile just to learn whether it really matters as much as I fear.

Winter's Toll

Back what seems like forever ago, for the first post to this blog, I cut some sprigs of rosemary and sage knowing that the plants that seemed to be thriving would be taken by the cold and snow. rosemary in particular seems so hearty and strong that I have a hard time cutting it down in the late fall and believing that it will succumb. But it has - as this photo shows. The rosemary is brittle and brown, the sage is also, and the tarragon behind is totally dried up. Sage and tarragon will spring back once the weather warms - the tarragon from the ground and the sage from buds all along the seemingly dead stems. But the rosemary has never survived the winter in my yard and I will likely have to buy another plant for next year.

Once I tried to dig up and bring a rosemary plant in for the winter. But it wasn't fond of the dry indoor air either, and by January it had become scraggly and was infested with whiteflies. So each spring I invest in a new plant. And all winter I have to do with dried leaves from the previous summer to season our food.

Seven Deadly Sins of Gardening

Just found a book on the new book shelf at Appleton Public Library with an intriguing title: Seven Deadly Sins of Gardening.

The sins are as you would expect: Greed, Pride, Lust, Wrath, Sloth, Envy and Gluttony. Balanced by Generosity, Love and Zeal.

I must say that I resonate more with where my own mind goes as I think about each of these in gardening terms than I do with the literary and historical vignettes this book contains. But perhaps just the idea and the launchpad for dreaming and self awareness is enough to get from such a small book. My thanks to author Toby Musgrave. And since the idea is so catchy, I will give the book a few more chapters to win me over.

Songs of Birds

The other morning as I stood out on the deck before going to work, I heard birds in the distance. The Cardinal was the most prominent, the beginnings of a spring song I think. (I hope?) But there were finches of various sorts, and a very definate Chickadee. I'm waiting for a robin, of course. But this morning it was clearly still winter.