The Merry Month of May....

Rhys is lovely ... super companion for you, Lori !
With such long winters, it must be very difficult for you to manage your gardens, your grounds, and life in general ... let's hope for some warm months ahead.

Thanks very much, Terra! The older I get the less I do winters. Even the elementary (keeping warm) can be a challenge. This past winter proved two things to me...I'm not as resilient as I thought I was...nor am I as self sufficient as I thought I was.
It is a long cold season for the pets too and I lost my blue budgie, Boogie last week. I gave him a millet treat and he seemed delighted and cleaned it all up... Georgie (his brother) was not interested in his. just hours later Boogie was dead. I'm returning the treats to the place I bought them. It could have been many different things that caused his demise, Boogie was approx 10 yrs old, but one never knows where these things come from and if they've been handled properly.
I've had a long sad winter and I'm sorry if I sound like a whiner. I promise to be a bit more upbeat with my next blog. At present the only flowers in my garden are the crocuses..and they are such a treat to see. Rain today...that means I'll get some shots of trilliums, claytonia, erythroniums and tiarella very soon. Hurrah for the merrie month of May!

Lori, I too have been a right 'grumpy pants' this last few months. And its only really this week that I begin to feel restored. I don't blame you one bit, it's been a hell of a winter for all of us, but you have had it the worst of all of us I think. Welcome back to your usual cheerful and enthusiastic self! :) Love the ideas you have for the stream....looking forward to seeing progress. I was thinking about you today and wondering how things were...its good to see green at long last! :)

That's so true, Karen. I was thinking today of the many months of no green. I plan on planting more crocuses for next spring.! It's surprising to see how far behind many plants are from this time last year. not seeing many trilliums yet and it's nearly mid-may! The forest floor was thawed and re-frozen so many times that it had to have an effect. After the big ice storm/snow storm in April, I was stunned by the amount of erosion taking place. When the final thaw started there were rivulets where I had never seen them before. The top three inches of soil were still frozen at the end of April! ..at least this year I was prepared and we didn't lose our culvert when the runoff started.

Sad to read about Boogie ... I never give treats to my budgie because I cannot be sure what substances are put in them. I buy Trill budgie seed and the wrapped millet from reliable sources. When birds become unwell, they don't seem to have the resilience to get fit again, as a mammal would struggle to survive and to recover. I hope Georgie is staying healthy.

Yes Lori..we too are still very behind in terms of growth.

Terra, I wept... He was such a happy little fellow.
I have always bought many "treats" from this Pet Valu, and I'm not sure the millet was to blame because he was getting older. They were in separate cages(I bought them as chicks when their beaks/nostrils hadn't changed colour thinking I had a pair because they were so attached, and I didn't want to split them up, but it became necessary when they matured!)
The other aspect was the fact the Georgie ignored his and barring indigestion, I could see no other factor besides possible contamination. We've had some horror stories circulating about the neonicotinoids and their effect on birds.. it is applied to corn seed and when the seed in planted there is dust drift. Who's to say where it came from? neonics are terribly toxic and why they are used I'll never know.. $$$ maybe? There is an active movement to ban them completely. They kill all insects and the birds who feed on them. Completely sad.
Georgie is a little chatterbox, now prone to periods of silence and listening. like he can't figure out why his brother isn't answering. breaks my heart.

Hi Karen~! Rhys and I were shocked at how cold it had become overnight! Where the sun shines it's lovely but in the shade with the cold north-west wind it's winter again. When will this see-saw stop? Going up to a high of 12 C. today. It's the wind, constant and cold or furious and hot... extremes. Hope things have moderated for you.

That's so sad Lori... I've had to say goodbye to budgie friends in the past, and each time it was equally as devastating as a pet dog dying. Budgies have such endearing characters. I'm glad that your Georgie seems well and perky.

I love your new helper. he's gorgeous.

That's a beautiful place for a walk Lori, and it's nice that you have Rhys for company :)

Lori you leave me breathless with admiration for the work you tackle - its just incredible. Won't it be grand when everything greens up again - surely can't be long now!
Reading all about your horrific winter makes us count our blessings! Do take care with all the heavy work you're planning.

So sorry to hear abut your poor Boogie. Are you planning to get another little bird friend for Georgie - he must be feeling a bit lonely now.
Warm welcome to Rhys. Pity he can't do planting but digging a good hole is a start!

Thanks Lisam! I think he's wonderful too and we're adjusting. It feels like I've had him forever...it's only just a month, though.
;-) Hywel. Have you found out who your digger is?
oh Stera! I have a million plans! not sure they could all be crammed into one short life or one small plot! I have neighbours with hundreds of acres of forested land and around here I'm a small fish. coming here from a defined city garden has been a real adjustment... so much to do and so many places to do it.. ambition vs. energy. It's more of an "endeavour' than a garden.

No I haven't found out but I have covered the area with old wire shelves from a plastic greenhouse, and also put lots of sticks there for the moment.

I thought I'd look in on this blog as we're now a whole year ahead and nothing has changed...we thought the winter of 2017/18 was bad! If I had known then what was coming I don't know what I might have done. gone south probably!... I don't remember a winter like the past one... it is still with us in many ways... cold arctic winds, and sleet instead of warm balmy rains like we've been used to in other years... I was thinking of writing a blog but I think I'll just let this one stand. More of the same...

I hope it improves for you soon !

Thanks Hywel... it seems as soon as I complain the weather gremlins delight in thowing a little bit of nice weather our way just to tantalize ...then back to cold. bulbs are up and soon will bloom...but we had a white frost last night! some of my perennials are looking sketchy.

It's cold here now too, after a warm Easter. Maybe we'll all have a nice summer later on :)

If grumbling causes better weather please carry on!
Just re-read this blog and marvelled that you described your land as "one small plot"!!! How you do all that single handed I shall never know. Did you plant lots of crocuses as you were thinking of doing?

I hope so, Hywel... please let it be so!
I'm so practiced at whining, Stera! doesn't take much to get me going! Crocuses... yes... I planted a few and this spring just slowed them to a stop... last fall I found some bargains on tulips and daphs...so I didn't plant as many crocae(?) (lol) and I still don't have any blossoms to show on the tulips and daphs... soon I think. but it was 5 degrees overnight and fealt like zero. Hub says the long range forecast is COLD. Today's temp will be 16 C and that's the last days high in double digits to the end of the month..and perhaps into June! maybe we've had a polar shift and we're the new north pole! or maybe it's all the smoke and dust a bit of nuclear winter from Fukushima!? We sure are living in interesting times.