Life on the Home Front: Ordinary Days

In which I discuss the tiny miracles of everyday life....

The days run into each other now and at an overall glance seem so ordinary, and yet if I followed myself around with a camera I would remember that these days are filled with so many extraordinary moments: like the storm that rolled in last night and made the Bradford Pear trees glow with white, or the hidden stream I stood beside and heard a miniature waterfall in the distance while walking down the wooded path, or the nodding heads of the Lenten Roses I was given as they settled into their new location, or the child that cooperated when asked to do garden chores, or the hotdogs in the fridge that allowed for an easier dinner, or the soothing feeling of cotton fabric layers sliding through my fingers into the sewing machine, or the joy on my daughter's face when she gets a letter in the mail, or the sound of the bagpipes signaling someone is practicing without being reminded, or the extraordinarily loud sound of peepers in our woods which I've never heard before, or the metallic green bug hopping down the sidewalk in front of me, or the uncommon patience of the cello teacher with my son who likes to crack dad jokes in the middle of a serious conversation about music, or the few moments to capture spring blossoms with paint and paper, or sitting outside for dinner and it being tolerably warm out, or the unexpected answer to a prayer for something specific, or finding grape hyacinths blooming by the front door. These are things that so easily slip my mind when I try to remember what happened yesterday.

Food Eaten: tea and toast, leftover chicken and rice, Dundee cake for tea!!, hotdogs, asparagus, and sweet potatoes for dinner, with a piece of toast before bed.

Nature Journal: The Rest of April

Our four weeks of spring nature journaling classes are over! It was a very interesting month since spring has come so late. I think we had snow for three of the Mondays in April? 

The Bloodroot captured my fancy this season. I'd never noticed it before. I love it's large white flower and its single leaf and the blood-red root which drips red juice.

 One week we practiced painting the forest (not so much green yet).

My nature journal pages:

Here's our classroom with all my posters on the wall and plant samples down the middle of the table.

I guess the Yellow Trout Lily could vie for first place in my spring flower affections. It's just stunning with its mottled green and brown leaves and bright yellow flower with red/orange stamens. I want to pretend God sends fairies out each night to paint the leaves in wet-on-wet technique with watercolor. :)

Here are more Bloodroots on a sunny day:

One day we stumbled upon these gorgeous red mushrooms which have several names. My two favorite names are Scarlet Elf Cup and Fairies' Baths. If the fairies come out at night to paint the trout lilies no doubt they stop here for their bath afterward.

Here are the mushrooms hugging the Dutchman's Breeches plant.

The kids were inspired by the mushrooms too....and the trout lily.

Here's how our walk looked on the last day of class -- such a huge change from the first week, and even a change from the third week!

Trilliums are everywhere -- I also love these with their distinct three leaves and three petals.

Mayapples cover the hillsides in great swathes and add quite a bit of green to the trail.

The kids all really liked the May Apples.

Some children chose to make a summary page for the month.

The Yellow Wood Poppies bloomed overnight.

The Large-Flowered Bellwort was another new-to-me flower.

We focused on leaf identification on our last day and matched the leaf shapes to the actual plants we found in the woods.

And look at this! The coveted Morel mushroom! This is from my friend's house, a few miles away. One of these years I intend to taste one of the special treats!!

And now art classes are over for the summer! My mom and I are planning day-long workshops for adults in June, July, and August and then I'll start teaching kids again in September. I'm already missing the woods.....(I need to go back).

April in the Garden

Suddenly we are truly into spring. The grass is thick and green and the mowing has already started. Dandelions abound -- it used to be they were mostly in our yard and never in our neighbor's but strangely the trend is reversing.

Beauty is everywhere. Six weeks ago one blossom would have been welcomed with joy and the attention of a rare treasure. Today I pass a thousand trees covered in 10,000 of those precious blossoms and the beauty washes over me like a waterfall impossible to contain.

The kids are dirtier and bandaids running scarce. It was 66F last week and I caught them playing with the garden hose, happily soaking wet, while I walked up the street in a sweater over my long-sleeve shirt.

The days begin cool -- socks are a must, and long pants and maybe a sweater. But the layers shed as the sun climbs and evening may call for a fan by the bed.

I must start giving attention to all the flower beds. Winter provided the perfect time for voles to perform their clandestine acts of treachery. My beds are riddled with tunnels. There are bare patches where there should be longstanding perennials springing to life. I feel the burden of these unwanted pests and wonder if I'm fighting a losing battle.

If I really wanted to get rid of the voles I'd have to give up the flower beds. But I must have flowers. I must have beauty. It's the beauty that pushes me to do the gardening work that does not agree with my constitution or fit very well with my schedule.

The happiest thing in the garden right now is my lilac. Michael invested (that's the right word) in it last year as a gift for me. It's all in perfect bloom right now. It's two weeks early. I know this because lilacs always bloom for Laura's birthday the last week of April. It seems fitting to connect lilacs with the birth of my little girl since it is the lilacs of my girlhood that whisper in my memories.

Today when I pulled into the garage we noticed a pair of purple finches on the window ledge above. They were so sweet and love-buggish. Every time I see a robin in the tree out front I almost pray it will build a nest there. I'm desperate for a bird's nest. What I should be hoping for is an owl or a red-tailed hawk to take up residence and naturally take care of my vole problem.

The vegetable garden is still a tangle of dead vines and stalks from last year. I see all the gardens around the house and want them tidied in a day but in reality it will take at least a month. Pacing is the name of the game. I think I'll add more flowers to the vegetable garden this year. I have good luck with herbs and pole beans but little else. Why keep trying so hard when I could plant more flowers?

I'm waiting to see if the "Cherry Brandy" rudbeckia (red black-eyed susans) I started from seed so painstakingly last year will grow and flower. I've been pining for this variety for four years since I first saw it at Abbotsford (the home of Sir Walter Scott). If I can just one plant to successfully grow then I can go from there.

Tonight we ate our first dinner of the year out on the patio. It feels so good to be outside again for a meal. I stared at the lilac bush while we ate and talked. And I thought maybe I should get out the hummingbird feeder tomorrow and fill it up. You never know when those tiny things might show up again. I sat far too long but it meant a long conversation with two of the kids that wouldn't have happened if we were inside. And now as the dark descends I still hear the birds chirping and singing. The smell of spring is wafting in the windows and it feels like winter is far, far away.