"Gather ye rose-buds while ye may." Robert Herrick

"Gather ye rose-buds while ye may." Robert Herrick

Hello Friends!

Friends, Romans, countrymen...y'all. Foodies, gardeners, artists and collectors - let's gather together to share and possibly learn a thing or two in the mix.

Donna Baker

Friday, January 15, 2016

The Circle Game


Perhaps you could listen to this song whilst reading this post...   I was riding through the fields today with the weenies on the ATV.  Looked at the brambles (wild blackberries) that have grown up on the backside of our fifty acre wood.  They'll need to be brush-hogged or they will take over the field; create a thicket akin to a hedgerow that can't be mown down.  Driving alongside the woods, I looked where the mayapples will be growing soon.  Next to those, the morel mushrooms grow for about a week around easter, but though I have looked and looked, I have never found one.  I think the deer and wild creatures find them first.

Since we don't ranch or have cattle, pine trees have been growing up across the fields and I like that very much.  A beauty to behold.  Ranchers would never allow them as they would shade out pasture grasses and plants to feed their animals.  

I stopped by the ponds and cast a few slices of bread upon the waters, but no feeding fish.  It was warm so I thought perhaps a few takers would come to the surface.  The turtles I so love are asleep on the shore under the mud holes they have dug.

The birds are singing loudly today and one I couldn't identify louder than most.  I walked in that direction, trying to see it, but it moved farther away and I never did catch a glimpse.  I have found a lost parakeet and love bird before on the farm, so I wanted to make sure it wasn't another lost bird.  Of course, the crows had to caw annoyingly loud about my goings on. How anyone ever sneaks up on anything is a mystery to me.  I think maybe the unknown bird might have been from the woodpecker family.  Just a guess.

While I looked about the place, this song came to mind. I chose this version because it lists the lyrics. Joni Mitchell is a songwriter that comes around only once in a lifetime.  She had an aneurysm some months ago.  I haven't heard how she is doing or her prognosis. Sad. But, the seasons do go round and round and I can do nothing to slow them down.



15 comments:

La Table De Nana said...

Perfectly lovely.
Just taking a break from organizing my craft area..sweet calm..nature loving post!
I read about her aneurism..since my mom died of that..I always remember when that word is spoken..

Merci et bon weekend..I can just picture you surveying your estate on the ATV.When a song like this comes to mind when doing something..you can feel the feeling you had:)

elaine said...

Oh you have a 50 acre woodland and didn't show us any photos of it. Your place sounds wonderful full of lots of interesting things - more photos please in future😀

donna baker said...

It is a pretty day Monique, a nice respite from the polar express coming this weekend. Every day I survey the place; it is my zen time. You have a good weekend too Monique.

donna baker said...

I'm going to search for a picture now Elaine. I know every square inch of our farm, the hills, the woods and fields and sky.

Elephant's Child said...

How I loved wandering with you. And with Joni.

donna baker said...

I am happy you wandered with me and Joni.

elaine said...

Oh Donna - how wonderful your place is - I wouldn't swap it for a place in the city that's for sure.

donna baker said...

It is the only thing that has kept me on this farm for 36 years. I would call myself a naturalist so it has been a wonderful journey, but after so long, I am ready for a change. Won't be around forever and I miss so much of the grandkids and my own kids. Plus, it is too much work now to keep nature at bay. We own part of a mountain a half hour south of the farm so I could always go there for my nature fix.

Frances said...

Donna, I can easily tell how Joni Mitchell's tune would have come into your mind. One of her many songs where lyrics and melody mesh so well, and the then go straight to our hearts.

Thank you for taking a camera along on this tour so we might see what you saw. xo

donna baker said...

It keeps on coming around, doesn't it Frances? I seem to be ready now to take the plunge, or shake things up. I've been wanting to move for at least twenty years. It is safe here, nothing to lose, but little to gain. I'm ready. I took those pics on a summer's day, but you remind me that I need to take my camera along more often.

elaine said...

I understand - we owned some land - only an acre, but even that was hard to keep under control. When the vim and vigour of youth diminish it becomes near impossible. We sold the land in the end - but I miss it every day and all the animals we used to keep but like you felt it was time to move on.

The Weaver of Grass said...

Lovely photographs Donna. Just popped in to say that no, the farmer didn't get two black eyes luckily. But he is telling everyone who asks that he had an argument with a female (then leaving a pause and adding) of the woolly kind.

Mary said...

What a thought provoking post, and the memories brought back by Joni's beautiful song are so precious, even to those of us who have nothing more than an overgrown 1/4 acre garden! Keeping land pristine is hard - woodland is perhaps more beautiful anyway.

Thanks for sharing your wanderings Donna - stay warm the next few days, going to be chilly at long last.

Hugs - Mary

donna baker said...

Pat, I did the same thing when I got my shiner. I told people I knew that my husband gave it to me. They all knew I was teasing though.

donna baker said...

Oh Mary, it is snowing this morning. Three days of warm bliss preceding though. It is amazing how nature keeps on as we just pass through, but the passing keeps going faster and faster. Einstein didn't tell us how that happens. Our woods surround open fields. The trees take care of themselves but the fields need to be mown etc. It is just too much to deal with anymore. The equipment always breaks down; farming is for the young and strong though they all leave for the cities now to make a decent living.