New Deer Delicacy

Not long ago I lamented the fact I'd have to get in my goldfish pond to clean it out.  It has been raining nonstop for so long, I haven't been able to.

Be that as it may, look what the deer cleaned out of the gold fish pond for me.  I caught them red handed.  They have never done it before.  Tulips and flowers, yes, but never the water lilies.  

Just wish they had gotten in and chopped up the lily roots for me so I wouldn't have to.  Where are the clothespins for my nose?  Oh well, at least it's a sunny, warm day.

And, my beautiful old Japanese Maple did die, but I replanted it with a blue atlas cedar on the right.  I love those too.

I want to tell you that I almost always comment on your blogs, but I usually get an email stating  message failure to send.  Something like that anyway.  I don't have a clue what it is about, but just wanted you to know I am reading and enjoying all of your posts even if my comments aren't getting through.  Let me know if this has ever happened to you.

Water World

Morning has broken.  The farm where I live is a watery world.  We haven't had this much rain in a long time.  So much, in fact, some roads are closed or washed out, even major highways.  It simply will not stop raining long enough to dry out.  Water stands in the fields.  There is no way I could get in my garden to plant veggies which should have been planted a month ago.  The strawberries are mush.  Did I tell you I dislike rain?  Always, I need sunny days.  The frogs and water lilies are happy though.  Can't believe I made it outside before the lily fully opened.

I have herbs to plant and lots of lavender.

Even my little apple tree that has born its first fruits this spring, is dying from all the rain and wet.  I watch it daily as more leaves turn brown.

Well, here is something that might interest you though I should have taken a better shot at a different angle.  The iris on the left are from plants more than 100 years old.  Merely 12 inches high.  The one on the right is nearly 2 feet higher.  Hybridization I guess.  

The left plants came from an old mountainside homestead.  The log cabin has long since rotted away, though the rock foundation remains.  I heard to look for flowers blooming around the old home to find where the front of the house had been.  This site had previously been in Indian Territory and I wonder where the iris and jonquils might have come from.  My guess is that they came in bulbs, across the country in a covered wagon, from the eastern part of the United States; a sweet reminder for immigrants of their homeland.

Tadpole Poses

Ever try to get three tadpoles to pose?  Well, they won't.  I went wading in one of my farm ponds to find bullfrog tadpoles (they are as big as marbles), but found only these measly ones.  My grand kids will enjoy them anyway.

I got to thinking about a post by John Gray of Going Gently, about what made you laugh heartily as a child.  Now, I was a serious child; shy and quiet and could not remember that time.  But, I do remember the thrill of tadpoles and crayfish; climbing the tallest trees to peer into bird nests and see the little eggs.  I enjoyed the out of doors and guess I am still that child.

My goldfish have no such problems posing, though they really only want me to feed them.

This is for those whom are thinking about putting in a water garden/goldfish pond.  Be careful of the water plants you choose, especially water lilies and cat tails.  They take over.  My yearly immersion into the stinkiest, nastiest and most disgusting water is nigh.  I have to cut out half of the lilies and get the dead oak leaves out.  The plant root you don't see is as heavy and large as a meteor and I'll have to carve away at it.  That, and if you live in an area with water snakes, well, they'll just love your fish pond.

If that didn't scare you away, well, I do love to watch the gold fish and frogs and dragonflies and even the darn lilies when they bloom.

Merry May

How has the merry month of May passed so quickly?  Perhaps it was all the chores outside preparing the garden beds, planting and cleaning up.  So much to do that there is little time to enjoy anything else.  Don't know the answer for that or maybe I do.  Hire a couple of gardeners or let it grow wild.  I know that answer to that.  I'll be crawling about the gardens before it's over.

"I found a strawberry blossom in a rock.  I uprooted it rashly and felt as if I had been committing an outrage, so I planted it again."   Dorothy Wordsworth

So me.