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The January thaw has come and gone. Where there was greening grass that the outdoor heifers browsed beneath the summer’s dried stalks, there is now again snow that the heifers scuff through in a token sort of way before visiting the hay ring.
When you live in snow country, the traditional thaw early in the new year is something that you look forward to, even if it amounts to nothing more than a sunny afternoon when the temperature rises to 36 F and there is only a light breeze. This year, we had a true thaw, almost a week of days when the temperatures were in the 50s and 60s and the nights in the 40s. The snow vanished except for the largest plow piles and ice puddles turned to mud puddles. The dogs went a bit loony, dashing around and sniffing out heaven only knows what and I got to do some late season cleaning up that I’d not gotten done earlier.
There always seem to be chores that just don’t get done in late fall. I had pots that needed to be hauled out to the stack in the lean-to, and some shovels that had been left out by the back door. One of the pots that I’d put over my miniature evergreens had blown away in the last big wind, so I saved out one of the biggest pots to put over it and secured it with an old fiberglass fence post driven down through one of the drip holes. Stan and our eldest grandson built a rough cover for the little Japanese maple shrub in the first rock garden and I put the little sugar maple that I am attempting to turn into a bonsai under the garden bench, which will be left out again. I sat on the bench for a minute while contemplating the gardens, it is starting to show its age and rough use, I suppose we’ll have to look into something newer soon.
I found the box with the unplanted crocus bulbs hiding in the back room under the plant table and fished out four pots in which to plant them. These I carried out to the studio, which is unheated, and placed them in the east and south windows. I’ll bring them into the house in a month or so and see if I can’t push the season just a bit. There was a whole bag of crocus bulbs left along with some checker lilies (Fritillaria melaegris) and I dug a hole in the bed at the southeast corner of the plant room and dumped them in rather unceremoniously. What grows, grows. I’ll have to dig them up and move them after they bloom, as that bed gets dog traffic, but they should put on a nice show early.
Wandering a bit after everything that needed done was finished, I noticed snowdrops pushing up through the soil and some early daffodil shoots. Knowing they would be covered with snow soon enough, I applauded their enthusiasm and let them be. I stopped to pick some Christmas rose, the winter blooming Helleborus niger, but left the johnny-jump-up blooms with their bright faces. They will be there under the snow waiting for the next thaw.
About Kathleen M. Tenpas
We have a grazing dairy of 55 cows in the rolling hills of western New York State where we raised two daughters who have now blessed us with four grandchildren. I have messy, jungly beds of old roses, (some real antiques left by former owners), perennials, wildflowers and lots and lots of not so ornamental grasses! I have a Masters degree in Creative Writing: Poetry from Antioch University. I am a photographer and fabric artist and I bake a mean loaf of bread.
Posted by seashell2284 (from Gold Hill, OR) on May 19, 2008 at 9:11 PM:
you have a very nice way of writing and keeping ones interest. very good article.
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Posted by Kathleen (from Panama, NY) on May 20, 2008 at 6:08 AM:
thank you.
: )
k
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Subject: Great article
Posted by doccat5 (from Fredericksburg, VA) on January 24, 2008 at 8:52 AM:
Really enjoyed your article. It was the perfect thing to read this morning sipping my coffee with a winter storm watch in effect here for today. It's a bonus that although I have to go out today, it's to the library and I greatly doubt there will be "run" on the shelves in there. Homemade soup in the crock pot and homemade bread rising in my bread machine..........sigh.
Thank you :)
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Posted by Dea (from Frederick, MD) on January 24, 2008 at 10:08 AM:
Dreaming of spring here, but knowing that the winter weather is necessary to have a spring. Love your writings.
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Posted by darius (from Marion, VA) on January 24, 2008 at 10:59 AM:
Kathleen, I loved your musings... a nice touch of reality and it made me smile.
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Posted by LouC (from Desoto, TX) on January 24, 2008 at 11:09 AM:
I felt as though I was sitting beside you on the bench. Really enjoyed the feeling.
Looking forward to your next essay so I may join you once again.
Christi
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Posted by cathy4 (from St. Louis County, MO) on January 24, 2008 at 11:14 AM:
I hope that bench is wide, because I was there with you, too. Did you hear my deep sigh as I enjoyed the view? Thanks for the nice moment.
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Posted by Kathleen (from Panama, NY) on January 24, 2008 at 11:23 AM:
Thank you all for your "warm" comments.
Stan just read the article and said, after a deep sign, "Too bad you don't do as well with income tax papers." Guess what he's doing.
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Posted by AYankeeCat (from Fairfield County, CT) on January 24, 2008 at 2:05 PM:
Enjoyed reading your article very much.
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Posted by ROSES_R_RED (from Mount Bethel, PA) on January 24, 2008 at 5:59 PM:
We recently moved away from the hustle and bustle of our Bergen County, NJ home. It was the ambiance described in your article that we were looking for. So wonderful to be able to relate to your article.
