April Showers

April showers bring May flowers...or so we hope. It rains more in Virginia than it did on Long Island. We've had a month of several days of strong rains, followed by warm sunshine. The plants thrive in this weather and I'm glad we aren't tapping the wellwater to irrigate them.

Last Thursday after some business in Farmville, John and I went to B&M nursery and garden center. Eagerly I combed through their plant selection, feeling right at home and flashing back to my days working at Martin Viette Nurseries. I found an excellent selection of houseplants and statuary and we already have our eye on several purchases. We then found roses at Rose's discount store in town, and I planted my rose garden this weekend. Two 'Sonia' grandifloras and one 'Bonica' shrub rose were added to the two 'Blaze' red climbers, the twig from the rose bush in Huntington, and the rosa rugosas. The Blaze bareroot roses don't look good; I am losing hope that they will survive. Sonia, Bonica, and the rugosas look fine though and the rugosas have a bit of leaf peeking out.

The dogwood cuttings we planted last fall finally bloomed today! John found the first red flower. Three of the four appear to be leafing out. I had such a strong urge to say, "I told you so!" Just last Saturday he wanted to dig them up; he was convinced they were dead. My intuition told me they just needed more time than the already estabished trees, and I was right. Maybe there's hope left for some of the other trees.

All of the orchard trees leafed out with the exception of one cherry. Some look more vigorous than others, but most appear to be setting down roots in the field.

Herbs plants purchased last week as well as herbs started from seed will go into the kitchen garden starting this weekend. I really want to build a raised bed under the kitchen windows, but not sure how it will look. We'll see.

Bluebirds

This morning a bluebird - a real, live, living, breathing, warbling bluebird - landed on the ridge just outside of my office window. John spotted him first and called me over to see this beautiful bird. We saw some yesterday when out for our evening walk. But I had never seen one up close and personal!

Many years ago, I bought a tiny glass bluebird statue in a gift shop. I can't remember where, but the bluebird always represented me in our family...the bluebird of happiness. The symbolism for me was one of optimism and cheer.

And there was my very own Seven Oaks bluebird, outside my office window.

I cannot help but take this as a good omen of things to come!

Today, however, I am tired. It was anti-procrastination day in the household, so John changed and washed the HVAC screens while I cleaned the bathrooms, my most hated chore. It is cold and threatening outside, so today we focus on inside work, I on my consulting business and the household chores, John on the myriad indoor farm chores. The workbench, utility room and kitchen sink are awash in detergents, machine parts, and paint brushes.

And yes, we had the hamburgers on Saturday night...thank you for asking...fresh, grass fed beef is delicious. It did taste slightly different from the ground beef I normally purchase. I added oil to the cooking pan because the meat was so lean, no fat dripped off of it. I think our purchase was worth it.

Back to work...now go outside and look for bluebirds....

North American Bluebird Society: http://http://www.nabluebirdsociety.org/