Hanging On To Plums

Image by pchgorman via Flickr

It is skunk cabbage season. And now that we don't live right next to a wetland I have to seek out my skunk cabbage experiences. It is the very first of the spring flowers...it beats out the crocus and the snowdrop and every daffodil in town, literally melting the snow and ice away with the sheer force of its will, making a hole in the chill and bringing blossoms to a snowbank. I will have to take a little expedition to find some soon.

I found some crocus the other day, without even trying! Look at that lawn! It is colder this spring than it was last year at this time (blogging helps you keep track of these things) so it hardly feels like time to look for blossoms. I am still immobilized half the morning by the chill and donning sweaters with impunity. But, there they were, a light frosting of lilac over the grass...all the same. Pardon the poor photograph, such faithful small friends were begging to have their photo included even if it wasn't as clear as one might have hoped.

I do hope that it warms up soon...I could go for a good 60 degree day with beams of sunshine. I am sort of sick of toasting my mitts on mugs of tea although it still seems like the way to survive. I hope we get some pools of sunshine on the sunroom floor sometime soon, the kind a sleek kitty would curl up in for the rest of the afternoon. You know....that is, if we had a sleep kitty.

And the sap is running! One virtue to the chill weather. I am sure the tree-tapping crowd is glad that it is staying cool enough to keep the run going. And I do like my supply of local syrup to be deep so I even benefit directly in a fringe sort of way. We saw sap buckets on the trees at the farms we visited yesterday  when we went on a milk/egg run on our naptime drive. Small signs of progress. Nice to see those.

And then there are the plums. This isn't terribly local but it makes me happy. Every year, these pointed tipped plums come tumbling in from Chile. They come in fire colors, predominately yellow but hints of gold and crimson and hot orange, especially emanating from the tip.  They ripen beautifully on the counter-top and unlike most any stone-fruit this time of year, they actually gush juice when bitten into. I discovered them a couple of years ago and look forward to late winter every year when I know they'll appear again in a small basket at my local Whole Foods. This year I found out that they are called lemon plums. So lovely to know the names of things you love. I'll take every little gift I can to tide me over. Drip on, sweet plums, drip on...you gotta get me through till April! (Note to self: Must go get some more this weekend...we're running low for some strange reason!)

Related articles

• A warm welcome in a cold climate (telegraph.co.uk)
• John Switzer commentary: Ecological center gets all sappy this time of year (dispatch.com)
• A plant dissolves ice!! (xeniagreekmuslimah.wordpress.com)
• Little Blooms of Hope (adnelg.wordpress.com)

We Did Survive!

 deer prints in our garden

There are bird calls outside my window this morning that I don't remember the labels for anymore after a long, cold winter. Lots of singing going on anyhow, and it sure feels like there are more winged residents in the neighborhood suddenly. Lots of sunshine today and a clear blue sky, noticed the snow had melted away again when I took in the morning view from my bedroom window. I found myself squinting for the sight of skunk cabbage tips peeping through the carpet of brown leaves under the sycamore and the oaks. So far, nothing but, soon, it'll be there and for now...I'm feeling the possibility in a very hopeful way.  And wow...first big spring sighting!!! When the boys and I went outside to play this afternoon I wasn't hallucinating tiny lime green dots on the forest floor. Our local skunk cabbage crop had put out two blossoms. Woohoo!!!! You can bet the local honeybees are every bit as excited as I am. Spring flowers have officially begun.

skunk cabbage blooming!

Feels darn good to be hopeful about anything after a weekend like we've had. This stomach bug that everybody is passing around is the pits...I don't recommend trying it with a squirming person inside of you already. Thankfully, we all feel quite human this morning...the washing machine is whirring away, the dishes are pretty caught up somehow, fresh homemade bread is cooling on the counter and I have a crockpot full of chicken soup simmering away slowly next to the sink. We will make it.

 construction truck patrol across our yard

our black raspberry canes, along the garden fence

This week we get serious about talking to mortgage consultants and begin the big shop around for good rates and best deals and try to get pre-approval all sealed up and done and I get serious about our California plans. Time to compile lists and strike things off and highlight others and figure out what we'll see and when and how insane we're going to be in our quest of adventure, desire to spend time with family and love of nature. I saw another round of drive-by houses this past week and found a few more possibilities although, still nothing that's really making my heart sing any arias. Would like to get out again this afternoon to check out another round.

wild wineberry cane from the woods behind the garden

The next two big tasks on my list are, potty train Dee (he's practically teaching himself anyway) and organize and purge the children's closet in preparation for baby planning. It is suddenly now seeming like a very good idea to know what exactly we have and what we don't.

a little horticultural repose

On the potty training front, Dee as I said is practically teaching himself. I am very rarely taking him to the toilet but he asks me if he can go and I started out no longer changing dirty diapers at all and now I'm starting to have him make it all the way through the whole day with just one diaper period. Dirty or wet...diapers are clearly outmoded here. So, I need to just get it together and put him in underwear and give him the necessary instructions about keeping them dry and maybe spend a day or two down on the non-carpeted areas of the house. I hear sometimes you just luck out with certain kids like this...I'm not sure why its happening...but, I'm for it.