Walking Iten's Acres: Sightings April 30, 2014

Sightings: Meadowlarks are back!!

Bluebirds are back! 

Barn swallows have set up nests in Dennis' "barn." It's always nice to have someone to help you mow the Acres. Feeding the Swallows will be another joy this summer.

I think Homesteader's time living in my shed has made her a fan of thunderstorms. When one comes rolling over the Acres--like last night--she goes to the window and watches it all. Quite entranced. Yep, she's weird. Could be a case of brain dead.

It's tulip time!

Gus has escaped his electric prison again. Guess I'll be a dog owner for a couple of days.

Walking Iten's Acres: Weekend Wonders April 27, 2014

What a beautiful weekend! Two such lovely days have a host of things deciding to check out the sunshine--even the ferns are coming up. No buds on the iris--yet. Sigh. And I'm getting a little paranoid about the old apple, old dogwood, and the many redbuds. Only one redbud is even thinking about blooming so far. The pear trees and apple trees in the orchard are blooming though--place your orders now.
God is certainly a lover of the beautiful. Yet, He reminds us of its fleeting nature. The external beauty of the natural world is so temporary. Only the soul grows more and more lovely as time passes.
The wildflower of the week--in case you missed the picture show--is the violet. So many shades of purple blue, multicolored beauties too, and myriads of white, and even an occasional yellow. The shady parts of the Acres are a veritable carpet of violets. And as you can infer from my cover photo--love those Johnny Jumpups as Mom used to call them. May their tribe increase!
I moved a few things this weekend--as always. Planted a couple new things as well--there's always room for more at The Acres. Weeded some--the rain has made that a little easier. But it's an eternal job--or at least, an until I go Home job. And I'm losing. Lawnmower Guy Dave got the old beast primed for another year. I've even picked out where I plan to succumb to my pathitis this year--two new paths in the wild area coming up. And one path is going to be re-worked. I will in a sense of fairness let two paths go back to wildness--after I put some more wildflowers in them, naturally. I guess I really should have mowed this weekend since the forecast for tomorrow is rain. Ah well, too late now. Next time, I'm going to buy a mower with headlights. Can you imagine how glorious it would be to mow The Acres under the stars? Just imagining it gives me "chills."
Anyway, it was a great weekend to be a country living flower lover. And the promises of summer and autumn are springing up everywhere. Thank you Lord for allowing me this place and the beauty that it gives me each day! Amazing gift!

Walking Iten's Acres: Comings and Goings April 25, 2014

Comings: The daffodil are still in their splendor. True, some of the earliest bloomers have gone, but hundreds and hundreds are still in full parade, and some more are just now budding so they will be the stars of the shows for some time yet. The wild area in particular is punctuated by "islands" of daffodils of myriad varieties and heights. A walk on the wild side is gorgeous.
Goings: The limb on The Sentinel that was the home of my bees fell off! No sign of where they may have headed off to. I'm sure they think I was being inhospitable. Sigh.
Comings: It's grape hyacinth time. They, like the daffodils, spend their winters spreading. And they come up wherever you plant them. In the wild area, in the trees, in the rock garden--anywhere at all is fine with them.
Goings: I still keep looking over my shoulder to see if Bonnie is going to join me. I'll be doing some moving and planting this weekend. I need my supervisor.

Comings: I am waiting for the iris!

Walking Iten's Acres: Damage Report April 18, 2014

Today, I spent my first extended spring fling pontificating from the green throne at the top of the hill. The sun was luxurious, the breeze a gentle caress. A cardinal dropped by and sang his "pretty," "pretty," "pretty" chorus for me. Well, no, I don't think he was thinking of me; self-exaltation was the focus I'm sure. And well-deserved. A few goldfinch were active in the brambles; it's easy even for me to tell that they are not song sparrows or field sparrows. It's a color thing.
Last week's snow and frost caused some of the daffodils to droop and some of the hyacinth to begin to fade prematurely. Do not fear. There are hundreds of more daffodils yet to bloom. And the little ubiquitous grape hyacinth are starting to join the Iten Acres portrait. And the violets--you talk about ubiquitous--will be in full glory soon. Oh, I'm sure there are more frosts to come--this is Ohio. But more beauty to come as well. To help out a little bit, I planted a few pansies this afternoon.
I am still trying to calculate the damage done by our vortex winter. The daffodils and crocus and corydalis seem impervious. Late, but blooming. The lilies are on their way up--at least the day lilies. And the phlox as well. The iris are behind schedule, but I'm hoping they will catch up--a spring without iris blooms would be the end of the world--close anyway. No blooms on the forsythia yet; perhaps the vortex got them. Revenge, no doubt, for tipping the humans off about future snowfalls. The daffodil shrub and at least one lilac appear to be gone. The same can be said, I think, about a couple of small azaleas. Some of my Siberian and Japanese iris appear to be either really slow in coming up--or gone. No sign yet of the water lilies. And, of course, the hibiscus and rose of Sharon are always the last to show signs of life--and the witch hazel. For word on those, I can only wait. Anyway, I am patiently waiting to see how much damage was done by our Arctic visitor. Too bad it didn't kill the walnut trees.
Ahhhh, the weather. We have some every day, and there's not much to be done about it. I guess I"ll just have to sit on my green throne, basking in the sun, enjoying the lovely gentle breeze, and complain about it to the Cardinal. I know what his response will be: he'll shed a fake Cardinal tear and sing, "Pretty, pretty, pretty." And how can an old man argue with that?

Walking Iten's Acres: The Parade April 14, 2014

It has begun in earnest--and that's important, to an old man and his Acres. What has begun? The parade of flowers from now to November. Already I can stand anywhere on the Acres and see the beautiful. And each walk, morning and afternoon, reveals a new loveliness in bloom or a new loveliness on its way to join the parade. Daffodils are everywhere--in the beds. besieging the pond, islands in the meadow and wild area--yellow, whites, pinks; huge, "normal," miniature. Hundreds of blooms already--multitudes to come. And the hyacinths have begun--purples, whites, yellows, pinks--beauty and aroma. The corydalis--yellow, pink, red, lavender--are also sprinkled across The Acres. And today, as I mentioned below, the wild flowers have made their entrance--spring beauties and violets and anemones, anyone? Coming up in earnest--with the promise of future "parade floats" of their own--are the iris, lilies, and bleeding hearts. I shall take pictures for those of you who like parades. As Joy said, "for the beauty of the earth . . . Christ, our God, to Thee we raise, this our hymn of grateful praise."

Backroads of Morrow County Update: Adages April 13, 2014

Took an early morning cruise on the backroads. "Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise." I am doing my best to debunk that old adage. Yet, "early to rise" does allow you to enjoy the beauty of the morning. The dew and the sun give a sheen to the green fields. The birds are all busy. Red-winged blackbirds have set up their sentry posts all along the backroads. If you drive slowly with your windows down, you get a serenade--I love their trill, their babbling brook melody. Sporadic pairs of mourning doves balance--it always looks like a precarious existence to me--on the man-made limbs as well. What did they ever do before telephone wires? A hawk sat on a fence post mouse or vole hunting I imagine. My presence was irrelevant to his life. And I'm fairly certain I saw some barn swallows skimming over the swamp waters. In anti-thesis, the barn with the population of cats was especially busy this morning as well. Lots of sunning going on--my kind of exercise. Sitting, taking in nature's glory. Or walking, of course.
I was surprised to find a small portion of road under water. We've had a ton of rain, but I didn't think it was flood worthy. Not much on the trees yet; the maples are budding, plump and red. I wonder how many leaves are on a tree? The willows are yellow green. No flowering trees yet, at least out here. Most of the fields are plowed--furrow after furrow stretching off to the horizon. And this time of year, there is a horizon. You can see, it seems, to the skyline. Homes and old red barns on the far side of some fields are readily visible this time of year--in a couple of months they will go into hiding behind the rows of corn. I enjoy the expansiveness of the view--idyllic country. I'm always tempted at times as I creep up a little rise in the road to just stop for an hour or so and try to capture the silence and serenity. If only I could paint!
The backroads are an expanse of pot holes. The driving precarious--if I was in a hurry. But I'm not. "Slow and steady wins the race." I don't know who I was racing, but no one passed me. Maybe that old adage is true. For old men and turtles.

Walking Iten's Acres: A Sunday Stroll April 6, 2014

Sun. Still a chill in the air. Wispy white clouds. Explosions of sunlight. I couldn't resist a Sunday afternoon stroll through the Acres. Spring is taking hold. The dwarf daffodils in the Spring Bed under the ancient maple have begun to bloom--they pride themselves in being first each year--barely ahead of the Erlichter daffodils. I expect that they will abloom next week. Lots of the daffodils have buds--should be a marvelous show in a couple of weeks. The red and pink corydalis have started to bloom as well--miniature trumpets on fernish leaves. And the first dwarf "iris" has decided to join the portrait. Several more crocus patches as well--I love the white ones. The "I know where everything is" mindset is always revealed to be the arrogance that it is even this early in spring's surprises. I always stumble onto things where I was not expecting them. They have probably been blooming every year, but it takes a winter like this last one to totally flatten the grass in the wild area and allow me to "discover" them. The world is full of beautiful things that no one has ever seen. Just for angel viewing I suppose. Tulips, iris, and even day lilies are starting to come up as well. Promises of beauty yet to come. It was a lovely day for a slow, meandering, back-tracking walk through the loveliness of early spring.

And now, to close, the one thing I know you are all waiting to find out: no forsythia blooms yet--don't put the snow shovel away.