A Spring of exploring and gardening, birding, reading and knitting

A Sunday Drive in May

Scottish Highland Cattle near Unity, Maine

 

What an amazing Spring this is!  The first time I can ever remember just watching Spring ever so slowly, bit by bit, unfurl herself.  One day is sunshiny warm with the bluest of blue skies.  The next, dark and rainy, then misty, then beautifully clear once again.  We've been busy cleaning up the garden beds, planting broccoli, red cabbage, sugar snap peas, lettuce and carrots as well as rhubarb.  After I planted the rhubarb, we discovered some already growing on the property!  Same thing with the strawberries - ha!  Last week we traveled south to Boothbay Harbor to visit the Coastal Botanical Gardens.  Even though most things were still just on the verge of blooming, it was all so beautiful and we were able to identify some plants and trees around our own house that were previously mysteries to us.  One of the trees I fell in love with there was a Ballerina Magnolia.  When we returned home, we discovered we actually have one in our garden and it had started to bloom while we were away!  We also have peonies, Solomon's seal, and  Lady's Mantle.

Pear trees made to grow into a little gazebo in the Children's Garden at the Coastal Botanical Gardens

Weeping Pines in the Children's Garden.

We love waking up early, putting on the coffee, then sitting on the front porch to watch the birds as the sun rises over the river.  The birds are increasing at the feeder, and the goldfinches have finished molting their winter feathers and the males are now a brilliant gold.  On May 6th we spotted our first yellow-rumped warbler.  We still see the Pileated Woodpecker,common redpolls, cedar waxwings, northern cardinals, white breasted and red breasted nut hatches, Blue Jays, cow birds, Hairy Woodpecker, and Yellow Bellied sapsuckers, Mourning Doves, tufted tit-mouse,  and dark-eyed Juncos and of course, robins.  One afternoon my husband spotted the female eagle (she's about 25% larger than the male) carrying a cat-sized creature in her talons.  It may have been a baby fox as the fox have a den behind our house, close to the river and we've seen them hunting in the field in front of our house.  The eagles must have young in the nest as they are both hunting non-stop and head back to the nest which is just down the river.
      On the way home from the Botanical Gardens, we decided to visit Pemaquid Point Lighthouse.  It was the perfect day to explore this lighthouse and the little fisherman museum next to it.  We learned that in the War of 1812, the first British ship to be captured was captured at Pemaquid Point.

 

I've still found time for my knitting which I have truly grown to love.  I was able to even do some gift knitting with gorgeous yarn I purchased on a little side trip to Portland a couple of weeks ago.  (Pictures to be posted later - don't want to ruin any surprises here!) I have three projects going and it's just so relaxing to me.  I love the challenge of figuring out a new pattern (whatever did knitters do before you-tube?! Especially if they were far from other knitter's who could teach them?) I discovered a podcast which I adore called he Knitting Pipeline hosted by Paula- and used my hours and hours of gift knitting time to catch up on the back podcasts.

Have been reading a lot as well which makes me very thankful for our library here.  I just started Ann Hood's Somewhere off the Coast of Maine, and I don't want to put it down!

 

Plans for this week include  hiking at Acadia National Park, painting one of the rooms in our house as well as the front entry, and of course, I'll always make time for knitting on the front porch!  We're having some friends over for brunch next weekend, so that's my motivation for getting that painting done and done. 

Next post, expect plenty of pictures from around the garden!

I hope where ever you are that you are able to enjoy the beauty of the season.

 

"Spring. March fans it, April christens it, and May puts on its jacket and trousers." Henry David Thoreau, 1838