October 2, 2016

a weekend of rain

It’s raining. All day today and more tomorrow. it rained several days last week too. We are feeling lucky that we got our lawn over seeded, aerated, and limed just in time. We also had a big magnolia tree planted for us in the front yard. The rain is good for both of these. I hope it will fill up our reservoirs. I keep hearing the Mellencamp song in my head “Someday the rains will come, when you expect it least…”. I guess they are here. But I think the…

September 29, 2016

low reservoir

This is the Cambridge reservoir today. We’ve had a little rain in the past couple days, so there is actually some water in it. At times this summer, it’s been just a trickle. I don’t know how the ducks and fish have survived (if they have). Yes, the big gardening topic here is still the drought.

September 19, 2016

RAIN!

We got an inch and a half of rain last night! Wow. And more is on the way. Another 10 inches or so will fill up our reservoirs. (Not to be greedy, an inch and a half is great 🙂

September 18, 2016

our drought continues

Rain seems to go north or south of us. It’s so dry here. I’m watering my vegetable garden, but that’s all. Or regulations are to hand water only, between 6 pm and 9 am, so I go out at night (sometimes with a flashlight) and water.

August 23, 2016

water restrictions

Our whole region is now in emergency drought restrictions. The town has banned any outdoor sprinklers or irrigation systems. We can only water by hand and only between 6 pm and 9 am. So I can still keep my vegetable garden growing. Everything else will dry up. I’m sure we’ll loose a number of bushes around the house.

August 10, 2016

Someday the rains will fall When you expect it least Someday the rains will fall – John Mellencamp, “Will Fall”

August 9, 2016

hot and dry for fall planting

We’re right in the middle of a beautiful summer and I’m doing a countdown to our fall frost as I do my fall planting. All right, it’s beautiful as in blue skies, but sort of dry. All right, very dry. Emergency water restrictions in some neighboring towns. Our bushes are dying, grass is crispy. I’m doing my best to keep my vegetable garden watered but our restrictions only allow watering twice a week, Tuesday and Thursday. My mom and I both have grass that crunches when you walk on it.…

April 6, 2016

it’s a bluebird day!

Well, “a bluebird day” is supposed to mean a beautiful day. I can’t say it’s that today. Low temp was 16F last night. Still snow on the ground. The magnolia blossoms that were just opening have turned mushy brown. And I don’t think the forecast is looking very good. But, yippee for the bluebirds! They are beautiful. (So are the gold finches that are turning bright yellow now.) I’m hoping a bluebird pair will nest in one of my bird boxes this year. Last year I had both my boxes…

April 5, 2016

spring and then winter

We’ve had crazy weather for April. I was ready for spring. Well, the flowers and birds and my garden were ready too. Now we have 6 inches of snow on top of the spring plants. And icy temperatures in the 20sF. These are my photos, first of spring on April 2nd, then the return of winter on April 3rd. My peas were sprouting, so I covered them with old oak leaves. My garlic is 6 inches high. At least the snow will insulate it. My winter tunnel will be fine.…

April 3, 2016

the swallows are here!

The swallows are here!! We got 3 inches of heavy wet snow overnight and everything is white. But there are swallows all over the place! I love to to see them swooping and soaring over the pond. Someone asked for pictures. So I did my best a couple days later. It’s pretty hard to photograph a swallow in flight. And it was too cold for me to try too long. This is what I got. One of the blurry swallow photos caught the mute swan pair in the background.

weeks and counting until my last spring frost

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