Rites of Spring
- LadyB
- LadyB
- LadyB
- LadyB
- spinlily
- LadyB
- LadyB
- LadyB
- LadyB
- XRay1
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» LadyB - I seem to have accumulated
QUITE the collection of little springtime rites over the years. Of course there is the utter madness of standing eggs on end for the vernal equinox, and it would never have occured to me NOT to eat the first violet I saw today. I've been doing that for YEARS. Not even sure where that one came from. But the taste of that first violet flower is as sweet as the sound of the first spring peepers singing in the swamp. They started right on the 31st of March this year. Now I listen every evening. If they're singing, the pansies will be ok outdoors over night. The one night that they stopped singing, sure enough...we had a touch of frost (which I saved them all from by spraying the plants down with water BEFORE THE SUN TOUCHED THEM)Surely another spring rite is the first dandelion meal which I had tonite.
Upcoming Rites of Spring will involve honoring the waking up of the Official Garden Faeries on May 1st. Either last year or the year before I generated a dreadfully official memo reminding everyone at work to watch where they were walking because the Garden Faeries had just awakened and were a little groggy yet.....Everyone LOOKED at me funny for the rest of the day. As a professional gardener, I've about given up on jewelry, but come May 1st, I'll put my bangle bracelets back on. Well, SOMEBODY has to wear something that twinkles so the faeries know who to follow!!! It's just LOGICAL.
These little oddities are just kind of fun and comfy when you do them pretty much without thinking. I don't make big RITUALS out of them, and if I'm off by a day or two, ah well....it's the INTENT that counts.......
Now. If only the May Flies weren't ALSO one of those RITES.......(sigh)
-- posted by LadyB
» LadyB - Then there's the FIRST SUNBURN...
No. I'm not a big fan of sunscreen - never have been. I've always felt that getting TOO obsessive about hiding from the sun kept one at DAY ONE all season long. It's just me, but I believe that building up a little color is GOOD for me. However, I'm not LAYING in the sun here, I'm WORKING in the sun - all day long.So yes indeed, the shoulders and back of the neck took a bit of a hit today.
And so....are you ready for Lady Barbara's sure-fire sunburn cure? HONEY. Nope, no kidding....HONEY.
You apply honey to the roasted skin and leave it on for 20 minutes and then jump in the shower. Couldn't be easier (except back when I had a cuddly cat.....) and it works like a charm.
Like most other natural remedies, the sooner you use it, the better. You CAN mix a little water with the honey so it goes on easier, but the less water you use, the better it works. All will be pleasantly pink by tomorrow morning with no blistering, no peeling. And I'll have enough sense to wear my hair down and a differnt tank top with different strap configurations so as not to keep roasting the same skin over and over and over. Eventually the big old straw hat comes out, and if I REALLY get cooked, back into a light long-sleeved shirt for a bit. The sun on my skin is just TOO much of a joy to hide from it.
-- posted by LadyB
» LadyB - And then there's that FLY RITE
They're BAAAAAACCCKKKKKK!I watch with trepidation as the buds begin to open on the Shad Trees. It's not the dear white flowers I fear, it's what they SIGNAL....the return of the black flies.....the SHAD flies......the (har-har) MAY flies......
On a cool day they wait....you get the morning to yourself. Then as the sun gets higher and you JUST begin to enjoy the springtime warmth they start GOING for your face - ALWAYS waiting 'til your hands are full before moving in for the bite. On a warm day they are horrendous morning and late afternoon. Too many mornings...watering with one hand and swatting with the other. Ugh.
By the peak of blackfly season last year I was floating around the property looking like a true crazy woman with white bridal tulle hanging from the brim of my big straw hat. But I could stay out without going crazy. By the end of it I was greased up with SkinSoSoft (yaccckkk) but it DID seem to keep them from biting. (didn't keep them from flying half an inch from your eyeballs though) This is not one of my faves when it comes to rites of Spring.......
-- posted by LadyB
» spinlily - ROFL!!!
How long do these critters last?We have mosquitoes up in the mountains -- sometimes here in the lowlands, and regular old house flies.
We moved into this house in 1994. Every year, when the temperature gets over 75 degrees F, there are several flies that fly around in a little circle in one place in the living room. If you really seriously disturb them - like with a vacuum cleaner - they will move... briefly. You can murder them all, and they will be replaced within 12 hours.
I'm getting the little welcome banners ready...
-- posted by spinlily
» LadyB - OUR May/Shad/Black flies....
.....pretty much plagued us for pretty much the month of May. Pretty much......But now they seem to start earlier every year and they seem to hang around upwards of 6 weeks. Gotta tell you, I definitely had the HAT on today and my head DOWN. Haven't QUITE moved to the veil yet, but it's COMIN', believe me.
-- posted by LadyB
» LadyB - And then there are the....
.....maple flowers. Just the sight of the first ones that had fallen on the hood of my car set off SUCH a memory-fest......like tiny green tulips they are, littering the streets like so much green snow....making lime-green shadows beneath each maple tree, and for SUCH a short while.Kinda makes you forget about the CONFOUNDED BLACK FLIES!!!!! Actually we're doing pretty well here. The temps have been below normal and whenever we get up there, there has been enough of a breeze to keep them MOVING.....definitely not as bad as last year......sssshhhhh, they'll HEAR us!
I have been trying Kiss My Face's SUN SWAT....a spray that is a #15 sunscreen and insect repellant. It smells really nice, is pretty oily when you put it on, but then soaks in and I do believe it WORKS!! The flies still hover, but they don't land on me. This is good.
Our pear trees are all in bloom too. If flowers are any indication, it's gonna be a BUMPER pear year! (of course we have a lot of WEATHER between here and pears.....)
-- posted by LadyB
» LadyB - And one of the most enchanting....
.....FIRST HUMMINGBIRD.....just as my newest assistant and I came to the lower rock garden I saw her dancing about in the wild columbines. A jewel in the jewels....then she zipped up to the oak tree and just SAT there, surveying her 'domain'.....You just can't NOT smile.......-- posted by LadyB
» LadyB - And I suppose,
one should offer that first Hummingbird some of that VERY first Strawberry Rhubarb Pie. Oh joy, oh ecstasy......Actually I felt like offering some coffee to the little BobWhite that was hopping up and down beneath my barberry bush this morning nibbling on flowers. I think coffee would go nicely with barberry flowers......
BobWhites have the DEAREST little puzzled faces! Mostly white with black stripes. I like to think she feels safe in my shaggy little yard - lots of places to hide. And her song is nearly comical, sounds like someone 'doing' a BobWhite call!
It is indeed a morning in May...........
-- posted by LadyB
» XRay1 - First Rite...
I know Spring has really arrived when the Canada Geese quit stopping to eat my lakeside lawn, and the ducks arrive to spend the summer. There is one pair of ducks, Gilly and Sally, who have come back for the fourth year! They take up residence in the cattails, and come "knocking" on the neighbor's back door...she feeds them grain and corn all summer! They like sunning themselves on my lawn and eating the critters in the grass. When their brood hatches, Sally & Gilly love to show off their offspring to the neighbor and I. We both look forward to this "rite" and hope that their children will continue to return each spring!-- posted by XRay1
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