Sometimes the slow, quiet pace that one expects from living in the country gets lost in the hurry of daily life. During the school year, there are so many things to hurry to and from, that my morning and evening walk through my gardens and the view from my windows, might be the only thing "country" about my day. For now, the kids are not in school nor any extra-cirricular activities and, finally, yesterday was a day with nothing on the calendar.
Initially, I thought the day would hold only housework and homework (for the two summer courses that start this week) but late in the morning my twelve blueberry bushes arrived by U.S. Mail. I diligently finished the chapter I was reading in my Critical Thinking text, and then I headed outdoors to plant. The sky was clear, the air hot, whatever the calendar says, summer has definitely arrived.
After planting the blueberries and watering them well, I decided that the weather was too gorgeous to spend the day indoors. The little guys joined me outside, supposedly helping me water, although it looked as if they were making mud rivers in the new garden plot. I dug out an entire bed near the playhouse which had become a tangle of weeds and old-fashioned garden flowers. When I had pulled all the weeds and grasses and turned the soil over a few times, I replanted the hollyhocks, tall geranium, flax, poppies and a few wild asters. It was a hot day for transplanting, but this bed is on the shady side of the playhouse and I watered generously when the planting was done.
I ended up spending most of the day outside tending to various gardening tasks. Late in the evening, our neighbor headed down the steep hill that seperates his home from ours on his old red tractor. He mowed the wedge of field that is adjacent to our property, removing the "scrub trees" that have grown there in the years since the farm's last dairy cattle were sold. We miss the cows grazing in the field, but we are looking forward to the sunflowers which are soon to take their place! Sunflowers are grown in profusion in this region. There is something so beautiful about an entire field of one flowering crop (think of fields of lavender growing in France) and large plots of sunflowers are one of my favorite things to see. Amazingly, I will soon see that charming sight from my own window!
photos by Aisling, 1) the Sunflower Lady who grew in my garden in 2005 2) a sunflower in Haiku's cutting garden in 2006
14 comments:
it seems country life is all about flexibility : )
Patty, I guess it is! Thanks for stopping by!
Your sunflowers were beautiful last year- what bright sunny faces they had, making the outdoors so happy!
I love the tea strainers in your post below, too.
I adore fields full of sunflowers as well. And you're right they are just as beautiful as the French poppy fields.
You make the hard work of country life sound so satisfying and pleasant!
Grace, I guess I really love the hard work of life in the country. I find so much satisfaction in the home and garden tending tasks.
Lizzie, Thank you! It did feel as if the sunflowers were smiling, happy personalities living in the garden for a season. Aren't those tea strainers cute? I just love them! :)
I don't plant sunflowers but there are always a few that spring up courtesy of the birds at the bird feeders. Some inevitably spill out and seed themselves. I look forward to photos of your field of sunflowers.
Nan, My neighbor (not the farmer) gets a lot of sunflowers that way as well!
Of course the field of sunflowers wont really be mine, but the view of it will be! *grin* And yes, I'm sure I'll share photos. I think he is getting a bit of a late start, so we'll hope for the best.
I love your tea heart down below! The tea sounds delicious!!
Glad to hear you had such a nice day out in your garden. The sunflowers are so pretty and I love imagining the field of them. I hope you'll post a picture of that when it happens!
You are a fine writer. I am glad you will be able to blog more for the summer!
A splash of hope in the fields. Wondrous.
Mrs. Pivec, Thank you for your nice comments on my writing, and my tea infusers! *grin* I will definitely post photos of the sunflowers as they grow.
l.l., Yes, exactly! Hope, potential, possibility. The air seems to be filled with hope on days like these! I'm glad you came by!
Your writing brought back a happy memory for me. I hope you don't mind if I share it. Years ago when my son was little we planted a few sunflowers against a fence in my little city yard. My little guy watched the flowers grow tall with their big flower heads sagging under the strain of the heavy seeds. We had a great time watching the birds and the squirrels feed on the seeds.
Catherine Mary, I don't mind if you share a story at all; I'm so glad you did! What a happy memory, that started with a few black and white striped seeds and a child's enthusiasm. Please share your stories anytime! :)
Like Nan, I have sunflowers courtesy of my birdfeeders as well. However, this year I've decided to intentionally plant some as I love them so much!
Rapunzel, Maybe we'll all be sharing sunflower photos later in the summer! *grin* I imagine yours will be a little ahead of mine. I have a few at the back edge of my butterfly garden, but the farmer nextdoor still hasn't put his seed in. I wonder if there will be enough time for his field to mature. I think they want to make it an annual thing though, so this year was all about getting the field ready. It hasn't been used in years, and then it was cow pasture. :)
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