La Puce wrote:
On 7 Mar, 01:02, madgardener wrote:
maddie where spring is REALLY threatening here in southeastern Tennessee

Thanks, as always, for the many images you conjure up in my head of
Tennessee (I again forwarded it to my old teacher, a compatriot of
yours). Spring popped out to us this morning - definitely - a warm
sunshine on our backs whilst walking to school, listening to a
cacophony of excited and obviously very joyfull birds. White ribes,
the melanchier stretching its little leaves, the neighbour's spirea
looks like it has exploded in blooms overnight, columbines and
aquilegias pocking everywhere (the later perhaps a bit too much of
'everywhere') is a sure sign. Deep sigh I could have cried this
morning ;o)

ps. No mention of your cats and dogs. Hope they've all had a warm and
cozy winter.



" I put the car into park, make sure I have my keys, as I have the three muttlies with me,

OoDee is on his chain leash (he's an escape artist, I hook him
immediately upon his jumping into the van to go on another adventure
after the last escape that caused me unnecessary worries and angst,

Sugar or OoDee tend to lock me out of my own vehicle now, (Rose used
to do this,

so I tend to say that "Rose lives" when they exhibit traits of her,
and OoDee never had the pleasure to meet the grand Dame....nor Smeagol,
come to think of it.

I jumped out of the van and carefully and quietly move towards the
four strand barbwire and look into the sunken area that used to be a cow
pond.

The noise is almost deafening. I focus and see little holes
pockmarking the whole red clay embankment of the sunken "pond".
Wow.........."


here's the first part mentioning the "muttlies" (oldest is Sugar, then
Smeagol, and the youngest new chew toy for the other two, OoDee (other
dawg). g

" Once home, the bug had bitten me. I let the menfolk unload the van,

turned the dawgs loose at Miz Mary's house to run and tear around her
house

and play their grappling games and do a tinkle or five (two of them
are boyz)

and then I was off to look at my own affairs with Fairy Holler."

here's the second mention of the dawgs.........lol

Inside, I discovered that someone had called the mutts in and they were frantically waiting for mama to come inside.

Lots of canine love, then turning, I saw the meatloaf cat, the great
Pudd (aka, Polluxx) waiting for his own greeting.

He greeted me like the dogs, only he did a pretty good "Skexis"
impersonation (remember those creatures in "Dark Crystal"?

Pudd sounds exactly like them, only quieter) and asked me "hmmm??
where you been Ma????" and I gave him a scritch and moved towards the
nook to try and write a bit after washing my dirty fingers off.....where
did I get dirty fingers? Oh yeah...pulling honeysuckle, transplanting a
crocus, trying to tear out one strawberry plant.....little things like
that. yeah. I love it. First smudgy fingers! Let Spring begin~!

Oh, and since I'm getting ye attentions, it's almost officially spring, because now it's the 5th

and Maggie the only female feline I have now, had broken the code and
brought me the first dead vole!!

Until later, and I promise maddie is back!"


as you see, sugar, I mentioned my hair bags a few times! LOL no harm
though. As with the fairies and flowers, it wouldn't be maddie in Fairy
Holler without the adventures or mentions of the hair bags and
misadventures of the canines, felines and flying dinosaurs! Your own
sharing with me of your emerging spring and bringing tears to your eyes
were enough to bring tears to MY eyes! The return of these things that
warm my soul and make me cry show me that it's a good day to feel
blessed to just wake up and smell and hear and feel and see.......thanks
for your share. (I have Columbine leaves unfurling everywhere. In pots,
in unexpected places when I look hard through the rapidly dwindling
browns of the raised fairy gardens. I need to get over my reluctance of
clearing "too soon" and just do it despite the protests of the flying
dinosaurs for removing precious perches). More and more greens are
erupting in the beds. TOO MANY wild green onions (or ramps as the locals
call them, too strong for ME to taste or eat) that will require the
shovel to remove them.....two clumps of them so large I'll have an empty
spot to plug something into....hmmmmmm.........I have vinca by the shed
loads, so much that it's extremely daunting to me. Overwhelmed is NOT
the word...I need the assistance of the Englishman over in Bournemouth
who loves to garden as much if not more than I to assist me... g it's
always nicer to have the help of extra willing hands that know a weed
from a flower......good friends are a treasure and blessing. He's just
a wee bit too far away to be of much help with these quickly sprouting,
growing, infestations LOL

The outside beckons me even as I answer and write to you, and already,
it's afternoon for you there in the UK. I have Nigella "Chocolate
Sundae" to sow, and Amapola californiana (California poppies, "Mission
Bells") to sprinkle in sunny, hot, dry area's, and one lone package of
Poppy "purple Peony" to hope it's still chilly enough to encourage
germination. (forgot to freeze them for stratification....things on me
mind, you know).

I have a bit of running to do, that will stir my blood. If I lived
closer in towards town (town is six miles away, I am on the outskirts
and just "out of town limits" far enough to not be able to walk anywhere
that I have business with....)I'd be able to at least go to the grocery
store, but that's temptation I can do without. (I am a food pack rat
LOL)Gasoline is rising in prices. I see that the emerging of Spring's
flowers also encourages the dormant greed of money in the oil
barons.....sometimes I foolishly wish to live where I WERE closer and
not as dependent upon the fossil fueled vehicle. But then I'd sacrifice
the joys of Fairy Holler and this ridge where I reside.......it's enough
to have to deal with the lower wood's neighbor's hunting dogs when they
escape and root out the hidden skunks behind my own house in MY woods (I
am enclosed in chain link fencing, if you forgot, but the gate is NEVER
closed......) I'm grateful, somewhat, but the last encounter and finding
out that they sometimes DO escape their fetters, and the revelation from
the neighbor when I gave him the skunk de-scenting recipe to wash them
efficiently that they "tree" anything....coons, possoms,
cats.......CATS?? yep, apparently they do no harm, but they tree cats
quite effectively. Which is where Pudd had disappeared to for almost
three days......he showed back up, haggard, a bit thinner, and VERY
grateful to be home......I kept telling son that the overweight hair bag
was missing and he said he was just hiding....why do they not believe
us? Especially when we had that episode of Pudd being struck by
lightening that left him blinded in his left eye and with a ravenous
craving for dog food kibbles......(his personality is assured, he's
accomplished jumping to railings and we had a celebratory moment when he
negotiated the balcony with lots of encouragements from Miguel (son) and
we praised him with the gravy from canned cat food mush usually reserved
for old Krusty the Kat aka Pesters.......Pudd LOVES the gravy LOL

enough of this ramble back atcha. keep in touch sweet gardener over the
pond as you're able. I'm back in writing form, as you see....fulla
werds as always

maddie up on the sunny and awesome ridge, back in Fairy Holler,
overlooking a greening up English Mountain in Eastern Tennessee (where
we're in high burn alert with the dryness and lack of moisture thus far)
zone 7, Sunset zone 36