'Tis spring!

Spring is a busy season at Holly Tree Manor. The outside work ramps up and the inside of the house suffers from a lack of attention. Thankfully, we're both old enough to know a couple of dog fur dust bunnies won't harm us but tall grass harbors critters that may. This past week I talked with the cousin as he was removing a little, relatively harmless, hognose snake he found "sleeping" under his pickup. The theory is the little guy was drawn there by the residual heat off the engine. It's definitely time to watch where I put my feet when Deuce and I are in the woods. 

Last weekend, I got the mulching done around the patio and along the front porch. There is a bit more to do after I replace a rose bush that died over the winter. That will happen sometime later today. 

The plan for the new patio grilling/canning/storage area has been finalized, at least in my mind. With lumber prices being what they are, we're purchasing pre-made cabinets and countertops for a fraction of the cost of building them. It's unreal. 

Yesterday, I made a sweep around the yard and picked up those sticks large enough to damage the John Deers 370 and tossed them on the brush pile. I got the front yard mowed and decided the back could wait a day. I wanted to get soil into the food-safe five-gallon buckets in preparation for getting the pepper plants outside. After filling the buckets, we made a fast trip to the garden center for another bag of Black Kow, some peat moss, and vermiculite. Burpee's sent me an email saying my strawberries should ship soon and I need to have soil ready for them. 

One of my biggest concerns this year is digging a drainage swale in the backyard. Our property is about one-third the way up the side of a mountain and we get a lot of water flowing through during hard rains. The earth isn't static and something above has changed enough that we have a developing problem. There's no way to prevent the water from draining through so we can only attempt to manage it. Thank heavens for the John Deere 1023. 

The list of things to do goes on, seemingly into infinity. Crossing one thing off the list adds two more. It's good to stay busy but it's also good to stop and enjoy what has been accomplished. I'm sure that will happen in a few weeks when the air warms to the point that I don't need to be active to keep warm. 

Until then, spring has sprung and I'll enjoy ticking items off my to-do list and marveling at the many shades of green. 

And adding things to the list. I just noticed it's time to tie the peonies. 

The Lady of Holly Tree Manor

Walking season 2021

It seems like I've been waiting forever for the weather to turn spring-like, and today it happened. It seems appropriate as today is Easter 2021. It was 55F by about 9:30 AM so I loaded Deuce's carry bag with treats, my phone, the new video camera, and his leash, and off we went. Our destination was the pond loop. 

It's been several months since we last made that particular trek, December 13, 2020, to be precise. Unlike the last time, the creeks were running full and fast, and while I had to search for dryer crossings, Deuce was in Labrador Retriever heaven. Lots and lots of water in the creek hits his hot buttons and he jumps right in. His joy is my joy and it's wonderful to watch. Stare into Deuce's eyes and you know someone special is in there. 

Walking season 2021 will, I hope, see my journey to better health continued. Walking invigorates me, ergo, I tend to accomplish more of the things I like to do - like walking. It feeds my soul to get out in the woods away from the noise of the television, cars, and renter neighbors I wish would find another place to live. Easter Sunday is hardly a good day to terrorize the tax-paying homeowners with dirt bikes and ATVs. My family lives up here in solitude for a reason and it's called peace and quiet. But I digress...

Walking is good for me and for Deuce. The vet said he needs to lose two pounds and I'd like to lose at least ten this summer. So, off we will go. Shorter walks on workdays and longer walks on the weekends, weather permitting. The pond loop is almost three miles, and according to my Fitbit, has a lot of stairs. 

We have a new inexpensive video camera and I took it along on its maiden journey. The footage isn't very good but I learned a few things which was the point of the exercise. I'll be able to pull some still shots out and that will have to suffice. If I upload it to YouTube, it will be just to show the man of the manor, and I'll take it down after he's viewed it. It's that jumpy and jerky. Lesson one - turn on the control that helps stop the shaking. 

There were some things I didn't appreciate finding on my walk. The old trails have existed for over a hundred years and many have been commandeered by the Park Service for hiking trails. In and of itself this is not a problem, but people have no respect. The clean, unlittered trails of my girlhood are no longer unlittered. An empty Monster Energy can, a facemask, a plastic Mountian Dew bottle - you can't blame those on homesteaders forced by the State of Maryland to abandon their homes. 

This time of year it's easy to spot the old homesteads. The daffodils are blooming and it seems every old place had them. They live on, untended, and beautifully wild. They inspired me to separate a few clumps of my own daffs and replant the bulbs one-by-one in my own woods in the hope that in future years, they will remain, bright yellow and white on an Easter morning. 

The Lady of Holly Tree Manor

Cat and dog, dog and cat

A lot of my memories are tied to what dog I had at a particular time. There was Rebel, the dog of my childhood. Reba graced my teen years. Then there's a bit of a gap when I married for the first time and was absorbed in growing up. Then came the Callahan years - my companion after that first marriage ended and I lived without a human companion for many years. After Callahan, there's another short gap while I grieved the loss of a true and faithful friend. Life doesn't give you many of those, so treasure them. Then came the Jett years, and now we live in the time of Deuce. 

Ah, Deuce. Is it because he's with me now or because he IS so very special. He's far and away the most intelligent dog I've ever known. The philosophical may have to wait. 

Spring is finally here on the manor. It was above sixty degrees Fahrenheit when I arose at six o'clock this morning and that's a very good sign. I'll have to go outside after dark this evening and listen for the peeper frogs - the real harbingers of spring. 

Regardless of the season, mornings with Deuce don't vary. I get up and let him out and back in, then shower and dress. Once dressed, he and I head out for a short morning stroll during which he completes his outside activities for the morning. Being a warm morning, Loki accompanied us today. 

Loki is a fine little feline who believes he's a lion or at least a big cat. He's not. At only ten pounds, he's the smallest cat I've ever owned. But he is the most ferocious. 

We stopped long enough for me to snap a couple of pictures of the daffodils and snowglories, and Deuce and Loki put on a little show for me. I would have filmed it had I know they were about to perform, but they gave me no warning. Who knew Loki would leap from his perch and the dog would run? For about ten paces, and then the game got switched and Loki ended up in a maple tree. It may not amuse a city dweller, but my boys having fun gave me a good laugh to start the day. 

Thank you, dog and cat. 

The Lady of Holly Tree Manor

February snow, a winter's peace

 If the truth be told, I don't mind snow at all. Nature has a way of taking care of the earth and snow is just a part of it. Snow is really a marvel. It's been suggested that in the beginning, there was no rain upon the earth, just the firmament that kept everything in balance. I didn't live back then so I can't swear to any of it. 

Snow is one of the perks of living in the country. We've had snow on the ground for about two weeks and it's just as beautiful as the day it blanketed the earth. It hasn't turned gray and dingy from too many cars and buses, and too many people stomping it down to mush. 

On February 7th, we woke to falling snow. I had to wait for daylight to go outside and get pictures, but it was worth it. On what would have been my grandfather's one-hundred-eleventh birthday, the snowfall created a white cathedral here on the land he loved in his honor. I believe his spirit was here to see it. 

The Lady of Holly Tree Manor

The sap is rising

January is historically our coldest month here on the manor. Being in the Mid-Atlantic region, you could say our "cold" is relative. We rarely dip below 0F, but the low 20sF is not uncommon in January. With that said I do remember January of 1994 with no fondness. It got to -22F (yes, minus) and I had to walk in and out my lane due to the ice. To drive it risked an unfortunate encounter with the creek, as in it's difficult to stop on ice especially if your Blazer is pointed downhill! But anyway...

It's the third Sunday in January and the temperatures are hovering exactly where they should, dipping into the upper teens overnight and rising to the thirties or forties during the day. Today it's right around the freezing mark, but we have a front moving in that could bring us snow later tomorrow. Cold or not, Deuce and I went out to do a perimeter check of the property and we found good news! The tips of the maple trees are starting to show red. And not just one or two maples - all of them.

While that's definitely good - and appreciated - news, we still have the rest of January, February, and March to slog through. February is a wet month, and March is wet and windy. I could spend the afternoon going around picking up downed sticks and building a brush pile to burn, but it's still too early and too cold for that. 

And so I sit in my warm sunroom office and write. From my vantage point, the far hillside has taken on a pink blush. I even used the binoculars for a closer look. Spring is coming. Now we wait to see how fast she will arrive. 

The Lady of Holly Tree Manor

Christmas Eve 2020

 

The time draws near the birth of Christ:

The moon is hid; the night is still;

The Christmas bells from hill to hill

Answer each other in the mist.

Four voices of four hamlets round,

From far and near, on mead and moor,

Swell out and fail, as if a door

Were shut between me and the sound:

Each voice four changes on the wind,

That now dilate, and new decrease,

Peace and goodwill, goodwill and peace,

Peace and goodwill, to all mankind.

Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809-92)

The First Year

 

Today marks the one-year anniversary of the Holly Tree Manor blog. I began the blog as an alternative, or perhaps a compliment, to my writing blog Between the Keys. Sometimes personal topics don't mix well with bookish ones. 

This past year has been the most unusual year of my lifetime. The Covid-19 pandemic caught everyone off-guard. It served as a wake-up call to many, and for us, it was clear the time had come to implement a few things we'd talked, and yes joked, about. It was time to get intentional. 

We began to take up gardening again, this time with a workable plan to thwart the deer. My retirement plans were put on hold. This was not the year to give up my very good employer-paid health insurance. It helped that I was able to work from home in March, April, May, and part of June. November and December found me once again working at least part-time from home. This was certainly my silver lining for making it through the year. 

The downside of my year was a lack of focus in my writing. Or maybe it was the desire to check back into my life. This was the year I wanted to be intentional about spending more time with family. Enter Covid-19 and that was shot to hell. But I couldn't seem to shift gears from what I wanted to what I had, which was time to write. Will I ever get the focus to write back? I don't know. It's on shaky ground at the moment. 

I also lost two dear friends late in the year. Two members of my bowling team passed. Due to the pandemic, I'd opted out of the first half of the season and didn't get to spend time with them. I'll likely regret that for awhile. 

So where does the blog go from here? Do I continue? Yes, I do. It's long been proven that journaling is good for some people. This blog is my journal as much as Between the Keys. This one happens to be a lot more personal. 

As of this date, I've not opened the blog to the public. I'm sure I will do that at some future date. I've started to read blogs only to discover the blogger quit after a handful of entries. My thought is to have a substantial amount of content before going public so readers don't suffer that disappointment. 

Christmas is just days away and there are things to do, namely, get the turkey out of the freezer and discuss with Himself exactly what he wants on the menu for Christmas dinner. We'll spend the day alone together and not mind it one whit. We know the world is out there, doing as it wishes. But for us, being home at the manor is more than enough. 

The Lady of Holly Tree Manor

Snow days!

On December 16, 2020, we had a rare December snowfall. The weather folks predicted it with dire warnings - up to fifteen inches in our area. Himself and I took it with a grain of salt. Our particular micro-climate might get a snow flurry or two in December, but almost never anything like fifteen inches. Still, we prepared. 

The John Deere 1023 was fueled and ready to go. Ditto for the generator. I did the vehicle shuffle to bring the Silverado closest to the house. I'm already doing a good portion of my day job work at home but I made sure my data backup on the memory stick was as current as possible. I spent most of the day Tuesday in my day job office and came home prepared to be home until at least Thursday. It turned out to be Friday. 

Working from home is not a hardship at all. But I've learned one thing - it takes the joy out of having a "snow day." Other than the beauty of the snow, these two days haven't been very special. Thank you, Covid-19 for ruining yet one more aspect of life. 

The forecast overreached. We got four inches of powder followed by an inch of ice that was capped off with another three inches of powder. Instead of a two-day event, it was a sixteen-hour event. It began around 9 AM on Wednesday and ended around 2 AM Thursday. Thursday morning dawned with a pink, gold, and blue sky, and the sunshine lasted all day. I ran the snowblower for no good reason except to play in the snow and I captured some video and still shots. And I did do some work for the day job. 

I look forward to the days when I don't need to clean off vehicles and run the snowblower. I might have spent my day in my cozy sunroom office just enjoying the view if I were retired. When that happens, I think snow days will take on a deeper level of joy. Sometimes it's good to enjoy life as if a child. A snow day is a perfect day to do that. 

The Lady of Holly Tree Manor

A Sunday afternoon walk, December 13, 2020

the old pond 12/13/2020

This past Sunday was a beautiful December day, and I decided to see if my dog wanted to go for a walk. Deuce is a wonderful companion and he's always ready to go. I've been keeping a blog for him, from his point of view, so I can always remember these few years I'll have with him. He may be the last dog to share my life and I never want to forget him. His blog is called Deuce's Day. 

It's been a while since I've been back in the woods beyond the short trail past the reservoir. With good walking days in short supply until spring, Deuce and I set about making a large loop. We walked along an old homestead lane, crossed over to the old pond, and back down the hill past what is left of the homestead, which isn't much. A few shrubs gone wild, the remnants of an old meadow, the depressions where the house and barn stood, and old grapevines as thick as my arm are all that remains. 

And yet I bet if I walk that trail in the spring, there will be daffodils and daylilies in abundance. The forsythia row will bloom with a splendor it lacked in bygone days when it was kept pruned.

dry creekbed where I used to play

I was pleasantly surprised to find water in the old pond. Not much water, but enough to draw Deuce's attention. I'm sure all he saw was MUD PUDDLE! YES!  Ever obedient, he stopped in his tracks and came back when I called him else it would have been time for a bucket bath when we returned home. 

While I was pleased to see water in the pond, I was not so pleased to find a familiar old creek bed dry. When I was a girl, about thirteen or fourteen, myself and two girlfriends would ride our bicycles back the lane to that section of the creek and while away the hours. We built a rather substantial dam, which is still detectable, and ended up with water that was hip deep. Not a bad feat for three country kids. This creek was entirely spring-fed so I do wonder what happened. Did the earthquake of August 23, 2011, close the spring? It's possible. It's been that long since I was back there. 

Our walk was a good metaphor for life. You traverse a path both old and new and find things changed. Some changes are for good and some for not so good. Deuce and I had a great time just being outside in the woods on a sunny afternoon. 

It's a good thing we took advantage of the day. This afternoon, there are three inches of snow on the ground and it's still coming down.  It's a good day to advance old projects and dream a few new. 

The Lady of Holly Tree Manor