Days in May

Those who follow Bovey Belle may have seen photos of her recent baking spree.

I knew that I had to have a Lemon Drizzle Cake.

It was easy to find recipes on line but most were from UK sites so the measurements weren't do-able for me.

I eventually found one with the ingredients listed in familiar cups, tablespoons and teaspoons.

The top of the cake browned a bit more than necessary [I'm still learning this oven] but the cake is moist--and very lemon-y.

You can see that I grated a goodly amount of lemon zest and added the pulp to the freshly-squeezed lemon for the 'drizzle' topping.

The side porch steps are flanked by rugosas.

When I noted the first stripe of deep color on the buds I hoped they might be Roseraie de l'Hay--a long time favorite.

Instead the blooms are 5 petaled, soft and blowsy. 

I'm curious whether the bush on the right of the steps will be the same.

Two more smaller rugosas grow in a bed flanking the walk.

As yet those are not budded. 

Sweet-scented.

Old roses have such interesting histories--and rugosas are always unpretentious and wonderfully hardy.

My largest rosemary, sadly, is showing the effects of severe frost damage.

The rosemarys were nipped by a surprise frost in mid autumn before I had moved them inside from the porch.

My two remaining large ones spent the rest of the winter in the small basement room here.

More damage during the horrible weather of February when temps went below freezing overnight near the basement window.

I have done some pruning and set the plant on the side porch.

It appears that more dead branches need to be removed.

I can't bear to abandon this as long as there is hope of renewal.

This one had some frost damage as well, but was not as close to the window in the basement.

It began pushing out new foliage before I moved it onto the porch.  Much of the new growth was pale and lax, but it seems to be reviving. 

Darling Nellie on the retaining wall that flanks the front drive.

The wall extends the length of the house and along the drive to the rear of the stable.

There are semi-circular metal 'loops' set at intervals in the concrete of the wall top--used to hitch Amish horses when visitors arrived in their buggies.

Nellie, showing off for my camera. He doesn't seem to realize that rolling about on a narrow ledge is courting a tumble.

Nellie in the act of jumping down from the wall.

The garden plot on the south side of the workshop.

The shop was built only a few months before we acquired the property. 

Topsoil/fill was hauled in.

As winter approached we discovered that the soil contained a liberal amount of turnip seed, a popular cover crop in the area.

Before the heavy snows arrived, I tweaked out turnip plants whenever I spent time in the yard.

During the rainy weeks of  March and April the turnips grew with a vengeance, becoming thick-rooted plants with tops rapidly  flowering and starting to form yet more seeds.

If you look beyond the tractor you will see the area that has to be cleared by hand before the small walk-behind tiller can be used. The guy wires anchoring the utility pole are driven into the ground in the near corner, which is bolstered with railroad ties. 

I'm thinking the most practical use is to establish some perennials there--with several of my salvaged roses in that triangular space which will be difficult to tend.

Tonight we set out tomato, melon and pepper plants. 

Jim sowed a row of corn and one of green beans.

We will be gardening, at least for this season, in a much smaller space than previously.

Perhaps that is not a bad thing, but it will present a learning curve.

Most of the soil on our hillside is gravel-based. 

There is potential to build up several areas with compost and hauled-in topsoil.

I ask myself if we have the available years and physical stamina to accomplish that when there are so many projects needing to be done.

The cellar cold pantry shelves are still well-laden with green beans and tomatoes which I 'put up' last season. We live a few miles down the road from a produce farm where we could buy that which we don't raise this year. We are now a 15-20 minute drive from the Mennonite produce auction.

We do have options available--although nothing quite compares with the satisfaction of 'growing your own!'

The delicate flowers of early springtime have passed their first beauty.

If you look closely at this photo you can see that seed pods were already forming along the stalks.

I haven't been able to identify this plant.

Today the temperature reached 85 F in the afternoon--so quickly the 'floor' of the woodland is becoming a mass of lush greenery--the flowers giving way to the heat.

Although we have moved merely from one end of the county to the other, the changes in soil and native plants provides a continuing interest.