Blossoms in Lotus

Fire Season

Heading home Monday night, we saw a plume of smoke rising into the sky. We weren’t worried because it looked like it was well east of us. As we got closer to town, we saw that the smoke was much, much closer. As we drove into town, we saw that the smoke was behind one of the neighboring hills and the gusting wind was blowing away from the house. We had planned on stopping at the local diner for dinner so we stopped and got a booth by a window so we could keep an eye on things. We figured that if we did have to evacuate, we should eat first. We saw two flatbed trucks hauling the dozers while we were eating. That was an impressive sight. We finished eating and went home and everything was fine. After arriving home I was able to log on to the online scanner and listen to the progress. No buildings were lost and everyone was safe but I have not yet heard how it started.

The Chase

Living in an area where wild animals can still live by hunting is sometimes a very odd reality, the hunting usually done outside of my awareness. Today I was very nearly in the midst of the hunt. As my husband and I drove up the road to the house we saw a rabbit tear across the road from uphill to downhill. Seconds later a coyote tore across the road and when he heard that we were nearby, he stopped and turned to look at us. Then he headed down the hill. It was one of the most exciting and incredible moments of our time here.

The coyote probably lost the rabbit but that means that the rabbit didn’t lose his life. I have great sympathy for both.

It rained today making everything so beautiful and green and sweet-smelling.

Fried Green Seedlings

Well, the sad news is that the seedlings about which I wrote (doing well, yada, yada) are no more. I think I should not have left them outside… where they fried… and died… gone is my pride…

Such is the news from up on the hill by the river.

The Lady's Not for Burning

Today was a burn day and those are likely to be few and far between in the next few months as the heat of approaching summer flirts with the threat of wildfire. So we burned. We spent several hours burning all the small branches from the tree that went into the shop. I can’t believe how hard it is to just feed branches into a flame while trying not to set the rest of the hill on fire. Still, we were successful and the branches are all reduced to a 5-foot diameter, 5-inch deep circle of ash and charcoal.

Now all we need to do is everything else. 100 feet of bare earth all around the buildings, no trees within 30 feet of the buildings, and 20 feet of bare earth on either side of all roads. Last fire season was very scary because of the number of fires — several were set by an arsonist. I heard that he was arrested. Hopefully, no one has the desire to cause such unforgivable damage this year. 

The seedlings are still growing but I’ve seen no new little friends. The herbs that I got from the college are all reasonably happy and the lemon grass is thriving. The wildflowers are still providing wonderful color. The blue, yellow, purple, red, and white against the green (and now yellowing) grass is still a thrill. It has been a great year. 

Seedlings!

I have two tiny little seedlings poking their optimistic little green leaves up over the thread-like stems. I’m so happy.

The cats are happy with the Lemon Grass plant from John. The plants are doing well. So are the hitchhiker plants that came in the pot. They might be little tiny lemon grasses or they might be something else but as they are low maintenance and seem very happy, I will wait and see what  they become.

The plants that I bought from the college are all doing well. Even both catmint plants are doing okay thanks to my recovery rotation. One plant on duty while the other recuperates.

The local wild plant that volunteered in a pot seems to be finishing up its life. I can’t seem to stop caring for it. I think the other plants have enjoyed having it around so I won’t just throw it out or stop caring for it. 

Rain

… again. End of March and all is wet. At least I put my planter boxes up on the deck to try to catch some rain. It won’t be much as the rain has been light and infrequent. Still, might as well catch some water while I can.

Seedling Mix

I found a recipe for seedling potting mix in the March/April edition of Hobby Farms. I made it up last night and put it in some seeding containers before the mosquitoes chased me in. The mix is light and smooth and beautiful.

I can wait a few days to put the seeds in so I went through my packets last night and selected my choices. At this point I don’t care about what or when so I will plant anything out of the packets that I have. Some of them are so old that I’m sure the seeds won’t grow. I will be more careful with the seeds that I bought a couple of weeks ago because they are newer and should grow nicely with a little care.

Spring Is In the Air

Spring is sprung, the grass is going nuts, and the hummingbirds are demanding sugar syrup. Most of the grass will be taken care of with weed whackers and mowers but the stuff in the road has to be poisoned. It gets too tall too fast and has a tendency to dry out suddenly making the road a fire hazard to drive.