May in Vermont

Below are excerpts from Ellen’s journal. She has kept her Walden Hill Journal going since we moved from Illinois. We hope you enjoy reading them for a vicarious experience of Vermont.

May 1, 2007 May has begun very spring-like with the cheeriness and warmth of the sun. It was a good day for the Gould well people to pull out our line and repair some frayed wires. So now our water that abruptly stopped running yesterday is back up and functioning. It was an interesting education for me to see what all is down the well head. The road is drying nicely and finally firm enough for a stroll or even a brisk walk. Patches of snow linger on the White Mountains and in the woods but flickers are back aerating the lawn and the creaking, quacking sound of frantic frogs congregating in the overflowing ponds, place us at winter’s end. Coltsfoot is in bloom as is our pulmonaria. Green shoots of blossoms to come are bravely breaking through the warming soil.

May 3, 2007 We’re enjoying 3 days in a row of beautiful sunshine. The temperature remains a bit on the cool side but the warmth of the sun goes a long way to brighten the day. One pair of swallows has set up house keeping in our oldest bird house. The female appears to be nesting while the male flies to the box to feed her. There’s still no sign of bluebirds but hopefully they’ll be here soon. Meanwhile I’ve cleaned out and mopped the mud room, put away the snowshoes and put the snow shovel into the garage. It’s handy though, just in case. Yesterday we attempted to hike to Cheever Falls. Massive logging has been going on so the usually narrow trail was obliterated by wide, muddy and debris- strewn logging roads. We found the cascading stream but not the falls. I think we may have ventured too far upstream. It was a beautiful day for a hike despite the fact that our main goal remained illusive.

May 6, 2007 May is batting 1000 for sunny days. Yesterday was perfect Greenup weather until the wind picked up close to noon. We managed 2 1/2 bags full from the top of our property to Cross Country Lane, along with 4 tires and various chunks of metal debris. Our grass is also greening up and the garden is tilled. We’ll need to add our annual manure and then wait for the ground to warm up a bit. On a stroll through the field I discovered an abandoned robin’s nest with one beautiful blue egg. I’m surprised that something hadn’t eaten the unprotected egg. We’re continuing to leave our bird feeders inside. The Sicards had a bear on their front porch, devouring their bird seed—a cautionary tale indeed. Once our second Pumpkin Hill concert is over today, I’ll start on more rigorous outdoor cleanup chores. For now I need to keep my hands and fingernails in guitar playing mode.

May 9, 2007 Bright sunshine is giving way to clouds. That’s often the case when I hang out the laundry. Screens are in and a mild 70° breeze is airing out the house. The cats are particularly interested in those outdoor smells. We’ve been doing some spring cleaning and chores. Jeff tackled removing the triple panes and washing the windows on the east side of the house while I cleaned up las year’s hosta debris lining the stairs. I had purposely left the dried stalks on over the winter to mark the stairs for shoveling. The snow often obliterates their exact location. We’ve been weeding out the asparagus bed to allow those tender spears to break through when they’re ready. I've also begun raking stones back onto the drive. We’ve both been redistributing those miles of dirt mounds left by the moles. Grass is greening and poplars are donning early spring green leaves. Our decorative bushes are finally springing back after being bent from the snow.

May 11, 2007 Vermont’s other foliage season is well underway. After two days of high 70’s and 80’s, early buds have burst forth in a variety of pastel shades of green punctuated by the rust red of maples. Tamarack needles soften the once bare trees. Shad blossoms remain closed but won’t need much more encouragement to open. Lilac blossoms are just a hint of what’s to come. I gave into this perfect spring day and planted snow peas. They got a helpful watering from the afternoon rain storm. A few shad blossoms got whatever they needed in today’s weather and this evening have opened, filling the air with delicate white blossoms. A couple of asparagus spears have appeared above the ground as well. We retained enough of a breeze for me to do some weeding without my bug attire. I did, however, don my netting to plant the peas. I’ve been doing some repotting in my solarium garden as well and have a nice collection of kohlrabi and basil in various size pots on the window sill.

May 13, 2007 Sunny but only in the 50’s today and very windy. I’m attempting to line dry the laundry but will probably need the help of the dryer. Took an afternoon hike via our new connecting path to the main logging road and then circled back through the woods. Marsh marigolds are blooming profusely in the usual spot. A few trout lilies and blood trillium are in bloom as well. Pileated woodpeckers have been busy chiseling huge holes in what’s left of an old maple trunk. Fresh large chips of wood litter the ground. Beaver have been busy cutting smaller poplars and have dammed a large pond near the logging road. They’re maintaining a massive lodge there. The “abandoned” robin’s nest now has 4 beautiful blue eggs and is tended by a vigilant female who scolds us vociferously if we venture too close. I’m having to detour from the main path a bit to give her some privacy.

May 15, 2007 We’re getting some much needed rain today. My newly planted snowpeas, lettuce, spinach and cilantro seeds will do well with a steady soaking. Perennial gardens are in various stages of weeding and transplanting so will do well with the rain too. Jeff finished building the first of two row cages to deter destructive visitors from invading the garden. At the moment, it’s covering the snowpeas to keep the crows from pecking out the fresh sprouts. We’ll move it once the peas are established and cover kohlrabi, chard and kale to encourage the deer to graze elsewhere. I picked our first asparagus stalk yesterday and added it to a stirfry supper. Another first was a humming bird whose bass buzzing I heard before seeing that miniature gem. The hummers will have to make do with spring flowers until we return from Florida and can tend the feeders. Meanwhile it’s a good day to give my back a rest and tend to some indoor chores.

May 24, 2007 A very peaceful, sunny morning. Sunrise has progressed as far north as our lower drive and will journey a bit further yet before turning to begin its southward path. Spring has burst forth in the week we were gone. Spring green is everywhere with trees approaching full leaf. Shads are at the end of their blooming and now it’s the turn of the apple trees, wild and decorative, to perfume the air and dazzle our vision. We had a rare treat last night, birding with Charlie Brown and the local, newly formed Passumpsic Naturalists. It was a perfect spring evening for a leisurely field, woodland and roadside stroll, stopping along the way to identify quite a variety of birdsong. I now have names for a few of my regular evening serenaders. The ever-present heard but not seen ovenbird, the slurringly melodic red breasted grosbeak and the short but repetitive, key changing hermit thrush were a few of the songsters we heard. A sonagraphic presentation afterwards made for a pleasant and educational evening. A slice of pizza before hand left us well fortified for our hour-long walk in beautiful East Peacham.

May 26, 2007 Cool, breezy and sunny today. A welcome relief after two days of August haze and temperatures well into the 80’s. It was a perfect morning for stacking our first two loads of wood. A small snake in the woodpile kept seeking new hiding spots which we constantly uncovered. He finally wizened up and slithered over into the stacked wood. The firewood is beautifully cut and split with no rounds or punky pieces. We’re very fortunate indeed to have the Foxes supplying our wood. They deliver fine quality wood, early enough for it to season before bringing it in for the winter. What great neighbors! I spent the afternoon in the garden, replanting lettuce and cilantro and doing a first planting of chard. Kohlrabi and tomatoes are hardening up in the cold frame. I dug a new bed by our Yankee Doodle lilac bush and planted a baker’s dozen of dahlia bulbs. Hopefully they’ll bloom earlier in this sunnier location. Deer have been out pawing in the grass by our laundry pole. They’ve managed to dig out several areas. I’m not sure why they dig up the ground this time of year but they consistently paw over the same area each spring.

May 31, 2007 May is ending on a misty, moisty note after several glorious sunny days. It was a bright warm colorful welcome for mom to begin her move to New England. Apple trees are in full bloom and profuse lilac blossoms perfume the air. Swallowtail butterflies haven’t arrived yet but they can’t be far behind. The bird feeder is a popular place and very colorful with goldfinch, purple finch, rosebreasted grosbeaks and even an indigo bunting. I have yet to see bluebirds. They must be nesting elsewhere. Humming birds are a constant visitor as are our year-round resident chickadees. Asparagus are tender and plentiful. Snowpeas are well-established in the garden but not much else has come up yet. Kohlrabi, basil and tomato plants are hardening off in the cold frame. Today’s steadying rain is just what they need. Kohlrabi can go in the ground soon but tomatoes and basil should wait for tomorrow’s full moon to pass and hopefully take with it any possibility of a June frost.