The Vigil Begins

The vigil for spring has begun here at the Garden Spot. Let's head out to the garden.

There's the Head Gardener now, cleaning up last year's weeds.

He had quite a mess to manage.

Would you believe that this the asparagus patch along the fence? Just you wait. I can already taste the tender, sweet sprigs.

Even dried out, sunflowers have appeal.

The blackberry bush got a radical prune

so that it can be dug up and transferred to the Back 40, a part of the place that gets little attention.

A clean slate. Now the HG will rototill, shape the growing beds, and add compost. He had planned on doing that today, but snow is on the way.

March 15: Plant potatoes and garlic

The corral got a clean sweep, too. He removed the metal fence panels that made two stalls for the boys and brought in the tractor to grade away the mess.

In the center garden out front, while the Eastern Red Bud still sleeps, the grape hyacinths are greening and if you look really carefully just breaking through the soil by the sprinkler head you will see early daffodils poking through.

Newly planted last year, the mallow shows signs of life. A big thumbs up to you sweet mallow and your two other sisters. (Do you talk to your plants?)

And what do we have here in the courtyard? Aquila peeking through last year's growth and it is only Mid February. 

One can hard tour the garden this time of the year and not take note of the work to be done in a few short weeks. This clematis will get a deep pruning this time around; since I didn't prune it last year, went rather wild.

The roses still sound asleep will be awakened once I cut them back. I always cut them back in March before they start to show signs of life just to the point on the stem where green begins to show. 

And who do we have here just peeking through? Oh, sweet crocus. 

The garden chores are beginning. One day the weather is warm and suitable for working outside, but then the next day snow is on the way. No, we are not getting slammed as the East coast is, thankfully, but my old bones do feel every bit of the cold. Today the HG rests in his chair with heat on his neck and pain in his arm. 

And now to finish up Valentine's. The warm glow of love lingers. Our little town held its first Sweetheart Lantern Festival Friday night. Oh my. It was so much fun.

For $25.00 a couple, participants received a lantern, a lighter, two sugar cookies and hot chocolate. Two bonfires kept the crowd warm until it was time launch the lanterns. The gate opened at 6 PM, when we left home, just a couple of blocks away. We had no idea of the traffic jam that would be created. We would have been smart to have walked.

We received our lantern, read the instructions. They are heart shaped, pink, and very, very delicate tissue paper. Ours, sadly, did not inflate because it had a rip in the fold when we removed it from the package. Once unfolded and the burner was lit, we held onto the lantern waiting for the heat from the flame to fill the lantern for the release.

Instead, my sweetheart had to stomp out the flame.

The first hearts have been released. Silently they drift into the night sky, sailing toward the starts.

All aglow, bright pink hearts carry away love in the night.

For those lucky enough to get their heart launched, the feeling was exhilarating.

Hundreds of glowing hearts fill the dark night sky.

Some drifted quite high and quite a ways. The cold night air, clear and crisp, was perfect for the launch. Generally we have a bit of breeze, but the air was calm with just enough stir in it to lift the lanterns away.

The town purchased 200 lanterns, and according to the newspaper, a crowd of 600 gathered at the fire department to enjoy some love at night.

Coming up this week: My friend and I are hosting our first afternoon tea for our friends and colleagues at the university. I will be baking this week, washing table clothes and napkins, ironing and starching them too. We are excited. We have talked a long time about having a tea, but now that we are both retired, we are finally going go to do it.

This is the prototype of the invitation that I made, cutting the tea pot out on my Cricut machine. We met at Sharron's where we assembled the invitations. She addressed the envelopes and delivered them to the mailboxes in the faculty workroom.

The invitation is on the back. (I didn't want to show it because our phone numbers are on it -:)). Pictures next week. 

The HG reminded me, too, that the baby chicks will arrive in 10 days. So soon? Now that will be something to blog about.

I see that it is nearly time for lunch. I plan to start applying the shingles to the Ballet Studio this afternoon. 

I wish you a fine afternoon and a fabulous week. Thanks for taking time to visit. Love your comments and I read every single one. 

Make sure to swing by Lavender Cottage to see today's Monday Mosaics.