Wow! May was quite a
month, and so full of fresh air and exercise that Mark and Hilde feel like they
have been in training. Being home and
having good weather has led to lots of things getting done and a wonderful month of flowers and greening.
The extra long winter meant that spring was compressed into a ‘fast-forward’
mode, with each day bringing new flowers and bird visitors, so the air was sweet
with fragrance and alive with birdsong.
Can’t ask for much more than that!
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| Rowan and Rhiannon like their shades! |
Mark and Hilde enjoyed tripping into the woods for the wild
flower succession, from the first bloodroot and plum brush to the lush
hepaticas, trilliums and marsh marigolds.
But they also spent many happy hours weeding the three berry batches,
cutting up, splitting and stacking the
dead wood, mowing, planting and pruning and just working outside. Since there was plenty of rain, the lawn and
gardening is off to a very good start! The major push was over Memorial Day
weekend, when both of the very large gardens were planted, just before an inch
of rain to settle things in. Mark also
yanked out the defunct cherry bush hedge, after many years of lovely
flowers. The only down side of the
outdoor work was the ticks and, in the end of the month, jumbo mosquitoes. The mosquitoes , as often seems to happen
with a short spring, were voracious even
in high sun when Hilde painted picnic tables and benches. While the ‘senior’ Henkels were aching after
some of the heaviest exertions, as Mark pointed out, ”we did it and kept doing.”
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| Mark yanking out bushes |
May was a great month for socializing and getting together
with friends. Hilde enjoyed lunches with
Alana, Donna, Claudette, the crafts gals, Dr. Stevens and meeting Mark at the
river for lunch. There were many things
to celebrate in May, with graduations, birthdays and anniversaries. Having such abundant and wonderfully scented
flowers on the fruit trees and exuberant blossom on the lilacs and bushes made
the Henkel hilltop just delightful. It
was a great month to give thanks and rejoice.
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| plum brush |
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| Coffee supervises the labor force |
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| Apple trees, cherry trees and crabapples on right--delicious promise! |
