A Walk Around This Old Farm

Greetings from Wykeham Township, Minnesota. I haven't posted for several months, and the time has gotten away from me. I make excuses. Some might be just excuses like "I was too busy,"  and others might be real reasons like "is any of this even worth doing?" Anyway I have missed doing the posts and sharing some of my life here, so I'll make another attempt. I hope you are all doing well, and if you are having any misfortunes, I hope they can be managed as best you can, and hopefully go away completely.

Man, this has been one wet, weedy, hot, summer until now. In the last two weeks, I feel the weather has given us a respite to feel somewhat civilized for once. I must say, the summer has been good for flowers and the veg. It isn't the best, because I planted the veg very late, but at least things look healthy. Some of these photos are from the whole range of July. I am a fan of day lilies and hostas, so these pictures might be a little heavy on those. I like the coolness of hostas and arborvitae evergreen trees. These are in front of the house.

Here are some hostas and day lilies in a shade garden in front of the house. There is also a dark red Asiatic lily that I planted after bringing it to church a few Easters ago in memory of my Dad.

In the same garden are a lot of these "alba marginata" hostas, green with white edges. I like them and think they give a cool "northern" look to a shady area.

As the spruce trees get older, I find it necessary to trim them up from the bottom. I've been planting a lot of native ferns around them and here I put all-green hostas in front.

Here is another place by the garage where I've done this.

Over the last few years I've put in a lot of spirea shrubs and "Stella D'Oro" day lilies down by the meadow which was once the pasture for dairy cattle. These spirea are a Japanese spirea and I like the reddish-pink flowers. The more you trim them, the more they flower. The same with these small day lilies.

Here are a couple new hostas. They're next to a garlic-related plant that smells really good when you touch it. I guess that's a personal preference, because I like the smell of onion and garlic on my hands. 

Here are some more day lilies that I've been growing. Many are very old ones that my parents had at least 35 years ago.

The veg garden is coming along but much slower than others I've seen.

I keep geraniums year to year in the basement during the winter. They are still doing pretty well. Here they are on the porch and around the house.

Finally, here are a couple more photos of some of the work in the yard and by the old dairy barn.

So that's what I've been up to the past few months. Hope you are all o.k and enjoying the summer. All the best to you. 

Phil

Many Thanks to "Far Side..." and Some Meanderings

Hello, everyone (I write as if I have this huge following)! I wanted to say a big Thank You to Connie at "Far Side of Fifty" for sending me a "snowstick" prize. I received this nice wood-carving of a little gnome house and a really neat hand-made card on Friday. It means a lot to me. If you want to follow a fun blog, please go to http://farsideoffifty.blogspot.com/ and enjoy a true-blue Minnesotan as she describes her days. I often think we have lost some of our traditional characteristics here in Minnesota, and it's refreshing to visit her and witness pride of family, generosity with time and talents, love and care for animals, and a slightly wicked sense of humor. You have to be special to regularly take your dad to bingo! Here are the nice prizes. I will be framing the card and put it with other lady's slipper items I have.

This past week has been a bonus week for animals stopping by. A big tom turkey has been visiting daily with several hens. He stands guard in all his regalia while the hens and young toms scratch through the leaves and find all sorts of good things to eat.

The deer seem to have fared well through a long hard winter. They've resumed their saunter through the farm, using the same path as last year. They've been walking through just before sun-down.

Yesterday I noticed the rhubarb is peeking up through the white pine needles. The red nubbins are such a vibrant red. The time will fly so fast and soon I'll wonder why I didn't cut more rhubarb. 

The porch needs a major scraping and re-staining, but I like the little growth of moss on the doormat that I forgot to take up last fall.

Time for coffee.

Have a good week. 

Phil

Celebrating Birch Trees

What a glorious day! There is a lot of beauty in our world. The winter is leaving us. I don't like to say anything negative about winter here in Minnesota. Winter has given us a lot, including appreciation for adversity and the patience it teaches us. I don't think we would be who we are if we didn't experience the most severe and the most beautiful season. Today I appreciate the gorgeous birch trees.

These trees are at the root of my existence. My grandpa Holum was an immigrant from Norway, and the birches connected him to his homeland. Now, they connect me to him, my grandpa "Pa." He planted them wherever he could, and talked about the white birch "legs." To Pa, they were our connection from season to season, and generation to generation.

Today I worked on some planting in the house, and I thought about my mom and dad and also of "Pa" and felt so full of a heritage that they passed down. It was a good feeling. I wonder if we don't all have this heritage, and could we all appreciate it a little more? It doesn't take a big sacrifice. In their way, they all saw the beauty of winter passing into spring. These old Norwegians used the word "cozy" so liberally. So and so was "cozy." Aunt Josephine or Aunt Annie were "cozy."  They spoke of "visiting" someone and saying they were so "cozy." They would say, after a busy day, let's just get "cozy" tonight. Coffee time was a time to be "cozy." I'll never forget it. We all need to be more "cozy."

It was kind of exciting to get some of the dahlias started in the house. Normally, I haven't done this, but it seems the growing season gets shorter and they don't bloom until the latter part of August, so I thought I'd give it a try.

I hope this works. You can see I like sour cream and ice cream.  I also started some canna roots and they're doing well. My sister gave me a Christmas gift of herbs and I hope they progress well. Oregano, rosemary, cilantro, and basil. Always hope for the best.

As you can see, there is a long way to go, the garden still has a covering of icy snow. We'll see what the week brings. I'm in no hurry. But the presence of some paltry canna sprouts in the house is a nice reminder to be "cozy" and appreciate what we have.

Everybody needs a little sunshine

I'm sorry to be gone so long, but I've been in a winter funk, and have turned into a real slacker. I haven't had much to post. I want to say thank you to new followers Flowerlady Lorraine, Mama Pea from Homegrown Journal, Sharon from Morning's Minion, Henny Penny, and TC Goatldi.

We've had a lot of snow out here in the toolies, and the temps have been pretty brutal. Maybe they just seem brutal for this time of year. I have to say, I have no memory of a colder Easter or post-Easter week.

The birds have really been going through the sunflower seeds like it's going out of style!

The squirrels have been hangin' in there too!

This grey squirrel hanging on the feeder in the last frame is the first I've seen here for a long time. Normally, only red squirrels have lived here on the farm for years.

I hope we can get some sunshine tomorrow. It makes all the difference in my outlook. Have a good weekend! 

Phil

Sleepy Sunday

Today was a quiet day here on the farm. Normally, I would go to church at 8:30, but felt I've had good luck so far avoiding a cold, and didn't want to take a chance. So I stayed home and watched the televised Catholic mass. It really isn't much different than my own denomination's service. The sun was out and the skies were clear and blue.

A crisp, clear day really brightens the spirit.

Over time, I've noticed that February is the month when the moon and sun make their appearances together later in the afternoon.

Birches are my favorite.

This pileated woodpecker appeared. They are so skittish and seem to detect the faintest sounds from the house, so it is unusual to get a good picture.

The later afternoon sky had some good color.

It was soon time for a snooze.

Have a good night.

Phil