Friday, April 9, 2010

A Spring Rain is a Lovesome Thing

'Red sky at morning -- sailor take warning.'

Though it was more of a pinkish-orange than red, Thursday's sky did, indeed, foretell rain.

I managed to do a bit in the garden -- tidying up the asparagus beds. pruning the black pussy willow, and planting some sugar snap peas and mesclun -- before the clouds rolled in and the rain drops drove me back to the house.
The recent hot days have dried things out amazingly fast and the rain was most welcome -- especially as there've been brush fires in the area.
Such a pleasure to see the drops pocking the surface of the fish pool. . .
...making the periwinkle glisten...
... and setting an evergreen a-twinkle with tiny lights.
The tulips blushed pink with pleasure and the forsythia was a joyous yellow burst against the new-mown grass's emerald green.

A spring rain is a lovesome thing.


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14 comments:

joanna said...

A beautiful place you live in -- washed clean with spring rains --

Lovely photos, too

Joanny

Martin said...

More great photographs Vicki. My favourite being, "..setting an evergreen a-twinkle with tiny lights."

Pat in east TN said...

Beautiful pictures Vicki!

The rains were more then welcome here too. Our record setting high temperatures the past several days dried everything up amazingly fast, so a 3/4" soaker sure helped.

Subby said...

Was a bit foggy last night, as I went to wrok...now even more so as the rain heads in.

And being as I was one, I know all about the "sailor's warning"...ahem...quite.

Preference: Sunset or Sunrise?

Carol Murdock said...

Hey Vicki~ it washes away that pollen dust too! I'm really loving Spring this year! I hope you guys don't get a freeze! You might want to put your JC in a 3 gallon bucket and let it get a good start before putting it in the ground, that's what i do with the Heirlooms and it has worked well!
Have a great weekend! XOXO :)

Vicki Lane said...

We got an inch -- so welcome in relieving (for a while at least) the threat of brush fires and for getting the pollen out of the air. (My car has been yellow with it.)

Subby - I'll have to say sunrise as I see it every morning and rarely see a sunset - our house sits on the eastern slope of a mountain which eliminates our sunset view.

Carol -- we may have a freeze tonight -- the JC is in the greenhouse. I've got it in a larger pot as you suggested!

Jean Baardsen said...

Lovely! The periwinkle against the wet rocks is my favorite, with the evergreens a very close second. It rained, with thunderstorms, most of the night -here at the opposite end of the state.

Tess Kincaid said...

Glorious pics. It's always a treat to see your skies, Vicki. It's a cold, dark rainy day in Dublin. Ohio, that is.

Kat van Rooyen said...

Oh, I so agree with you! I find such delight in seeing your photos since I am homebound except for rare, no shorter than 30 days passed, trips to the doctor.

BEAUTIFUL! And our periwinkles are peeking their gorgeous heads out as well, though we are a little cooler here (and behind schedule) than you. Our daffodils are still riotous though many are now gone. Few more days to enjoy them...

LOVE your blog, Vicki!

K., in southwest Virginia

Vicki Lane said...

Jean, did you know that another name for periwinkle is joy-of-the-ground? Such a lovely name!

Willow -- our rain has passed and it's bright and clear and chilly here.

Quilter Bear -- The only thing that can resign me to the daffodils' leaving is that the iris will bbe in bloom soon!

NCmountainwoman said...

Oh, it was a rain most welcome here as well. Beautiful photographs.

Vagabonde said...

You must have a lovely garden. My husband has been trying to dig in the backyard to plant rose bushes and after digging about 2 inches he has to stop because of huge rocks. When they built the house they must have filled the yard with large rocks only. You can see them on top too, it's like being on Stone Mountain. The dirt is pure red orange clay. It rained day before yesterday and some of the shallow holes still have water in them. It is so discouraging. So we keep planting in big pots, but only flowers and herbs. I just wish we could have some tomatoes – maybe we can plant them in pots too, I don’t know.

Vicki Lane said...

Thanks, Mountainwoman and Vagabonde!

Have you tried making raised beds, Vagabonde? Use railroad ties or whatever and raise them up maybe two feet and fill with soil that not pure clay. And one can certainly grow tomatoes in pots. Or one can support the local farmer's market and feel righteous about that while enjoying a variety of homegrown tomatoes!

Tipper said...

Oh the rain was so nice-and it helped the garden so much.