The February Melt

Rain is melting down all the snow cover. It is the typical January thaw -just a bit late. I heard the ground hog saw his shadow, so this year I can check the accuracy of the old saw. We should have the longer winter season.

Now that Bill Murray made the Ground Hog Day movie… that is what I always think about when someone mentions the February 2nd designation. I think I’ve seen the movie one too many times…. instead of the more elegant term “deja vue” …… we say “Ground Hog Day” around here. Now there is culture deterioration. And the heretical idea that the French might be right about something.

I don’t like going out side in this weather. Maybe I am picky about winter weather. Cold, but not too cold. Nice white snow, but no ice or slush. Blustery winds, but no bone-chilling blasts. Sitting around a fire, but no errands to run. Time to read books and make my garden plans, with no bills to pay and worry about. Too picky. The unnatural expectations of the armchair gardener.

Which reminds me. When we imagine work in the yard, I have found we usually underestimate the actual effort involved. It isn’t until we are deep into the digging and hauling and pulling that we begin to pace our plans to our physical prowess.

I have been doing some reading. The combination of two books gave me some thoughts on garden journaling. One a scrapbooking how-to describes a grandmothers beloved scrapbook which was filled with carefully cutout pictures of things like fruits and vegetables, etc. and the other book was a modern version of the Country Diary I posted on, earlier.

The idea was that if we don’t have the artistic desire to watercolor our journals, we could use scrapbooking techniques to brighten them up. That is, if we want something more than utilitarian notes. It was just an idea.

Here are the books I was reading:

The Painted Garden is full of modern watercolor flowers and many garden related quotes in handwriting form. For my taste, I prefer the Country Garden Diary, but this has its appeal, too.