What a glorious Upper New York State morning! It is a lovely 53 degrees, our feathered friends announced dawn’s arrival with their melodious songs and it is overcast with thunderstorms in the forecast for this afternoon. If we are fortunate… they may develop into some those extraordinary Upper New York State rolling thunderstorms.
This weekend we watched with sorrow, but understood the reality of age, as two of our beautiful maple trees came down. Limb by limb they fell… As the saws felled the branches, our feathered friends fled in terror, knowing their shelter was disappearing.
It was fascinating watching the branches fall one by one. Then,
the trunks had to be secured, cut into sections then inch by inch cautiously lifted over our power lines.
When they finished removing the trees, we were relieved to see
that they truly were hollow… ready to fall without a moments notice. But, to celebrate their lives we had the men cut us logs from the trunks that we can use as planters in the yard.
Now that the trees have been removed, we planted our three dwarf cherry trees in their place. While working in the yard we realized that on windy days, we had planted our wisteria in an area that formed a wind tunnel. Their beautiful flowers battered and destroyed by the whipping of the wind. So we transferred them to a more sheltered location by our walkway in front of the house.
As each day Spring day arrives we discover new surprises in our yard. This weekend we discovered two peonies… one Fern Peony from the Russian Ukraine area and one Tree Peony, the national favorite in its native China. I love peonies! Always wanted peonies!
Now we are blessed with not one, but two peonies! And, as a side note… in the Oriental culture peonies represent peace. How perfect to have peonies representing peace at our Tranquility Cottage!
Neighbors continue to wave, welcome, and stop by to introduce themselves. This weekend we met another vivacious neighbor from across the street three houses down. She is delightful… as all our neighbors and everyone in Gloversville has been that we have had the privilege of meeting. Scott had met her husband earlier. So now we know our neighbors beside us and across the street three houses down. The house directly across the street is vacant. We just know that when it is lived in again, they will be lovely neighbors too…
