Death and life at the farmette

It's a dreary but warm day at the farmette. It's supposed to be sunny and the temperature is forecast to get to 23C. Which will be nice, since we're going for a barbeque at sister Sandy's later.

I had quite a shock this morning when I went out to do my early rounds of the gardens and beds. The wee phoebe nest was on the deck instead of on the downspout and there were feathers everywhere. Something had eaten the babies. Yikes.

I'm going to miss having the adult pair yell (well cheep) at me from the nearby clothesline. They were kept busy feeding the brood of, we think, three chicks. That's been going on for a few weeks now.

We have no idea what did the deed or when the killing happened, but that's nature. It gives and takes away. This episode, on top of Bea dying recently, sent me into a fit of really ugly crying. First thing in the morning. Cripes.

Before I become completely maudlin (too late?), I'll do a course correction and highlight some of the signs of life sprouting up around the place.

On my walk to the Saugeen River yesterday, I spied wild phlox (right) growing beside the snowmobile trail. My own domestic phlox is only half grown and won't produce anything for another few weeks.

There, as here at the property, the honeysuckle bushes are vibrating with blooms.

We inherited

wonderful lemon lilies that were growing on the west wall of the house when we moved.

They bloom every year without fail. The flowers are so delicate and the scent is, well, transcendent.

My mock orange shrub is blooming and there are lots of buds promising more fragrant blossoms to come.

I had to do a lot of re-planting on the "hedge" that I'm trying to encourage in the back yard. It was a brutal winter that knocked out a bunch of tender plants.

The row is now a bit higgledy-piggledy with bridal wreath spirea, mock orange, false spirea and a smoke bush. That's okay. I don't go in for matchy, matchy anyway.

On the interior of the farmette house, Kyle is about halfway through our kitchen paint job. He is doing his best to make the old girl shine and we can't wait to see the results. Which is next week's topic. Until then, cheers everyone.

Gratuitous cat photo courtesy of Fred, who never met a sunbeam he didn't like.