WATCHING AND WAITING

Gardening is on the back burner.  I should be starting seeds but so much has been getting in the way.  The amount of snow the Midwest is having is a real drag.  I am spending my days trying to put my house back in order.  This past summer I spent every waking moment involved in the garden.   This year has to be different.  As much as I love the garden and being outside I was totally burned out by the end of the season.

Meanwhile I am watching and waiting for the first sign of spring.  I am watching our skies and our bird feeders.  After the snow Friday night the feeder was loaded.  Sure wish they would stand still a minute while I took their pictures.  This is one of only a couple of Jays we have. 

 Last year we had a deluge of Jays but this year hardly any. 

We have been having a couple of pairs of Cardinals but they are very shy,

 another bird flying in startles them.

Later in the day I decided to put the food in dishes.  I used the Tupperware hamburger patty maker dishes. They worked great and the birds really like having their food separated according to kind. 

A little wren and a junco enjoying lunch.  The wren is picking through the leftover parrot food from our parrots.  We have two varieties of juncos that visit the feeder.  We tried chicken layer in one of the pans.  The birds, so far, barely touch it.  I wish I had some really great pictures of the birds but alas the light and the flighty birds aren't cooperating for taking pics.

Saturday morning watching for the birds and wondering when the snow will stop.

Meanwhile I do have to get my act together and think about seeds for planting,

as well as seeds for the birds.  I hope you are having a warm, sun filled day.

Thank you for stopping by.

SUPPER SURPRISE

Which was also a super surprise.  We had been working outside part of the day.  Bringing in the wood from this pile for the stove (we had to dig it out of the snow in the blog pix..lol).  We do not heat just with wood heat.  It is just an auxiliary support system.  But I am spoiled by it (We used to heat only with wood).  I can maintain a 71 through the day with the stove and it feels so warm and cozy, but when I only use the electric heat at the same temp, I am running for a sweater.  

When we are working at heavy work all day the last thing I want to do is cook (cooking is one of my favorite things).  Searching through the cabinets and freezer for something quick I realized I had the gnawing hunger for pasta.  I normally make my own pasta but do have a supply of "store bought".  (Have you ever tried cooking pasta in the crock pot?  Works real good unless you like aldente pasta, then you have to watch it close.)  Pasta can be a very quick meal. 

Barilla pasta had a sale a couple of weeks ago and I bought several varieties that I had never tried.  I have favorite styles, one of which is Angel hair.  My least favorite is spaghetti.  There was this pasta called Campanelle.  A rolled noodle with a fluted edge  pasta (another favorite is scroodles).  I decided this would be the one I used tonight.

First I put the water up to boil and then diced a huge onion (I can't make any kind of pasta without onions in it.)  Put them on to saute' and went in search of what could make a sauce.  We love creamy sauces.  In the freezer I found a sandwich bag filled with chopped lambs quarters (we don't raise spinach anymore because we have all this free food growing on the compost piles and manure piles.)  I've never had spinach on pasta and never seen it done that way but thought I'd try.  The onions are sauteing in 3 tablespoons of butter and the water is at a boil, dumped in 8 ounces of pasta and some salt and proceeded to thaw the lambs quarters quickly in the microwave (not completely, just enough so I can break it up into small chunks. ) 

When the onions are nice and translucent I add 3 tablespoons of flour and make a roux of it.  I stir in one cup of water (you could add chicken broth if you have it handy).  I didn't have any prepared broth but I do have a product in the fridge called chicken base.  It works admirably as well.  When the roux starts to thicken I throw in the spinach (lambs quarters) and it thaws and adds more liquid to the pan.  If that isn't enough I add more water.  The pasta is done at this point and I drain it and stir on the sauce. 

Wow is all I can say, but I love creamed spinach.  It was like I had this huge serving of creamed spinach.   For serving I topped each plate with a fine grated boiled egg (that added protein).    The capanelle pasta was like having nice thick egg noodles.   It held all the sauce inside all the rolled edges.  I can see this also served with a chicken breast...or grilled shrimp.  We didn't put cheese on it but I know it would be grand. On this night it was great comfort food for two tired bodies that just wanted to veg out! (and it was ready in less than 20 minutes with minor effort).

 

Only 54 days to spring!

WARNING, THIN ICE!

As you can see from the blog title we have been introduced to the first ice situation.  there was only about 1/10 of an inch of ice but it has caused a major traffic problem.  Starting at 7 o'clock last night.  We don't live too far from the interstate 44.  There was a jackknifed tractor trailer going west on 44 and it backed up the traffic for over 7 miles.  The people sat still for over 3 hours polluting the environment (wishing they were already to their destination). 

Needless to say with our quarter of a mile drive Hunny is waiting till later to go in to work.  Right now he is walking carefully down the drive spreading ashes from the fireplace hoping to give some traction or to start the melting process.  Being it is still around 12 degrees in our valley I doubt that is going to happen.  The drive is at least a 45 degree slope at the top and at the bottom of the 45 is a left angled turn.  If you don't make the turn, you are plowing a furrow down a 60 degree slope.

The garden is covered in the light snow from 3 days ago  The ice is sealing the crust.  All the barn cats are snuggled in their tents inside the barn.  Yes we make little cubby holes for them.  They maybe wild, but they keep the snakes and mice away and they use the litter box in the barn so we take care of them.  We feed them and there are lots of critters on the ground for them to hunt.  We have been very fortunate They do not seem to relish our birds.  We only find evidence of less than a bird a month demise.

Wish I had some photos to share,

The bird feeder is quite busy today,

They fly in and out, don't seem to care,

Don't even stop, a thank you to say.

The cardinals threaten the jays,

The chickadees could care less,

The nuthatches just want to play,

While the snowbirds join the fest.

Popcorn and dog food are a woodpeckers treat,

The small birds love what our parrots don't eat,

Fresh water is handy in a bowl near by,

We've only seen little birds give it a try.

Please give feeding them a try,

Black oil sunflower seeds are the best to buy,

They attract the most variety of all the seeds,

Get ready to see fun antics and ridiculous deeds.

Other Blogs by me:
http://glosgarden.blogspot.com/

http://gloriouscreations.blogspot.com/

COEXISTING WITH BEASTIES

Some how coexisting is a strange choice of words.  Most of the beasties around here take their quarter measure and my measure too.  We have both beneficial and detrimental insects and amphibians and mammals.  I am going to take time to share with you some pictures of our "Friends" and "Acquaintances".

This mature Mantis is perched on one of my David Austin roses.  This year I have seen baby mantises every where.  They are only an inch long, exact replicas of their Moms and Pops.   I love to watch them when they are stalking their prey.  Swiftly they grab them and give them a crunch.  It's like they are dining on a lobster "Splash" style (remember the Tom hanks movie with Darryl  Hannah".

One day while mowing in the lower pasture I spied a wondrous sight. It was  a "wonder" I saw it at all.  I was edging beside the area where I dump the grass clippings.  Growing along the edge were some Daisies. On one of the petals was a Crab Spider.  I did not own a camera at the time (that has since been rectified). 

I called my husband and told him I wished he was home to take the picture.  I told him to check when he came home to see if the spider was still there.  Wonders of wonders, four hours later the wind had not blown him away and he had not ran off chasing his next meal.  

The next beastie is what got me to thinking about writing this blog and sharing some of our friends.  Yesterday while bent over pulling weeds, I was stung on the posterior.  Our friendly neighborhood wasp decided I was threatening his territory.

This wasp was in the goldenrod last year.   We have found a fix-it for when we do get stung or bit by insects.  It works every time we have tried it.  (We used to raise bees and an old time bee keeper told us about his solution to the painful prospects of getting stung.)

When you get stung, head under your kitchen sink.  Grab your jar of cleaning Ammonia.  It is preferable to have non-sudsing, but the sudsing works too.  Even a product like floor polish with Ammonia "D" worked in an emergency.  (I don't recommend using off products though, LOL.)

Saturate a cotton ball with ammonia.  Hold the cotton ball on the sting or bite for 5 minutes.  Pain relief is usually immediate.  If you get stung on the face wet cotton balls with water and cover your eyes and nose.  The fumes will not be good for them.  Other wise I have never noticed any detrimental effects to the cotton ball saturated with ammonia. This should be done within the first 20 minutes of getting stung. 

This leopard frog travels all over my garden.  He jumps out and startles me at the most inconvenient times. 

He is in one of the many "mini" pools I have around the garden.  We used to have farm animals, their feeders remain.  The round ones are made from recycled tires.  They are about 5 inches deep.  I fill them with rocks and water.  The butterflies, dragon flies and frogs love them (the barn cats do too).  Around eleven in the morning he is usually soaking in the water basking in a sun beam.  He seems to know I wash the pools each day. See the purple reflection in the water.  This pool is under my Beauty Berry Bush.

My Echinacia is on it's last leg.  The horrible Japanese beetles have dined on its petals.  These Hornets don't seem to mind.  They are collecting pollen and nectar for themselves.

One of the most look forward to beasties every year is the orange garden spider.  Usually before I see her I see her web with the zipper like weaving.

She is the spider the story Charlotte's web was written about.

She is wrapping her lunch up for later.

Her sister lives in the green house and she has laid her eggs in a secure nest in a protected environment. 

Coexisting does not even describe our relationship with the ground hog.  We wish there was not a relationship at all.  We have had lots of ground hogs but there has been one who has been around for at least 3 years.  He weighs, we guess from his size, at least 40 lbs (we seldom see him now).  We use a raccoon trap to try to catch him. He is so big, he realizes he can steal the bait and his rump will hold the door open.  He just backs out of the trap (after eating the apples we baited it with).  He seems to know when we are at the barn.  The following is a minute portion of the damage he does every year.

 

While taking a picture of a bean blossom, this pest added insult to injury.  He flew in to taunt the photographer.  We have a large population of these spotted cucumber beetles, although this year it seems there are fewer than in previous years.

This blog would not be complete with out a discussion of mosquitoes and chiggers.  Summer in Missouri is not summer without them.  I grew up in the boot heel and the mosquitoes were rampant, and the chiggers, well this unseen pest made life miserable.  

I have a preventative of the chigger blues.  Do not ever wear clothes that you wore the night before, even if they look perfectly clean.  chiggers hide in the seams and when you put them on the next day the little buggers are starved and come out to dine on your flesh.  When I spend all day in the yard I always change clothes (down to the underwear) halfway though the day.  since I began this I haven't had a single chigger bite. 

To fight off mosquitoes I don't invite them.  I don't wear any lotions or deodorants with fragrance.  For the afternoon change of clothes they are always white or light colored, over sized, very loose.  Dark colors invite them to bite and tight fitting let them get close enough.  If it is humid or your clothes are damp you will for sure get bitten (Have you noticed how around a source of water they are congregated?).  I have to admit there are those people (like my hunny) Who, no matter what they do, are bitten).

Hopefully next gardening season a couple of my hints

will help you coexist with your beaties.

    

BEAUTY UNDERFOOT

Watch where you step,

Amazing things are there,

Don't disturb the forest floor,

Walk with care.

Leaves on the ground,

Set a fiery stage,

For the autumn mystery,

The wind will turn the page.

Exposing surprises

For me and you to see,

Tread lightly in the woods,

 Awesome sights await thee.

 

 

For more blogs by me, visit at:

http://gloriouscreations.blogspot.com

A blog mostly about quilting,

but cooking, poetry, prose and a little gardening,

New blog, tutorial on how to make 5 panel Boxer Shorts.

New Blog about dolls.

http://glosgarden.blogspot.com/

Not a garden blog.

There are articles which have nothing to do

with creating or gardening.

There are blogs on the new born baby kittens

we found and mothered.

It is a blog where I voice my opinions which will always be environmentally friendly.

As always, any pictures or writings are my own.

Credit has been given to contributions not my own.

Please do not use without permission.

FALL FAILURES

This year has been the absolute worst gardening year we have ever had.  If we weren't fighting bugs we were fighting diseases.  Our flowers even suffered, especially roses.  If any make it through to next year I will be surprised.  I had too much to do to give them the attention they needed.

The picture is our beans .

They are one of the successes this year.  I will say I have never had a batch of fall beans be bad or go bad.  The problem with late beans is you may not get any because an early frost may bite down hard.  These beans have had 5 frost mornings.  We have been covering them when It looks like it may be close to that temp.  We found a really great cover for them; Canvas paint cloths.  They were heavy enough a wind did not dislodge them but they weren't too heavy in that they would mash the plants.  Burlap sacking worked well too, but the holes in it did not keep the heat in so there were places on some leaves that got freezer burn. 

We have had wonderful surprises.  Dahlia bulbs which we had been going to throw out because they were so small, we planted.  They were planted in pots and were stunted because I didn't find a place for them till August.  they took off when their feet hit the soil and are blooming their heads off. This picture was taken a month ago.



I wish I had a current pix.  They are blooming ferociously.  They were not covered during the frost and did not seem to suffer.  I thought for sure the plants would be melted by the frost.

So much has happened this year that I should have written about and didn't. 

We did have wonderful garden visitors:

This garden spider was just one of our great visitors.

Thank you for visiting.  Now that things are slowing down I will have time to post the goings on in the garden.  Right now we are cleaning all the debri out of the tomato beds. We still have peppers performing. Till the next revealing trip to our garden. 

May your autmn be as beautiful as it is in St. Louis.

MORE ON THE QUEST

This has been an eventful summer in St. Louis.  The weather has been extremely hot and humid.  Living in a valley has added to the humidity.  Needless to say we have been inundated by every fungus and bacterial infection.  Some varieties of tomatoes  succumbed immediately and we nurtured them hoping to get something for the the work already done. 

The green tomatoes; those that are green when ripe went first.  The few tomatoes we got made us really want to try again next year for more green tomatoes.  We had two varieties, Evergreen and Aunt Ruby's".    In  taste and shape the Evergreen had it all over Aunt Ruby. 

BTW...anticipating the onslaught of the diseases we trimmed all the lower leaves up twelve inches on the plant and mulched heavily to prevent the splash of the fungus bearing water.  The only thing we have not tried this year was cornmeal.  This will be on the shopping list for next year and will be applied to the top of the soil when we plant next year.

We have had great luck with disease resistance in the "Big Mama's".  I used a huge handful of epsom salts in each planting hole this year and we have so far gotten through the summer with no blossom end rot.  (This variety seems to be more susceptible than most.)  Another way to dose your tomatoes is to spray with epsom salts.  I can't remember the amount but it seems it was 1/4 teaspoon for 2 cups of water.  I suggest you google "using epsom salts as a foliar spray" to find the correct amounts.
"Juliet" tomatoes planted late so far have not gotten the different diseases, but the planting 4 weeks earlier did.  I can't compare the two though because the first planting was a double row.  The closeness of the plants could have caused the diseases. 

We had similar results with the "jelly bean" tomatoes.  Except, the first planting was a single row and the second planting was too.  There was a month between the plantings.  The plants in both cases were started on the same day.  BTW, Jelly Beans flavor is exceptional and they are extremely productive on enormous vines.

The planting method we used, which I blogged about in a previous blog,  has worked fabulously.  The earth stayed moist without being soggy.  It drained well when we had gully washers of a rain.  The nicest benefit came when we dismantled the two beds.  After we removed the straw and exposed the dirt, the straw at the base had already decomposed and was ready to till into the dirt, adding the much needed organic matter.

Our favorite long standing beefsteak has failed our conditions for the second year in a row.  We will not be planting "Delicious" again for a while.  This tomato has been our stand by plant for almost 40 years.  Producing 2 lb tomatoes with ease.  This has not been the case for the last 2 years.

A new tomato on the market the last couple of years has been "Rave".  It is the yellow equivalent to the Juliet tomato.  This year it has performed admirably producing 1 ounce tomatoes that do not readily split on the vine.  It is a little susceptible to the diseases but not to the point it debilitates the production.  I recommend picking them before they are ripe.  Ripened in the house they stay firmer.  Vine ripened they are are a softer tomato.  No mater when you pick them they are full of flavor.  Much more flavor than any yellow slicing  tomatoes.  This is our second year growing them.

So far the only large tomatoes that do not have the diseases in profusion (just a little bit) are "Goliath" and "Big Beef".  But they are also not as large of producers as we were used to getting from the "Delicious" tomato.  They do take up the same amount of real estate as the "Delicious" does.

Remember we mixed all new dirt for every tomato bed.  We did not plant anywhere near the area we had tomatoes last year.   We are struggling with the same problems we had last year.  This fall will be a quest for a new location for the tomatoes.   We have an area below our green house but I am not too hep on using it.  It is a great place to encounter mosquitoes so I think maybe the humidity is even higher there. 

I haven't discussed enlarging the garden area with my husband, but ploughing an area out side the fence on higher ground is an option (I think if he reads this, discussion is mute)....Then of course we have to build another deer proof fence...lol.  The fence we have made has worked this year, but it isn't ground hog proof!

Hope you are having better tomato times than we are.

QUEST FOR THE PERFECT TOMATO

This is a blog about how we changed our tomato planting methods this year.  The pictures will show you what we are doing.  Hopefully this will be the start of something new for us.  It is said necessity is the mother of invention.  Not having enough uncontaminated soil to fill our raised beds led us to this possible solution. 

We are organic and rotate crops.  We have gone to raised beds because we are tired of fighting the heavy clay content of our soil.  It seems the clay ate the dirt we had "cultivated" during the winter.  We decided to contain it.  Yes, we still have disappearing dirt dilemma, but it is not of the proportion of the previous years. 

For years we have searched for the best method to raising the perfect tomatoes.  We have found barring the deer who aren't supposed to eat nightshade plants (they do),  groundhogs who devour them the minute they show color, opossums that take a bite to test it and decide they don't like it, birds pecking at the cocktail tomatoes sipping their juices,  there really isn't one way that is perfect.  Every tomato variety seems to have its own preferences.

We have tried mulching and letting the vines run rampant.  We have also staked and tied each plant.  Everyone who has gardened has bought and tried  those cone shape cages.  We went through them twice.  The second time they were larger and heavier gauge wire and we were told not subject to the weld joints breaking.  NOT...they succumb to the same faults their little sisters have.  We have been very lucky, on two occasions we have been gifted wire cages made from woven welded fence wire.  The first ones I wish I had more of.  They are 30 inches in diameter and 5 feet high.  They have been G-d sends when we plant "Delicious" and "Jelly Bean" tomatoes ("Big Momma" tomatoes can use them too).  These varieties seem to grow as if they were on steroids.  The "Jelly Beans" topped 8 feet last year.   We had to use a step ladder to pick them.  BTW...they also continue to produce on the lower branches.

HOW WE ARE PLANTING TOMATOES IN 2010

Amend your soil before planting.  This year it became a necessity for us.  We had minimum soil to fill our raised beds.  I am very fortunate to have a supply of broken down wood chips (they have been breaking down for three years).  I till the few inches of soil in the bed then add the following.  The amounts are for beds 30 inches wide and in increments of 8 feet (the measurement are for 8 feet).  Two 40 lb kitty litter pails (KLP) of chips, two KLP of dried manure (we used to raise sheep), one KLP of boiled rice hulls, two KLP of peat moss (our soil mix tends to be too well drained so we need extra organic mater).  We are the proud owners of our third "Mantis" tiller.  It is fabulous piece of machinery for working our raised beds.  After tilling thoroughly, rake the bed smooth, water deeply and let the bed sit overnight.  The next morning water again deeply.  This will get the peat and other dry materials saturated.  Wait till evening to plant your bed.  Dig all your holes, then proceed to plant.  The picture to the left is an Evergreen tomato plant removed from the pot.

After removing the plant (Which you watered well earlier in the day...I soak the plant in a bucket of water to remove any air pockets the morning before I plant)  I prepare the plant for its stay in the ground.   All branches that will be below ground will be snipped off.  The root ball, if it is root bound, will be broken up at the base so the roots will grow out from the plant, not continue on their trip around the pot...becoming more and more root bound.

When we plant the trimmed tomato plant we add a handful of Epsom salts and bone meal.  Both boost the plants ability to withstand the onslaught of blossom end rot. Make sure you mix the salts and the meal with dirt before adding to the hole.  You don't want them coming in direct contact with your root mass, it might burn them.

This is several plants ready to be vitamized and hilled.  We have our garden Kitty " Dawn" and puppy dog "honey" supervising. 

This is the bed completely planted with the plants, each hilled to keep them steady for working on the rest of the planting.  Notice, each of the plants have had even more of their lower branches removed, hilling up to the top two or three leaves.  The object is to bury the base of the plant with dirt to the level of the raised bed's side-boards.

We use a hoe (or sometimes just our hands) to pull the amended dirt from the sides of the bed.  We go down to the hard pan earth.  We bring the dirt up to fill the area between and around the plants.  We end up making a "mountain" down the center of the bed.  The idea came from pot culturing tomatoes.  They don't need a huge amount of soil to produce, so it stands to reason neither do garden grown ones.

This is the bed totally hilled.  The shovel is a full size shovel.  It is set there to show you the depth of the sides.  It is now ready to be mulched.

We are packing the troughs on each side, tight with old straw.  Yes, I know people say straw adds weeds to the garden.  It does, but they are so easy to pull.  The idea came from thinking about building with straw bales and their insulating factor.  These beds are 8 inches deep.  We figured not only would it insulate, but it would allow the area to drain as well as keeping the moisture in the bed.

The bed with side mulching completed.

Now that your sides are securely supported you can water the tomatoes in.  I soak the bed thoroughly.  I neglected to say:  in between each plant I make a little trough in the top ridge of the dirt.  It helps to direct the water into the middle of the "mountain", otherwise the water has a tendency to run down the sides of the dirt "mountain".

After you finish watering in the tomatoes continue mulching the entire surface.

Now is the time you want to cage and stake your tomatoes.  Do not wait untill they start growing (which is always instantaneous, especially if it rains that evening).  They will get too big to put on the cages.  We put a "T" post at each end of the bed and another in the middle.  We then feed long boards or conduit through the cages.  We join the boards with a binding of baling twine.  After which we go back to each cage and tie where the board goes through the cage.  The purpose of this is two fold:  we don't have to stake each cage; when we get big winds and the cages are filled with the leaves and tomatoes they don't go over in the direction the prevailing winds are pushing them.

This is a closeup of the tied cages.  You'll have to excuse the untidy weedy beds in the background.  We hadn't gotten to them yet when this picture was taken.  The bed on the left where the soaker hose is stacked is now in peppers and the bed with the white plastic on it has "Big Momma" tomatoes in it.

This is where my pictures run out.  We will take a picture of tomatoes filling the cages and post later this week.  So far this is working very well.  We are having one of the hottest summers in St. Louis in a long time.  The dirt is staying moist under the mulch.  The plants are growing and producing (we are waiting for our first ripe tomatoes on some plants).  We have had tomatoes to eat from our Juliets, Golden Raves, and Jelly beans.  We haven't had any slicers yet, but we are very patient. 

Oh, BTW we have picked our first tomato horn worm off this past week. 

The chickens relished him.

THE TAMING OF THE "SHREW"

This weekend the weather was fabulous in St. louis.  My main endeavor was to clean the green house of all the weeds that have grown over the winter.  I am a person that has to take a break every once in a while when doing heavy work.  Not a break to stop working, but a break to another job to give me perspective.  I took a look-see around the dormant garden that is showing tiny green of the perrineals besides the winter weeds (mainly chickweed, henbit and a nettle). 

   

I also wondered when I should trim the roses and there next to them was my next project.  The buddlea.  It was a huge mess.  I started working on it before I realized I should have taken a picture.  This picture is after I had trimmed off half of the tops so I could get in and decide how much I should do.

I have never cared much for this butterfly bush.  It is called "Pink Delight".  I have had others and this one does not have the smell or the dense blossoms the others have.  I have noticed it is not as full with blooms as the other varities I have had.

                                    

This is the Bush after I trimmed it.  I don't know if I did it correctly or not.  When I trimmed I noticed the center is dieing out.  I left quite a bit of growth because if we get a hard freeze in the next month it might freeze it back some.  Out side of its planting box is a new shoot coming up from the roots.  If this weather keeps up I will be able to dig it without damage around St. Patricks day.  The following pictures are are of visitors to the bush.

                                    

A swallowtail butterfly

A Humming bird moth.  Not the things we like to reproduce but they are sure beautiful.

An excellent article about them can be found here

http://www.fcps.edu/islandcreekes/ecology/hummingbird_moth.htm

A hornet

This is how the bush looks all summer.  No amount of dead heading increases the bloom.  The blooms on this variety do not seem to last as long as the others.  When this one is gone it will not be replaced in my main garden.  The discovered shoot will be planted by the gate.

SPRING PROGNOSTICATORS

I love lions in my yard,

I think they are just dandy,

Growing in nooks and crannies,

Even where it's sandy.

Their antics make me smile,

 Popping up where least expected,

They do aggravate that man of mine,

He roars, when the lawn he's neglected.

Fashioning with their blooms,

A necklace, when I was small,

Moments so pleasurable,

A memory I recall.

Years have passed, I am grown,

Every year I do remember,

The blossoms that delighted me,

From March to Novemeber.

My life is filled with sunshine,

Each spring when the lions return,

They are the prognosticators,

Of the warm weather I do yearn.