February Snows

They say February is usually the snowiest month. That seems to have proven true this year, both here in southern New England and many other places, as well. Here are just a few random photos of the snow falls from last month.

February 16th

Snow actively falling on Hawkins Street. I like this photo because the flakes were large and very visible. This storm began in the wee hours of the morning and lasted throughout much of the day:



The side yard -- snow clinging to my red maple, dogwood, and pine trees:



The usual clearing of the entry porch roof, prior to shoveling the front walk:



February 26th

The predicted Snowmageddon of the decade turned out to be a real snoozer here in the Derby area, although points west of us certainly received quite a bit of snow. Not only did we get far less snow here than predicted, but it was actively melting and lasted only a short time on the ground.

Here's a shot of the side yard prior to my cleaning the walk...snow was already disappearing from the various surfaces:



As for blogging, I've been quite busy as of late with a number of pressing matters, and not very focused on writing. There's a backlog of about three or four articles in my head, and I hope to get them written over the course of the next week or so. Please accept my apologies for the recent lack of activity. But spring is coming, and hopefully better times just ahead for every one!

First Major Snow of 2009-2010

We had our first major storm of the winter season last night, dropping about 8-10 inches of snow in Derby, by my own estimation. Here is the storm warning that was posted yesterday by the Valley Independent Sentinel, suggesting a potentially serious winter storm.

The photo below gives you a general idea of the quantity of snow we received, although much of what you see here is wind-blown accumulation, as this was the lee end of the yard during last night's blustery winds:



And there was, of course, considerably less snow in the vicinity of the back entry-way, given the protection of all the trees to the north:



But the south end of the yard, sitting in the lee of last night's winds, received much deeper accumulations (I know -- this is very boring discourse, isn't it?) :



One of the things that always concerns me whenever there's a heavy snow fall is the tendency of my front porch roof to get heavily loaded with snow. It worries me because I don't feel this structure is all that substantial, and fear too heavy a loading might bring about its collapse:



[ And note the interesting, wind-carved cornice on the south-side of the porch roof. This cornice never formed in previous winters -- at least, not since I've lived here: ]



So, naturally, one of the first things I do is clear the front porch roof following a significant snowfall. Leaning out the landing window and pushing it away with a shop broom is all it takes...



... and the porch roof is cleared.



The City of Derby, for reasons unknown to me, always does an incomplete job clearing the sidewalk on the south side of the Hawkins Street bridge, finishing just short of the west terminus, and turning the cleared path right out on to the street, rather than simply clearing about another forty feet to the beginning of my sidewalk. Any pedestrian heading this way (and there are a lot of them) either has to cross the street while still on the bridge, or walk the remaining distance in the road until they can get back on to the sidewalk:



So guess who invariably takes it upon himself to complete the job for the sake of his Hawkins Street neighbors? Yes, you guessed correctly. The completed path is shown below:



This season, I think I will finally write that letter to Derby's department of public works... :-)

Miscellany Of Weeks Past

Spring is in full bloom here in Southern Connecticut, and I've been dividing my time between numerous projects here at the Hawkins house. Unfortunately, that hasn't left much time for worthwhile writing, but I feel long over-due to post something, so here's some photos taken over the past couple of weeks and accompanying commentary. And I'll try to publish a more purposeful and coherent posting or two during the next few days. In the meantime, hope you enjoy the few random snippets here...

This is my garden armillary sundial, which is quite nice. You'll notice, though, that it's gnomon is missing both it's arrow head and tail. About two seasons ago, this sundial took an unfortunate fall from a garden wall, breaking both pieces off. Fixing it is no big deal -- just a matter of cutting two appropriately sized pieces of 1/4" brass rod, threading each end, and screwing it all back together. But it's one of those bothersome small tasks that just doesn't manage to get scheduled. The sundial is going to be the centerpiece of my forthcoming colonial herb garden at the house, so maybe that will provide me enough incentive to finally fix it. Maybe.



Since my location is 41 degrees N. latitude, I used a protractor to angle the gnomon at precisely 41 degrees. The gnomon needs to point true North and align with the earth's axis for the sundial to work properly. Not too imprecise a measurement, eh?



The future site of the hypothetical colonial herb garden. This part of the yard gets nearly constant sun through out the day. The garden will be situated on the opposite side of the path, just this side of the decorative grass, and replacing the patch of crab grass in the foreground. It will be bordered by 4 x 4 cedar posts, and feature two small foot paths through the center, emanating from the sundial:



Close-up of the decorative maiden grass in the side yard, and all the grape hyacinth and lilies that appear in the early spring. This photo was taken a good number of weeks ago. The hyacinth and lilies are actually gone now, and have been replaced by these white perennials that I cannot readily identify. It's an interesting dance that takes place here every springtime. Yet another (small) project of mine is to complete the encirclement of the grassy patch with a large assortment of perennials, so there's always something interesting going on through out the entire spring, summer, and early fall:



The early springtime ritual of planting annuals in hanging baskets is shown in the next few photos. This year, we planted red and yellow marigolds, yellow pansies, and some dark purple flower whose name eludes me at the current moment. I was going for somewhat contrasting colors this year, just for kicks. (Oh yeah, there's a couple of herbs there, too; rosemary and basil):



Hanging baskets in various stages of completion. The mums I had planted last fall survived the winter and are growing like crazing now (all green -- no flower buds for a while yet). So I will have them to re-display in the fall time:



A completed large basket:



Two of the larger baskets deployed on the entry porch. Since this photo was taken, I've also installed two candle lanterns on each of the front posts supporting the roof:



Newly planted herbs and tomatoes, respectively, in wooden containers on, or in the vicinity of, my front porch. These plants are patiently waiting for me to finish digging the potagers and herb garden, of course, and are demonstrating their enthusiasm by growing bigger, and bigger, and bigger, and...



This photo shows stone remnants of an ancient terraced garden that is mostly buried by earth and covered by various growth out behind the house. There are a number of interesting, random plants still thriving out there, including some roses and rasberry bushes, not to mention lots of poison ivy! One of my big summer projects is to resurrect this garden, but there's just so little time. We'll see how far I get. If I can get even the basic garden unearthed and well-defined, I would be satisfied with it for this season:



This buckboard table graces the other end of my mudroom. Can you believe that some one in my neighborhood had left this out curb-side to be taken away with the trash? I was driving by one rainy night in my pickup truck and noticed it's outline in the street light (I know, it sounds like a sad story of hyperbolic abandonment, doesn't it? But it's true!) I stopped, threw it in the back of my truck, and it's been a fine friend and fellow traveler ever since:



Lavendar and chives (container herbs) are flowering right now (I took this photo just yesterday). They are likewise awaiting their move to the big hypothetical herb garden in the side yard, with armillary sundial, cedar borders, and well-defined paths. We'll see...



And what posting of outdoor activities would be complete without some mention of the various animal friends who like to drop by on occasion and try to figure out what manner of weirdness I am currently occupying my time with?

Here, one of the neighborhood cats came visiting out behind the house, and hung out for a while by the old overturned wheel barrow and deteriorating saw-buck:



And here, one of those ubiquitous crows was gingerly walking down the drive way, inspecting things (perhaps keeping an eye out for the cat). I was actually amazed how far he trotted along on foot before finally flying up into the trees. I took this photo from the window of my study, through the old glass -- hence the noticeable blur just in front of the crow. The old stone wall in the background is an ancient remnant of the cow farm that once existed here, up until about fifty years ago.



There are many interesting trees in bloom right now, including dogwood, lilac, red maple, and various pines, plus many other annuals and flowering shrubs. Almost exactly one year ago, I created a posting with photos of many of these blooms. If you're interested in viewing further, you can see that posting by clicking here.

Crocuses in Connecticut

Spring has definitely sprung here in Connecticut. I discovered several crocuses (croci?) in my yard the other day. They are identical in coloration to a crocus photographed by my blogging friend Shelley in Michigan, and posted here.

It was cold and raining all day yesterday and they remained closed (interesting, how they manage to protect themselves):



However, today was very sunny, and the two crocuses were opened:



The crocuses are right on the edge of what had once been a terraced garden in my back yard, that has long been covered over with earth and growth. This spring, I will be excavating and revitalizing this garden. There is also a nice apple tree growing right in the center that I'll prune and get into good shape, so we'll have plenty of edible apples come Fall.

Two Tramps in Mud Time

These two characters appeared on my roof the other afternoon while I was out in the yard pursuing my timber-shaping activities. They made quite a racket. At one point, both of them were leaning forward and cawing in rapid succession, in unison, like two over-zealous spectators at a football game.



Given the axe in my hands, it reminded me of a line from a poem of the same name as this posting, by Robert Frost: "Out of the mud two strangers came and caught me splitting wood in the yard, And one of them put me off my aim by hailing cheerily 'Hit them hard!'"

For some reason, there is a rather large number of crows around here that seem to just love my yard. They congregate here frequently on summer afternoons, often in pairs, some times even in threes. Often, they land on my roof, and I can hear the tap tap tap as they perch on the rain gutter just above the window of my study.

Here are two more photos I took last fall. The first is of a crow perched in my dogwood tree. You can't tell from the photo, but it was a very blustery afternoon, and he was riding up and down with the wind, until he finally decided to fly elsewhere. In the second photo, another crow is pacing the front yard:





There have been many interesting crow sightings here. Unfortunately, they are usually gone, though, by the time I manage to get my camera. I also make it a point not to leave anything small and valuable (like my camera) unattended in the yard, lest one of these little thieves should decide to pinch it.

Early Fall Day

Today's was a quintessential New England fall day. Cool, crisp, and slightly blustery, with large clouds slowly scudding across the sky and occassionally blocking out the sun. I worked at home, and in the morning, went out to water and tend the herbs, including several salvia (azure sage, or salvia azurea) I recently purchased.

The honey bees were having a field day with the salvia, which had gone from a relatively flat to a deeply flourescent blue, just a few days ago. There were easily five or six bees buzzing about them, collecting pollen and consolidating it in those small sacks on their hind legs.


Two honey bees in the salvia (just left of center of photo); close-up of a third bee


Honey bee alighting on salvia bloom; another with his orange pollen sack

Back around early August, I purchased four additional herbs: Two basil and two marjoram. I have several round (barrel-shaped), wooden containers that I've used for various plantings the past few years, including several small conifers that decorated the front porch last winter.

Since then, the conifers moved to permanent homes in the side yard, and the containers were excessively weathered and slightly insect-damaged in spots. I repaired the damaged areas by bushing on a waterproof wood glue, and later re-stained the outside surfaces with Minwax Wood Finish (#222, Sedona Red).

Even though it's not intended for outdoor use, the Minwax is what I had on hand, and since these are fairly rough pieces, it didn't particularly bother me if they started to fade and weather again come winter.

Basil and marjoram in re-finished wooden containers; yet another bee, enjoying the basil flowers

In each container, I planted a single basil and marjoram plant. And after two months, the basil plants had grown to enormous sizes, and began flowering just a little over a week ago. The marjoram is also quite substantial compared to when it was planted, but the basil is truly prodigious, and its fragrance pervades the entry porch area where the containers sit most of the time.

Subsequently, I had repaired the three remaining containers, and during a late morning break today, completed re-staining two of them. Just about that time, UPS showed up to deliver a map chest I had ordered. It's very nicely made, and a highly utilitarian piece of furniture, with nine flat drawers for organizing flat-laying documents, drawings, designs, etc. I am going to use it to store my various architectural, restoration, and woodworking designs and plans. It found it's way into the spinning room, which I'm using as an additional reading & writing room, the southeast chamber being my main work area and computer room.


Re-staining containers in the spinning room; the newly delivered map chest

A little while later, as I was looking over the two stained containers, it struck me that perhaps tung or walnut oil might've been a better choice of finish. At least it's more environmentally friendly. So when I have another free moment, I'll give it a try on the last container and see what sort of results I get.


Recently stained containers; about 3" of gravel ought to help drainage and keep most bugs out


Blue sages in their newly finished container homes...

Butterfly in the blue salvia; BRT by the north side of the house and a lot of early afternoon sunlight filtering through the trees

First Snow

The first significant winter storm of the season arrived yesterday, leaving a covering of wet snow and ice. But clear weather today made for some good winter photos:

Nearby McConney's Farm offers a nice view of the Housatonic River...