Dreamers of Dreams

March is flying by like the wind that's been blowing out of the north lately, hard and fast. Today spring's here and welcome she is.

I'm not one for too many garden ornaments but Rufus, sitting here next to the budded Rhododendron 'Ken Janeck', is a welcome sign of great days ahead in the garden. Rufus is a "gift" from my three best friends who can't pass up an opportunity to play a garden prank on me when I least expect it. He spends the winter protected up next to the house on a shelf underneath the upstairs porch. So to see his beaming countenance back in the yard again is as welcome as spring.

Last weekend I made a quick trip up to see family in Maine. Cheese and pasta making, chicken fun ("More raisins, please!") and of course......

a trip to Johnny's! The place was packed wall to wall with winter weary gardeners mulling over seed selections in catalogs and on racks.

There was an army of great staff on hand available for consulting as well as offering their assistance with decision making. I thought I was all set for seeds this year but couldn't resist a couple varieties of calendula, an ornamental grass and a highly recommended broccoli raab. Lots of fun.

I realized on my drive up and back along Route 95 that over the next four weeks I'll have traveled through thirteen of the fourteen states (all but Rhode Island) that line the eastern seaboard. In April it's another road trip to camp in that Florida subtropical forest, this time with my husband.

On the first day of the year I didn't fully appreciate the degree to which I'd be living O'Shaughnessy's 'Ode'. And I'm loving every minute of it!

We are the music-makers, and we are the dreamers of dreams, wandering by lone sea-breakers, and sitting by desolate streams...