Our Wood Community and Vernal Equinox

I would love to have you join me on a walk into my forest.  Just a click over to my blog. It is nearly spring in this part of the world but not here in New England. It is Maple Syrup time and soon the snow will melt and the woodcock will return along with warmer days. We do enjoy having the longer days of light. Happy Spring Equinox tomorrow! An important time to be considering equality.  

Home for the Winter

Spending a winter away last year has helped me appreciate the beauty of winter.  Please visit my  blog to learn more about why I love the winter landscape here at Flower Hill Farm Retreat.  Happy Solstice and Best Wishes for the Holiday Season and New Year! 

Flower Hill Farm Butterflies of 2012 ~ American Copper

The teeny tiny American Copper (Lycaena phlaeas) packs a sizable palette for one so small.   I was happy to find this little butterfly sunning in the south field back in May of 2012. Its wingspan is only 7/8 x 1 1/8 . . . a delicate, miniature, ephemeral painting belonging to the Gossamer-wings family . . . offering distinctive marks and textures that one can identify but never own. However, photos and happy memories are filed, of a late may day, walking in the south field along side a fragile, yet plentiful living jewel. 

We might pause before pulling out all of the invasive Sheep Sorrels or Curly Dock of the Rumex family growing in our gardens and meadows. I am sure to examine plants carefully before composting them in hopes of finding eggs or caterpillars of this lively and vibrant butterfly. Stands of sorrel are left to grow along the south field paths . . .  in honor of American Coppers.

The American Copper butterflies are on the wing or in varying stages of metamorphosis from mid May through the middle of September. They overwinter here in their chrysalis stage or as the Massachusetts Butterfly Club's great website mentions ~ in half grown Larva state.

It stimulates the imagination, to consider life waiting beneath heavy blankets of snow now filling our Western Massachusetts gardens, fields and forest . . . and as far as the eye can see, lightly coating every twig and tree. Hemerocallis sleep within a deep frost . . . waiting to feel alive again.
Color will run riot in just a couple of months, but for now, just outside our windows and doors the dawning sun paints the sky, clouds and mist ethereal hues of lavender and pink.

March continues to hold fast to winter's quiet and cold beauty. 

Bluebirds are patiently guarding their house, while the Mount Holyoke Range sits shrouded in pink mist. 

Spring seems content to stay away for now . . . I shall have to visit 'early spring' at the Lyman Conservatory on the Smith College campus just fifteen minutes away down in the neighboring town of Northampton, where visitors can inhale an elixir of hyacinths and other flowering bulbs of their Spring Bulb Show.

More Wintry Wonders: Fern Frost

Winter can be a remarkable painter and engraver too. 

January's frigid temperatures merging with just the right amount of moisture and 'surface texture' . . . I would not dare refer to smudged glass here . . .  often creates crystalline forms on our simple farmhouse windowpanes, inspiring joy and awe for winter's icy mysteries. When outdoor degrees dip into the teens, single digits and minuses, these 'fern frost' etchings are more likely to be viewed from within a warm but not overly warm environment. Vibrant sunrises offer a lovely back-lighting effect for observing and photographing tiny water droplets frozen into frosty leaf-like forms. 

Surely a frozen link to nature's ancient, green, fern frond formations. 

During winter's freezing days and nights many of us dream of verdant landscapes, yet only this time of year produces such delicate and ephemeral wonders. Rather like the sand and wave engravings created along the ocean's edge . . . it is an art form of nature most impermanent. Perhaps another lesson in learning how to live and let go.

Gazing Into A Wintry Landscape of Wonder

Though the wintry landscape palette is not as colorful as other seasons,

 the raw sky does spread out a bright cloth with vivid rose and lavender hues 

each early morning and just before night.

Winter's beauty can be mesmerizing, though wind chills of -13 F do challenge the spirit.

Somehow we all adapt.

We are all creatures of habit. 

Late afternoons and early mornings, I often find our resident Red-tailed Hawk perching 

on the same branch, in more or less exactly the same location, within a stately Oak, 

which solidly stands in a clearing dotted with native blueberries not far from the forest's edge.

The Red-tailed Hawk stands out in a striking way within a foggy, snowy landscape.
Its underwing white mirroring that of the powdered coating etched upon the Oak's limbs
and shrouding a forest of Hemlocks and White Pines.

Winter's white and light can be beautiful and we acclimate to its frigid ways sometimes longing for warmer days.

I Dream Of . . . Blooming Friday

I dream of  Flower Hill Farm spring blooms, landscapes and a world that has banned all toxic poisons.

I dream of a world that has food safety bills . . . I dream of all of you calling your senators to encourage them to vote YES on the Tester-Hagan Amendment. This amendment will protect small family farms and processors. Please call today. Here is a link to help you make the call. Watch a video about the bill.

I dream we are a world of informed and actively engaged citizens.

I dream of apple blossoms. I dream in colors of spring and a time when we will truly work towards creating green energy, which will help create millions of jobs, save our economy and our world. 

I dream of Magnolia and Lilac time . . . and a time, when we stand up for our children, by demanding the best possible education and health care for all. 

I dream of a time, when beauty and a way to be close to nature are basic rights to all citizens of the world.

The world I dream of will have already made certain that all peoples have safe, clean; water, food, shelters, heat, when it is cold, proper clothing for whatever the conditions. The people of the world will all be free of repression and exploitation. There will be no wars.

I dream of each person having dignity and purpose in their lives and contributing to the better of all within their communities. 

I dream of self sufficient peoples and communities the world over. 

I dream of meaningful jobs for all. 

I dream of a peoples the world over who hold our mother earth in great reverence. 

I dream of Roses and gardens for everyone.

I dream of sweet fragrance and kind people, who nurture compassion and tolerance for others within their widening hearts.

I dream of vegetable gardens and rabbits, who do not eat everything I plant. I dream of a good fence. 

I dream of healing for our world . . . for our peoples. I dream that all persons will be able to open and expand their imaginations throughout healthy times and during illness.

I dream of a world that lives within moments . . . a world that rejoices daily rituals and honors truthful traditions. 

I dream of peace and tranquility for all. 

Now you may think I sound like a "dreamer" . . .  but as our beloved John once said . . . "I am not the only one." See what other dreamers are dreaming over at Blooming Friday's hostess Katarina's Roses and Stuff

Nurture your dreams.

 Sweet Dreams to you all. Have a lovely weekend. 

All these photos are of my gardens here at Flower Hill Farm.

Wolf Moon Sails From Month to Month Musings of Winter

Fresh beginnings looking both ways,

Janus leads first night into day.

Darkest December's blue 'Long Night Moon' 

sails into January's breath of etchings. 

Frosty forest landscapes unwelcoming

bitter cold, seeping into cracks grasping

hidden life, caught between dusk and dawn.

Vibrant sun paintings stretch and yawn.

Joyous light fades into tiresome clouds of gray. 

Now departing Janus, glances forward

casting wild full 'Wolf Moon' charcoal marks,

leaping across canvases of titanium white.

Bright shadowy bone chilling nights,

a long dark month of winter past.

Still and patient gardens sleep fast.


What a wondrous Wolf moon we had! The frost etchings on the windows are winter made... I do not heat the upstairs when there are no guests here. The amazing images of winter's breath is due in part to a minus 12 wind chill! The photos are backlit by the moon giving them the cool blue tones. No matter how often I see frost drawings I am amazed at their intricacy and plant like forms. I am joining CarolynGail over at SweetHomeandGardenChicago for Muse Day. I humbly offer my own little free form verse.