New England's Narrow Road

Almost Planting Time

Last year I bought some Nasturtium seeds and planted them all around the edges of my newly dug gardens. Some of them did very well, but the red ones especially did not.

For some reason they got aphids (I think) all over them and died.

Nasturtium seed packets — Ready to plant!

I didn’t buy seeds this year, but I did collect seeds from the dried out pods last year and I’m hoping they will grow once it’s safe here to plant seeds – which should be very soon.

In fact this weekend will be in the 80’s and I might not be able to wait until June 1st -which is the safe planting date for this area. This time of year the temperature is like a roller coaster…today was about 52 and tomorrow will be mid-eighties.

I think lots of New Englanders will be planting.

Propogating Hydrangeas

Late last summer I dug up the rooted stem of the little hydrangea (below) and planted it by the front steps. I had been waiting all summer for it to develop a good root system.

The main shrub – (photo at bottom)- had some low branches that were touching the ground and one of the branches had rooted itself in the middle of the stem.

Come to find out, this is a great way to propagate – or start new- plants.

new-hydrangea-plant — Baby Hydrangea Shrub

I noticed this year that there is already another new little shrub growing that will need to be dug up and planted some place else.

Read more about growing Blue Hydrangeas

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Early Morning Walk

I love where I live in New Hampshire. I have always been a “country girl” and if I can’t live in the mountains, then I’ll settle for living in the hills.

morning sun on hills — Morning in the Hills

This is one of my favorite views when I take my walks. I captured this photo in the early morning light. It always makes me think of Psalm 121 verse 1:
I lift my eyes up to the hills
where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord,
the maker of heaven and earth.

On the left, in the picture above, you’ll see the tree I call the “slingshot tree”. And in the grassy area straight ahead used to stand the little red “house” in the photo below.
One day I noticed it was gone. I have no idea what it was. Maybe just a shed. The land seems to belong to the old man who lives across the street from the field.

Little house-misty field — The Little Red House

Old Cellar Hole?

A couple weeks ago I was walking my neighbor’s dog and happened to glance into the woods and saw what looked like a hole. I went in to investigate and found stone walls in the ground. It looks to me like an old cellar hole.

I have no idea what this is, but looks like maybe a structure of some kind was once here and this is what’s left of the basement. Of course the locals would most likely be able to tell me about the place, but I don’t know too many people here so I’ll just guess for now.
I went back with my camera and got a few photos of the area. I noticed all these smaller rocks together in one area down the road from the cellar hole.

New Hampshire is known as the “Granite State” and there is no shortage of rocks here, but all these smaller ones together in a pile is odd.

I found this rusted thing … yes, that is my scientific name for it… in the cellar hole.

leaning trees — Forever Leaning Thanks to the Ice Storm

As I walked home on the 4-wheeler path, I took some pictures of the trees that still show signs of damage from our December 2008 ice storm.
These small trees faired pretty well considering the huge ones that toppled over or broke from the weight of the ice. It’s really amazing how powerful some freezing rain can be.