spring – Page 4 – New England's Narrow Road

My New Bistro Set

For many years I wanted a bistro set – a tall table with chairs to match. In my old house, we had a screened in gazebo and I wanted a taller set of chairs to use in there. I never found a set and then as I moved around for a few years, the thought left me.

Now, at my rental, I have a small outdoor deck and decided it was time to seriously search for a set to enjoy for the summer. I see no point in having deck chairs at “railing height” so you constantly have to prop yourself up to look over the edge into the yard. And that is what I want to do – sit on the deck and look at the garden, bird feeders, etc.

I looked online at Amazon and other on-line stores, and went to the usual places like Home Depot and Target. I either didn’t like what I found – it had to be made to handle being outside – or the prices were ridiculous!

I also wanted something small so it wouldn’t take over my little deck.
This is the set I bought. I found it on-line at JCPenney and it was only $230, which was in my price range.
It’s not exactly what I wanted – I would have preferred a round table, without a glass top, and I was hoping for a lighter color since it would be out in the sun. But I am very happy with it. And the chairs swivel ~ which is a plus!!

By the way, I also had to put this set together myself. It took a total of about 3 hours – maybe even more!! I didn’t do it all at once – In fact, I bought the set in May, which is the month for black flies up here, so I don’t spend much time outside and that gave me a whole month to slowly get it put together.

I’ve been enjoying the recent nice weather out on my deck and even ate supper out there the other night. It was worth all the effort. Another goal accomplished!

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.

First Hummingbird Spotted – May 10th!

This morning I saw the first hummingbird of the season at my feeder.
My sister, in Mass., has had one for a week or so, but my feeder has remained empty. I always try to remember to put out the feeder around the first of May in case they are in the area.

hummingbird food — Time to feed the hummingbirds

I prefer to have plants in the garden and yard that will attract them, and for many years I never used a hummingbird feeder, but I no longer have my beautiful gardens full of red monarda (which they love) and other flowers to feed them, so I have to have a feeder.

Here’s the mixture I use if you are wondering.
1/2 cup sugar to 2 cups water.

I put 1/2 cup of sugar into one cup of water and heat it in the microwave until it dissolves.
Then I pour it into my blue (16 oz. plus) plastic container with a lid and add another cup of cold water.

I only pour a little at a time into the feeder and change it every other day. The remainder is stored in the refrigerator.

If you LOVE hummingbirds, I just read a beautiful page full of wonderful PHOTOS documenting a hummingbird nest with 2 babies. Her photos are awesome.

I struggle to capture a good photo, but here is the one I took this morning. My new feeder in the picture to the left, has a glass center and I like it much better than my old feeder shown above.

If you are planning to buy a feeder, I suggest getting one with little perches of some kind. This one came with the perches not attached and at first I didn’t put them on, but the birds seemed to need them and usually sit on them while they drink.

It Must Be May in New Hampshire

Generally, I love where I live in south-western New Hampshire. But at the end of April and all through the month of May the black flies are plentiful and annoying.

I pretty much write off the entire month of May as lovely weather to look at from the safety of indoors. It’s a shame that just as the sun begins to get warm and the days are longer and everyone wants to be in the yard doing something, these little bugs make life miserable.

You would think it’s no big deal. They are just tiny flying bugs. I lived in Florida for 27 years and believe me I saw some nasty, awful creatures down there, but nothing was as horrendous as these flies.

They buzz your head and fly into your ears. Wearing long sleeves and a hat helps some, but they crawl up under the hat and into the sleeves and gloves, etc. and BITE! The bites are itchy, but not right away. In fact you can’t really tell they are biting until later.

That’s when the welts begin to appear with a horrible itch. My bitten ear is swollen and red and I have a lump the size of a quarter on my arm.

Hence, the net. When we first moved to NH, we saw people wearing nets over their heads in Spring … and laughed at them! Now, it is how I dress to do any type of yard work this time of year. Even so, I am not safe outside for long. Inevitably I end up with a new welt someplace.

The photo is a self portrait from last year. I took it of my reflection in the slider.

Happy Spring! (And don’t come to New Hampshire in May).