spring outing

on friday we spent the day at my cabin across the bay. it was glorious. chilly at first, but after lunch the wind died down and it got warm. my grandson and i trenched the ditch that runs along the lane. it was so lovely , we were like two happy beavers sloshing around in the water, getting our boots sucked into the mud. clearing balls of roots, digging , cracking off icicles off the side of the little water fall.
i love spring trenching. one year i managed to dig a channel across the lower field and created a brook, which carries the runoff down the bank along the beach and into the bay. it still works today.
when my girls were small they played on the river bank endlessly. in those days there were hundreds of pulp logs washed up on the beach. the girls would get poles and push the logs out to sea. they were tiny loggers, skipping from log to log, occasionaly falling into the icy water.
spring when i was growing up meant trips the "the bog" gathering tadpoles , bringing them home in jam jars, watching them grow, first little leg buds, then the tail would start to disappear. eventually they would die or if they were lucky to survive, be released back into the bog.
on friday we saw the first of the robins, colts foot, and the tiny light green shoots of the iris returning.

" spring has sprung,
the grass is riz

i wonder where the boys is?"

"wee ball"


this is the view from my daughter's cabin. it's of an island in the bay of island's , it's official name is "tweed island" but locally it's always been known as "wee ball". the photo doesn't show the entire island , it is very round and steep. in the summer it always has a perfect little cloud cap hovering over it. i call it "wee ball's hat". some day i want to write a children's book about wee ball.
my late father-in-law used to call me a "wee ball" if i was acting stand-offish.

the photo was taken on good friday. we went down with the children and had such a wonderful time. the ice is still in the bay and the children "copied" the ballyclatters. in other words they jumped from ice pan to ice pan. this was a great sport in outports in the spring. and a dangerous one as often the icepans would be floating and with the right wind they could float out to sea with the little adventurer still on it.
no crocus up in my garden yet, however the sun has been out for three days this week and is feeling strong on my face. the snow is evaporating . it's still a bit coolish though..
it's taken me a couple of weeks to adjust to being home. i miss the warmth of the south. and also missed having someone around all the time. it was a great holiday. now i have to settle in to 'real life'.
i guess i feel a little like a "wee ball" these days myself!

spring, where are you ?

this is a prehistoric beast we saw at the little rock zoo.
it expresses exactly how i feel today. ancient, stiff and
very cold. it was in an aquarium with some innocuous fish.
i thought it was a stone but it moved it's mouth ever so
slightly. it was like something you'd see in pompeii,
frozen in time , caught unawares by molton lava.
that's my grandson's reflection in the glass.
any way it is how i feel. since coming home from my
wonderful 5 week holiday (yes even the babysitting)
i have felt down , a kind of low grade depression. like i really don't want to be here. where are the good times? eating out, being pampered, never being alone. meeting funny and interesting people. going to a professsional ball game. feeling the power of the healing sun, flowers blooming, bird song everywhere, squirrels scampering, crane family, alligator. walks and talks, playing cards, constant bantering and laughter. where has it all gone?
i'm home alone, well almost, the cat and dog are here. but i'm cross with them, they've messed on the carpet, the dog is shedding. they're so demanding and give little in return. it's all about ME with them. when do they do for me? " feed me ","walk me"yatta, yatta.........
there is ice in the harbour, it's cold, and snow as far as the eye can see.
my knee is sore( i injured it running after planes)
the bills have piled up. i have no money left to pay them. it's income tax time.
i haven't been to the gym, i'm overeating again ( thanks to my host's empty fridge
i couldn't have overeaten even if i wanted to).
i miss the palm trees, i miss my sister, i miss the pool...........
god, why have you forsaken me????????????