April Evening

Listen.

The birds have gone to bed,

the last faint cheeps drop

from hidden roosts,

a bulldrog croaks, just once,

his big voice a drum

against descending dark.

Tree frogs are quiet, no chorus

from the branches tonight,

too cold for their tender throats.

The fire crackles, old dog

groans, shifts her aching bones,

the cat hunkers, watching sparks,

smoke curls upward to stars

that make no sound,

indifferent 

to this tiny fire,

this speck of green lawn,

this tiny blue sphere

we all--

the birds,  the bullfrog

the tree frogs, the dog,

the cat, me and you--

call home.

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

The Tulip Festival

Sunday was a perfect day for a drive to see the tulip festival at Timbuk Farms, near Granville, Ohio.

Although the ads offered live music and other activities, I guess things were winding down by the time we got there in the afternoon. The festival was scheduled to end at 3pm Sunday, but when we left at 2, cars were still coming in, and there were many people still wandering the fields, eating, and browsing the greenhouse.

Little wildflowers (dandelion, Spring Beauty, and violets) dotted the lawn on the way to the fields.

The first display we saw was this red, white, and blue patriotic design. It was down over a steep hill, and above a field of daffodils, but I did not venture close enough to see what flowers were used to create this. Just not feeling too patriotic these days.

Buckets for picking were available, if you wanted to take a bouquet home. Price was $1.25 a stem, not bad but I did not pick any, since they would surely have been drooping by the time we got home.

The fields were busy, as you can see. There were 4 acres of flowers, about 500, 000 bulbs.

I think these delicately colored blooms were my favorites. I think. There were so many colors to choose from!

de

These peony-flowered yellow tulips were in many people's picking buckets.

As you can see, there was a large patch of them available.

Timbuk Farms also produces Christmas trees. 

The greenhouses offered a wide variety of plants. 

We didn't stay long, as we had our auction pickup scheduled later in the day, and it was getting pretty warm. But I got my flower fix, for the moment anyway!

PS: a while back I mentioned a book I am reading called The Assassin's Cloak. Apparently the title came from this quote by a poet who was well-kniwn in his day: “A diary is an assassin’s cloak which we wear when we stab a comrade in the back with a pen” – Willian Soutar, 1934.

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

A Saturday in April

47°f/8.3°C. Light showers overnight, cloudy morning, then clear. Beautiful day.

Is there anything like an April day when the Sun is shining but not too hot, a light breeze is blowing, and the air feels fresh and clear? I had intended to go to a writing workshop at a state forest this afternoon, but could not bring myself to leave home. And anyway, a young friend, daughter of a friend who passed away a few years ago, wanted to come over and get starts of perennials. And there was that patio revamping we wanted to start on. And I needed to finish painting the deck furniture. And Larry wanted to cut some more grass.

So we did all of that after a quick run to town for sand to level the patio blocks and gas for the mower and truck. But who-weee! Gas! $92.50 to fill the truck and a 5 gallon gas can! And yesterday, $60 to fill the van. Maybe staying home was a good idea. But tomorrow we are going to a Tulip festival and I am so looking forward to that. And we will pick up auction winnings on the way home. Still, I think we will be curtailing travel as much as possible while prices are so high. Our budget cannot withstand such pressure. 

Maybe that is why our booth sales have been so good recently. Maybe people are staying local? I don't know, but so far this year has been great. I hope i didn't jinx it by saying so, but it has been rewarding to see stuff flying off the shelves. We put this little dinette set in yesterday, and it is already spoken for.

Same with this chest of drawers.

We did a pretty thorough restock at both places yesterday. I am sure sales will soon slow down as they usually do this time of year, with weddings, graduations, and vacations coming up. But it sure has been nice.

A few more photos from our restock. I didn't take any around home today, except for this one of this evening's firepit.  (Buddy wasn't really in the fire, although it looks like it!)

But back to booth photos:

I bought this dog puzzle box because I couldn't figure it out! It is really quite simple. The teapot is one of a dozen I won at auction, all new and exactly alike---but they have the coolest built-in infuser. 

That green fan vase glows in black light, a sign of uranium in the glass. There are people who collect uranium glass. The quart jar is a "crow jar", something new i am trying. It's filled with i teresting bits and bobs, like a crow might collect for its nest. I made a few, but none have sold yet 

A recent auction win , this actually works, but needs a new ribbon.

I have had this copper kettle for a while, and it's priced reasonably so I am surprised it hasn't sold.

I have had these wood folding chairs for years, just now getting them into the booth. I am putting a lot of framed art and frames into this space too, with pretty decent sales so far.

The old fan works great. I thought yhe explosives box would sell fast, but nope. Hard to judge such trends, but old wood boxes seem to have slowed down, at least for me.

Off to bed now, as we need to get an early start tomorrow. Have a great Sunday, friends!

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.