Spring, But For How Long?

50°f/10°C, clear. A gorgeous, breezy day.

What weather! Absolute heaven after the cold, cold winter we have had. These warm days have coaxed the daffodils, crocus, grape hyacinth  and forsythia into bloom.

These mini daffodils are always first to open.

I call these Rachel's daffodils, because we dug these bulbs from our friend Rachel's garden.

A few of the many crocus bulbs I planted have survived the dogs.

Hard to see, but this forsythia is in almost full bloom.

So green!

I even found a surprisingly early bluet in bloom today.

We have been working on outside cleanup, and have the herb garden tidied; now to wait to see what survived. Today we cleaned out the cellar top (the building on top of our root cellar. What a mess! It has been 4 or 5 years since I have done a deep dive up there because the steps Larry built are downright scary and I hate to go up them. But I did so today and was appalled at the mess my man had made. Everything stacked willy-nilly nilly, trash everywhere...so it was a grand time of tossing stuff out the door! Then bagging it up, making a pile to burn and a pile of scrap metal. 

It looks presentable now, but I will do one more sweep to get rid of things like the 3 ice cream makers that we have never used. Where did they even come from??? I also cleaned out the extra fridge we have up there. I was so pleased to get this job done. And won't be letting Larry put anything in that building unless I am right there with him!

Our granddaughter Sarah arrived late Saturday night, so we have been enjoying visiting with her. She's working on her cabin, and hopes to get some key tasks done during the next two weeks. We've had firepit time the last two evenings, just enjoying this first taste of Spring. And Sarah had her first taste of getting stuck in our bountiful mud. Larry hooked a chain to his truck and pulled her out, and I told her not to feel bad. She has been coming here for 5 years now, and this is the first time she's gotten stuck. Shoot, we got stuck at least 5 times in our first year!

We must enjoy this weather while we can, because next week we will be back in the low 20's and 30's. It's so sad; the poor flowers. And today I saw a butterfly, just fluttering by so happily. Our weather is so changeable and unpredictable,  it's a wonder we ever get any fruit or flowers. 

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

Celtic Calling 2026

59°f/15° C, clear and breezy. 22.8 3

The Celtic Calling Gathering in Charleston (WV) has been happening for ten years---ten years! Last year we made it down for a couple events, but this year I was determined to be there for more. This is my favorite kind of music, and it is rarely available in our area.  So after stocking our booths Friday we headed south. First stop, Hagy's Irish Pub to hear the local group The Gypsy Stars.

Great decor at this pub, but service was s-l-o-w.

We ran into a longtime friend there so it was fun to catch up in between tunes. Poor lady, she waited a half hour for a glass of water! 

Next stop was Taylor Books,  an independent and thriving book store that was hosting a music and open mic poetry event.  Our friend Pam came with us, and Colleen Anderson, another friend and awesome poet, also showed up. We had such a good time talking, listening, singing along, and sharing our poetry.

Then Saturday we went back because there was a full day of events we wanted to see.  We browsed the (small) group of vendors, bought nothing except a Celtic Calling t-shirt, but we ran into yet another friend! So we stopped for drinks and good conversation,  then it was off to Taylor Books again for coffee and browsing before wandering back to the Irish pub for the Almost Heaven Ducimer group. These guys were great. 

The dancing couple were amazing. Both 71 years old,  and they danced at various venues all day long!

Larry had Guinness cheese soup while I had stuffed mushrooms and fondant potatoes. 

His soup, served with a huge pretzel,  was delicious 

I was disappointed with my selections. The potatoes had no salt and were very bland. Two of the mushrooms were just okay, and the third with blue cheese/spinach filling, I just didn't like...but then I don't like blue cheese. Still,  i am glad I tried both. I will know what not to order next time.

We met a man there who was so entertaining that we ended up talking with him the whole time we were there! He is one of those old-time West Virginians, full of stories.  

After the music we walked up the street to see the parade,  only to find we had missed the best part. Well, it was a very short parade! Next stop was a place called the Blue Parrot, pretty much a dive bar but one of our favorite local groups, the Charleston Rogues,  was playing there. What a blast! They are so high energy. The step dancers werea great addition,especially when they did the Scottish sword dance.

While there were met a young nan in a kilt who turned out to be giving away Jameson beads. I was so tickled to get a strand, and later met the Jameson whiskey rep for our area who gave me a pair of sunglasses. Now, I rarely drink hard liquor,but if I do? Jameson, please. I guess it has been a couple years since I had any, but I did have a glass today. It reminded me of our first time in Ireland, standing by a lake in the rain, and having my very first taste of this Irish whiskey 

Even the security guard got into dancing! I don't have any videos or photos, but the dance floor was filled up as the evening went on, and we enjoyed watching them. 

And so ended a very fun  music- filled day. Fortunately the rain held off until we were leaving at 7pm. The wildest part of this festival is that all the events were free! Of course we bought drinks and food and t-shirts, but still,  free? Amazing. One place had a nominal cover charge, probably because they were absolutely packed for each event. There were many other things going on too, both on the west side venues (new this year), at a theater, and educational and children's programs at the library. It would have been impossible to attend them all. 

Well done, Charleston!

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

Signs of Spring?

55°f/12.8°C, overcast, showers, then clearing but more rain on the way. 

Finally we are seeing a few flowers! I planted about 150 crocus bulbs last fall, but between the dogs and the squirrels they are having a very bad time. 

These little guys have been there for years, still struggling along. I can't get close to them because the ground is so saturated my feet just sink in...or slip! Mud everywhere. 

The hellebords are finally blooming, almost a month later than last year. It looks like winter wasn't kind to them either. I will get them trimmed  and clean up around them soin so they look prettier. Not today though. A very bad and painful night last night means I am worn out and low energy today.

But isn't it nice to see some green? Even if some of it is weeds...

I worked on boobytrapping this garden today. The dogs have really done some damage, much of it done by Buddy in the middle of the night. He woke us several times to go out, and silly us thought he needed to wee. But no, he just wanted to plow around in the flowerbed! So I am stringing folding wire fences all up and down this garden. I did this last year and it worked well while not detracting too much from the plants. Once the garden gets growing the little fences are almost invisible, but the dogs can't run through them, dig or lay in them. Good thing I love these beasts.

You would think living way out here would be quiet and serene, wouldn't you? But have a listen at what's going on today.

Peepers, hoards of wild honeybees working the maples (yay!) and birds singing their little hearts out---makes a nice concert as I sit here drinking my coffee and writing this blog.

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