Poltrack Blog

Spring has arrived, flowers are blooming, leaves are emerging and the black flies have hatched. Happy Spring! What a great year for Daffodils. This makes up for 2016 with its killing frost The handiwork of the Pileated Woodpecker Pileated Woodpeckers create enormous square shaped holes. Note the pine pitch drop I collected some Sphagnum moss for my Pitcher Plant collection A vernal pool behind my house, a great place for spring peepers Beech leaves hang on till Spring and become almost white in appearance I love Hellebores There is a fungus among us Good bloom on the Star Magnolia this year without the hard frosts seen in 2016 & 2017

It took a while but it felt like Spring today. I planted some day lilies and took a nice walk in my backyard , something I should have done 43 years ago. I was pleased to see that the hellebore and primroses are in bloom. The male Chickadees are singing their mating songs. A great time of year. Primroses in bloom! Another early is the Lungwort Any day this Hellebore will bloom Now for something a bit scary

I'm getting a little tired of Nor'Easters. I just spent a few hours pushing a snow blower through snow with the consistency of wet cement. I had to go REAAALY SLOOOOW because the snow blower would ride up on the snow instead of cutting into it. I didn't finish, I'll finish up tomorrow. Meanwhile I went into the archives to look what was happening in previous years in March. I am so ready for something like this.

A look back at April 2017, spring arrived and just a bit more snow. After retiring I found more time for photography. The beavers were hard at work in New Boston, NH. This is one impressive dam project New growth for my bleeding heart L amprocapnos spectabilis The snow retreats the daffodils emerge On a warm day I went for a midday walk at Dunn State Park in Gardner, MA. A short one mile loop around the pond. Interesting color for a fungus seen on the trail Viburnum blossoms beginning to open Fiddlehead ferns are edible if you are willing to do the work removing the fuzz Snow day in early April Yesterday I spotted a couple at Costco festooned with ribbons and homemade buttons. When I asked about the buttons, Ruth Potwin explained it was part of her Unity Sash Project, to create dialog, build bridges and find common ground. Lots of folks in New Ipswich keep chickens and sell eggs. So much better than the grocery store and more colorf...

It is the last day of March and we sit in wait for a major nor'easter with a dump of heavy wet snow. March is such cruel month, a taste of spring followed by winter's return. Yesterday I saw a glimmer of hope when I saw some daffodils poking through the leaf litter. A glimmer of hope  The weather is a bit more dependable indoors and starting in February a number of my houseplants bloom such as an Amaryllis. This plant came from the New Ipswich Children's Fair Pistil and Stamen The flower was so heavy that it fell over. I had to prop it up with a stick www.poltrack.net

Winter seems to last too long and spring is too short here in New Hampshire. Still it is great to see those daffodils appear. However one of the strangest sites are my extra-terrestial Japanese Butterbur blossoms. For a flower that is sublime, you cannot beat the Star Magnolia

The iced storm was devastating to our forests. Now that the snow is retreating we can see the piles of downed limbs and brush to be cleared. Roadside signs have appeared offering chipping and brush clearing services. These limbs are green wood and are very heavy. Some are bent under tension so when I’m using the chainsaw I need to pay even more attention to the direction of the cuts. Everywhere in town folks are trying to burn piles of brush unsuccessfully because green wood is not very flammable. Kerosene helps for this task. The other day I noted that chickadees were visiting the broken branches of maple trees. They were drinking the sap which is running freely now. My driveway is wet, my windshield is covered with it, all oozing from broken branches. In the morning after an overnight freeze I was greeted with maple flavored icicles, quite tasty I must say.