spring in the south – In the Vintage Kitchen: Where History Comes To Eat

Spring has got to be the best time of year to be a squirrel. The weather is warm. The ground is soft. All the trees are in bloom. Ms. Jeannie was thinking about this the other day on her walk when she was joined by this guy chattering in the trees…

It was as-if he had shown up just to agree with Ms. Jeannie! “You’re right, Ms. Jeannie, the season is sublime!”

Indeed, these days must be a fairy tale wonderland to him.

Imagine living among shoots of blooming branches that are the size of your kitchen table…

or cuddling up for a nap in the base of a blooming bush with flowers four times as big as your head…

For a spring-time squirrel, every new day must be marvelous, especially with a playground that includes equipment like this…

and red carpet runways that look like this…

In February, their thoroughfare to fun was grey and bare…

one month later it looked like magic!

Surely that must be breathtaking if you are an acrobat of the air. Did you know that most squirrels can run up to 20 miles an hour? At such speeds their vantage points must resemble the essence of dreams…

…what a dizzying collection of sights and smells both gauzy and clear.

And how about those birds…

and those bees…

they too, must surely share in the squirrel’s enthusiasm for the change in climate. Whether the view is opulent…

or odd…

simple…

or scattered…

every little aspect of the whole production must be incredible from the eye of a squirrel. With masterpieces presenting themselves everywhere…

dear readers, Ms. Jeannie hopes your season is starting off beautifully!

And that the squirrels in your neck of the woods are having a marvelous March:)

Happy First Day of Spring, dear readers! After what seemed like an especially long, gray winter, Ms. Jeannie couldn’t be more thrilled to brighten up with some pastel colors and warm sunshine.

Ms. Jeannie's 1949 Vintage Flash Card reminds us that spring has come again:) — Ms. Jeannie’s 1949 Vintage Flash Card reminds us that spring has come again:)

To mark the occasion, Ms. Jeannie is taking you on a little photo tour of all things blooming here in her yard.

Sixteen Bradford Pear trees line the driveway, 8 on each side. They look spectacular in the Spring. In a few more weeks they will start dropping their petals, which look like a flurry of snow when the wind blows. Ms. Jeannie has to get her snow-fix anyway she can:)

If she were a bird, Ms. Jeannie would definitely follow suit of this brown thrasher and make a nest here in the tulip tree. He’s quite proud of this new abode and stays pretty close to home. Ms. Jeannie can totally understand why. If you lived in a tulip tree would you go wandering as much?

Ms. Jeannie was surprised to find the rosemary bush blooming also. For some reason, the idea that rosemary even blooms always surprises her, maybe because it is a year round evergreen in the South. Since it grows big quickly it is used in a lot of landscaping as a filler plant. When Ms. Jeannie lived up North, she never imagined that rosemary could get so big. But this particular bush is 4 feet wide and 3 feet tall!

The bright yellow forsythia bushes are like balls of sunshine popping up all over the yard! This particular batch sits next to the now famous fig bushes that you all have read about in past posts.

And of course there are the clusters of daffodils here and there. One day Ms. Jeannie is going to have a giant patch of all different varieties of daffodils. They are one of her most favorite flowers and really perk up the garden in early spring.

The Austrian poet and writer, Rainer Maria Rilke once said ” Spring is blooming so recklessly, if it were voices instead of colors, there would be an unbelievable shrieking in the night.” Ms. Jeannie couldn’t agree more, although she likes to imagine there would be singing in the night instead of shrieking! Maybe Vivaldi felt the same when he composed the Four Seasons concerto!

This is the text of the Spring Sonnet, which is as lovely to read as it is to listen to!

Spring has come and joyfully the birds greet it with happy song, and the brooks, while the streams flow along with gentle murmur as the zephyrs blow. There come, shrouding the air with a black cloak, lighting and thunder chosen to herald [the storm]; then, when these are silent, the little birds return to their melodious incantations.
And now, in the pleasant, flowery meadow, to the soft murmur of leaves and plants, the goatherd sleeps with his faithful dog at his side.
To the festive sound of a pastoral bagpipe, nymphs and shepherds dance under their beloved roof, greeting the glittering arrival of the spring.

If you’d like to share any pictures of spring arriving in your neck of the woods, Ms. Jeannie would love to post them on the blog as a spring around the world campaign. Just comment below and she’ll get it all arranged!

In the meantime,