I love May. There are so many reasons, I would bore you with a long list! Instead, I will tell you the top five. Spring in general is magical. Trees, shrubs, and bulbs like daffodils and tulips are blooming. There is a glorious, green smell to the air. The temperature is warming up (I love warm weather!) and birds are singing.

At the top of my list is gardening. I start planning what I will put in my vegetable garden in January. I start my seedlings late February, early March (it depends on the plant) and will get out and start spring clean-up when the snow melts. Here in New York, it was a relatively mild winter, with some snow, but it was all over pretty early in the season. We were able to get out there in March this year.

It isn’t about the plants when I am out in my garden. Just being out in nature is good for my soul. I love being close to the earth, near wildlife. It is such a joy to find a new type of plant that has seeded itself somewhere on the property. I am thrilled to see a species of bird I have never had the pleasure to watch in my bird pond.

If you have never seen a bird pond, here is a picture of ours. There are no birds in this picture, but there is a little green frog on the moss on the left hand side. I wish the little critter would have been a regular resident, but that was the only time we saw it.

However, today my husband encountered a rather large garter snake and what was probably one of her offspring. He moved a rock, and there they were. Neither was too happy with him, but my hubby got away unscathed, as did the two serpents. I only got to see the little one, which was a cutie. I did not get a picture, but a few years back we had another snake, and I was lucky enough to snap a shot.

I wish the resolution was better, better it is clear enough. It is a milk snake, pretty common for these parts. I keep hoping I see this one again, but we usually only encounter garter snakes. I did hear a rattler once; my husband thought I was nuts. He wasn’t so sure after we spoke to my neighbors, who were hiking in the county park behind us up on the hill that same day. They told us they met a woman from the county who told them to stay back for a moment because she needed to capture a rattlesnake! It is always nice to be vindicated!

That’s all I have to tell you for now. It is lovely outside and I need to go out and weed my veggie garden!.

I hope you enjoyed hearing my stories. Let me know what you think!