Dandelion Feast

The bright green expanse of grass (and various assorted plants most commonly referred to as "weeds") is studded with the golden yellow of dandelion blossoms. The bright flowers are almost as numerous as sequins on an Academy Award winner's gown, but much more beautiful.

I had hoped to take advantage of the numerous dandelion greens this year, steaming or sauteing them with various other vegetables and wild greens, but my little handicap and the nearly week long rain hindered my wild feast.

The dandelions are not exactly going to waste, however. When standing among the golden blossoms, one becomes aware of an incessant buzzing hum. The honey bees are gorging on sweet dandelion nectar and filling their "bags" with bright orange dandelion pollen.

Dandelion honey will be one result, perhaps?

My injury has progressed slowly. The last few days I have tested my foot, occasionally putting a bit of weight on it -- until it feels that it would be a bad idea to go any farther. I am optimistic that by the end of next week I will be able to start walking on it, at least for short periods of time. The daily rain has kept me indoors -- no weeding, no planting -- except for brief forays when the clouds are withholding their bounty. Then I just wander through the gardens to see what's new.

Much is new. The world gets greener hour by hour. The grape hyacinth planted last fall are blooming, as is the creeping phlox. More daffodils. More tulips. And the precious Spring Beauty narcissus. Their little blossoms are the size of a single petal on the regular size narcissus. A precious gift given me years ago.



Last fall's collards and kale are growing again, ready to harvest. It looks like one of the brussels sprouts plants that I thought I had pulled also is growing again. The parsley is returning and cilantro has reached harvestable size. My husband and our 8 1/2-year-old granddaughter are down and the former pond, which now contains water from the rains, looking for snakes and frogs.

The sun is shining. I am waiting for our neighbor to return home so we can go see their new lambs. If they return in time, I will have photos to post.

The aptly named Spring Beauty.

Life is not just good, it is wondrous.