P

P is for:


Pippa's Song
Robert Browning


The year's at the spring,
And day's at the morn;
Morning's at seven;
The hill-side's dew-pearl'd;
The lark's on the wing;
The snail's on the thorn;
God's in His heaven-
All's right with the world!


A fitting poem for a spring morning, don't you think?


Here is a picture of a birdnest gourd I grew year before last. Here it is popular to paint them and sell them, but I haven't exerted myself to paint any yet, though I have a bag full of them in the storage shed. I just put this one out on the clothes line to see what would happen. Last summer it was the abode of a nest of red wasps (nasty beasts). When I was hanging out the clothes sometimes I'd give the gourd a good spin and watch the wasps come boiling out and buzzing around-of course I'd make sure to be a good distance away.
This year a wren started to build in the gourd, but the wind was so bad that I used some wire to stabilize the gourd and I think that scared the birds away. I dunno. I think I will make another one and hang it up in a better place. Maybe that'd work.

Comments

Anonymous said…
That's really cool. I've heard of them, but never seen them before.

Apparently, you can make a gourd grow into a funny shape but suspending a glass bottle round it before it matures.
April 17, 2008 at 12:07 PM
Calfkeeper said…
GG-yes, I have heard of people making weird masks and such and tying them onto pumpkins and/or gourds so that they grow to that shape. I have thought of trying it. Might be fun.
April 19, 2008 at 9:29 AM
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