It’s May 1 and I’m watching gloppy, wet snowflakes fall like sodden paper. Where did this come from? I ask Maggie Mae. We’d just been out for a hike in the morning sun not two hours ago. She slides her eyelids open, looks sleepily at me, then lays her head down and slides them shut again, sinking right back into her morning nap.
I never told you, but I took my green handled loppers out one day in March and nipped off a bundle of wild apple branches. I was so excited to get them home, into my biggest vase of water, and watch them bloom! It as going to be glorious! I waited, hopeful. Weeks went by. April arrived. But only meager, timid little leaves pushed out. They were green (green!), but they were never robust, never strong. The blossoms never came. For all the doing, hoping, watering, and waiting, sometimes things just don’t go the way you expect.
Sometimes it snows in May.
I did tell you that I planted the last of my forcing bulbs, nestled the hyacinths into pebble-filled containers, gave them a drink. I didn’t tell you that they, save for one with only half-hearted effort, didn’t bloom. Had I kept them in storage too long? Had I overfilled the containers with water so that their bottoms were swimming instead of sipping? Had they just been a bad batch this year? Sometimes, things just don’t go the way you expect.
Sometimes it snows in May.
And I did tell you about the party happening in one tray of nasturtium seedlings, while the other two trays are quiet as a church.
Sometimes it snows in May.
We’re not gonna worry one bit about any of this, loves. And we’re not gonna work ourselves into a frenzy trying to figure out why one thing goes glorious and another doesn’t (or why is snows in May). Let’s just slide our eyes open, then slide them shut, and go on with our nap, our day, our work, our play. Life is full and challenging and beautiful and confusing. We’re gonna be here for all of it.
Moments Lately
Reading Lately
Stillmeadow Daybook Gladys Tabor
The Magic Apple Tree by Susan Hill
A Year In Provence by Peter Mayle
You know those books that are written by season (or month)? Lately, those are my books. When it feels like life is coming in fast from all directions, I find that I crave a corner of simplicity. Books by season are feeling like that for me, especially familiar ones that I’ve already read before. I just flip forward to March, April, May, or Spring, and start reading. Hello, old friend.
Eating Lately
About those poached eggs…
If you’ve ever wondered how to make quick, easy, perfectly yolky poached eggs to serve over toast, or a salad, or a mound of polenta or grits, Julia’s taught us all (via Jamie Beck). I found that I don’t even need to add the white vinegar when poaching my local farm eggs, just the initial 10 second warm-up seems to work just fine.
Favorites Lately
Let's meet here for dinner, ‘kay?
I’ve watched it half a dozen times. Because I’m a kitchen design/space planning geek nerd aficionado.
Why did I tear up about this one? Excited for October 1
For that May wedding coming up? I’m thinking these.
Work With Me
Loves! Do you need assistance in creating the home you’ve always dreamed of? My May calendar is up and there are some remaining slots for design consultations! Are you needing design assistance in a particular room of your home? Are you thinking about a remodel or ground-up build? Is there something that feels ‘off’ in the experience and flow of living in your home that you need help alleviating? I offer two different consultation options, one with a 55 minute virtual call, one simply via email. Click the links below for more information and booking.
Carmella:
Here are two of my fav, reread them yearly:
The Country Diary ofEdwardian Lady
Nature Notes of The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady
Edith Holden
Photographs are beautifullll in both books.
Your pics are so Awesome as always.
Love May’s letter
Maggie Mae is so pretty Sweetheart.❤️🐾
Thank you,
Karen
I have collected all of Gladys Taber's books...she used to write the column Butternut Wisdom, I think for Woman's Day or one of the popular ladies magazines. Her friend, Faith Baldwin, wrote lovely books as well. Also, an older book, An English Year, by Nan Fairbrother is delightful and was written during the war and chronicles the author's year with her children in the English countryside.