All of a sudden, the profusion of growth in New England makes the mind reel.  It is happening so fast!  Everywhere I turn, something flowers or blades upward, about to unfurl.  Even the sweet woodruff, so humble and unassuming, offers a splendid display.

I think I have another fiber artist to thank for the multitude of blooms on our wisteria.  Normally, our vine confounds us by producing one or two blossoms — maybe five in a lush year.  I have tried ‘savagely pruning’, as recommended on Victory Garden or some similar show, but with never with any real results.

This year, however, fiber artist and papermaker Velma Bolyard put out the call for wisteria vine in order to try weaving with its bast (her work as an artist and teacher is inspiring — find her here: Wake Robin).  So, I cut the vine a couple of times in April — something I never have done before — and voila!  It is going like gangbusters out there with pale clusters of flowers all over.  I will have to make a note to repeat the pruning in April next spring!

Day 15

The ferns grow at an amazing clip.

The fiber house is soon to be enclosed by greenery.

But the best unfolding of the day was the happy, happy news that my sister has been deemed eligible for both SSI and SSDI.  I screamed outloud and peed myself a little, it was such good news.  (Eighty percent of applicants are turned down at the first go ’round).  I was prepared for the appeal process and ANOTHER five or six months of uncertainty.  Suddenly, a future for her seems possible.  Suddenly, four months of effort have a positive resolution.  I might even go so far as to assert that the $50,ooo I paid for a legal education paid off a little today.