May is known as “the sweetest month” and so far, there is no denying that. This is the longest spring, that I remember in a long while. Usually, spring comes and for a very few weeks, is so very lovely. It lasts but a month, and then the heat becomes wicked and makes one wilt to be outside. Not so this year. Most days, it seems sinful to be inside as the days are just about ideal. The birds sing cheerful verses all day long and I smelled a magnolia blossom today wafting on a gentle wind.
I have almost finished the kitchen floor at the rabbit patch. I worked all weekend and every night this week for several hours. As much as I enjoy working, I will be quite content when this chore is finished. First off, it is a nightmare, when the kitchen shuts down at the rabbit patch. I tried to keep a “path” to the sink, then to the refrigerator, then to the stove and so on. We had to go outside to enter the laundry room, as well.
Christopher Robin and Moonshine were banished from the house altogether. These cats dependably track through paint. In the past I have scolded them for such antics, which implores them to dash about in all directions. It is not easy to get teal blue cat prints off of a kitchen table-or a chair or another floor. Cash, my boxer, uses better judgement and naps in front of a window fan-at a safe distance. Tonight, we will have roasted chicken and potatoes, squash and peas, to celebrate a shining kitchen floor.
The windows are up at the rabbit patch. A farmer is plowing a massive field, just across the road. I smell the dirt he is churning and I bet he smells our supper cooking. I love the smell of the earth. The soft hum of window fans float through the old house now, like a lullaby. I am very fond of window fans. The best sleep, I know of, is either by a wood heater-or a window fan. Only, when the hateful humidity descends on the south and even the wind is hot, do we install the window air condition units. I always put it off as long as I can.
I named the rose garden, at the rabbit patch, “The Quiet Garden”, after Gladys Tabers’. Every rose is blooming now and the pink wild rose sprawls about the picket fence in a full display of little blossoms. The Quiet Garden is a charming place, with the exception of winter. It is a wonderful place to think and wonder-and to unload burdens. One of the many nice things about roses is that they do not tell your secrets-nor do they scoff-nor do they criticize. They are like old and dear friends, in that way. I have a beautiful view of the garden from the window by my “morning table”. In the evening now, fireflies flash their little lights where the roses abide. There is no rhyme or reason to their flight, but I pass a few moments watching them in the twilight, lighting up the “Quiet Garden.”
I did not plan the “Quiet Garden”. Like every other beautiful thing in my life, it just happened without any foresight on my part. A farmer was cleaning his barn out one Saturday, and come across a few sections of picket fence, that he had no use for. He offered them to me, and thus the idea of a rose garden was born. Now, one of the rose bushes gives ample shade-enough to give refuge, for the weary, in July.
Dear Diary, In the sweetest month of May, I am glad for the smells of the earth, magnolia blossoms and roses. . . I am glad for fireflies in gardens . . and I am glad too, that a generous farmer cleaned his barn out, one Saturday, a long while ago.
rabbitpatchdiarycom 
So happy that you kitchen floor is complete…what a difficult, but rewarding task!
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ME TOO! what an awful mess! it is pretty this minute! haha! thank you! Hope to try some of your recipes this weekend!
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I hope that you like the recipes! And…have a fun weekend!
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Any project in the kitchen not involving food is a test of one’s mettle. You came through with flying colors. Just yesterday I saw a whole bank of red roses on the way to town. My two little bushes have buds, but are not ready to show off.
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Oh glad you saw the sight of roses blooming-and best wishes for your own. Yes, the kitchen and bathroom are awful projects! thank you, always xx
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Oh wow. This is just positively LOVELY. I take it you are painting your floor a teal-ish color? That sounds so pretty. That is interesting that you’ve had a prolonged spring, since it’s been super cold here in the upper midwest. My tulips were so happy today as the sun came out and it was a glorious afternoon.
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I have painted teal in the past-hence the horror story of cat prints! thank you and i hope your spring is mild soon enough!
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It is so hard to do maintenance in the kitchen ….especially a floor! I have been putting off re-varnishing my wood kitchen floor for that very reason. It really needs doing this summer!
I agree with you on having windows open as long as you can! It is so much nicer than running air conditioning.
May is a wonderful month. Around here it is a mix of winter/spring/summer all rolled into one month.
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Here, May is straight up spring and can be early summer. Winter is long gone. This year our winter was especially mild. I love the winter and missed the cold days, even. I hope your may is wonderful and good luck with the floors-at least in summer you could could cook on a grill. thank you always!
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I love the cooking on the grill idea. I really like grilling so that would work wonderful. I wonder how it would work to put the fridge on the porch lol?
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actually you could temporarily-we keep a fridge in the barn. I just finished my floor yesterday- and yay!!!
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It sounds positively idyllic! Your writing is such a treat. I’m so glad you are having a long Spring. I love them long since I don’t like hot weather that much. Here in the PNW we usually have long Springs, sometimes right into July, but this year it’s so wet and chilly, it’s like prolonged winter. Today was sunny and warm though, Yeah!
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Hot weather is my least favorite! the humidity is a killer! haha! I hope you have a lovely spring! thank you!
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Ma’am,
What a beautiful post you have written- as usual. May is a good month as long as it is Spring weather. Summer is harsh but you will find beauty in the Summer too- at the rabbit patch.
I am glad your kitchen got done and I could almost smell supper cooking on your stove as I read the post.
Great great writing.
Susie
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I just love your comments! You bring me happiness with your kind words! thank you and you are so right about summer being harsh!
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Such a nice post. How blessed you are in your life to have your Rabbit Patch. May is a lovely month – and Spring has been so long this year. Amid the turmoil of this world your Rabbit Patch is a wonderful sanctuary for you. Yes, cats are great for messing up wet paint. Ha
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I am blessed, friend. Thank you for loving it too. xx
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Sounds heavenly! Except for having to do the kitchen floor!
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so glad that is over! it was hard work and messy too! thank you! xx
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May is for sure the sweetest month. I went for a walk this morning and felt like a dog sniffing everywhere I set foot. Oh, what a treat it was.
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the may air is sweet isn’t it! I just bet it would be fun to walk with you! thank you!
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