April Showers

We woke to the rumbling of thunder in the mountains which tends to echo and to my hearing, is super dramatic. A long time has passed since there has been measurable rain. A burn ban remains in place because it has been so dry presenting me with minor challenges for keeping my garden watered. I call it my garden, but let's be real, without Bruce there would be no garden! I am having so much fun filling it with all manner of plants.  Much to my dismay, I think it might have been last Tuesday that something bit me on both my right arm and ankle. You've heard it before....incredible itching and scratching ensued as the tissue swelled over the next two days before finally subsiding. Seriously, I was going mad! Nevertheless, I kept planting and planting, being mildly obsessed at the moment. 

Speaking of obsessed, our town is obsessed with American Idol and there's a big billboard on the highway through town to prove it. Forgive me for the poor photograph but I took it through the open window as we waited for the light to change at the entrance to the Ingles parking lot.

I still don't understand how it works, but we have been watching the show each Monday night and it's actually been quite fun. The update is that last night he made the cut to the final five and will have to have a killer performance next week because he has stiff competition. And then there is the matter of getting votes so if you are inclined to help a small-town boy and his town win this thing, please consider the above as in voting next Monday between 8-10pm. We have learned that should he make the top three, ABC will return to town to do some filming next week. Pretty crazy, huh? Furthermore, the town is planning a parade should he make it!! So there you go, a young man who graduated Murphy High School and still lives here. 

I neglected to mention that a week ago Saturday, Bruce sat with John most of the day as he set up his handmade furniture on the church lawn, with all his profits going to Soul Table, our weekly free lunch. It was a busy day in the area and he gave ALL of what he sold to the ministry. I went over in the afternoon to hang out and when the wind picked up a bit, John's paper towels went rolling...

Bruce is over at John's shop right now helping with the Big Brother's project, helping local children make things. Bruce tells me that all of the young people are so well-mannered.

Once again, my strong man came through by removing the rocks that lined this bed and amending the soil. There were two trellises in it, one of which had fallen down. Adding to that, it is in a very good spot for full sun and it was going to waste. So..

The day I planted it was overcast, so wearing long-sleeves and pants to keep me from getting bit, and since Bruce had done such a wonderful job with the soil, I managed to do it by myself and not get bit as well.  I used some plants I'd already purchased, some bulbs that won't be coming up for a while, the Easter Lily we got as a memorial to brother Cris, and two new plants whose name I forget, one of which is blooming right now with the other one not far behind.

Isn't it cute? Here's the bed after planting minus the zinnia seedlings I added later.

The huge rainstorm I mentioned revealed a stopped-up gutter just above where the bird bath is and it did my seedlings no favors however getting the big ladder out Bruce cleared it and it is now in good shape, just in time for the predicted overnight rain. The roses are just beyond and I am thrilled to report, they began opening this week!!

Plenty of the color above, but the yellow one is still on it's way to becoming more fruitful.

The good news is that both of them are SO fragrant!

Aren't they so pretty? 

Look at the potatoes growing!

One plant has a flower forming, but who knows what is happening underground!! Those are peony buds in the foreground, and oh my goodness, last Saturday Bruce was meant to throw the discus and shot put for Senior Games but it was rained out, so we went to the farmer's market downtown instead. As we parked I noticed that in front of the Hackney building there were a big display of blooming peonies and oh my gosh were they gorgeous!

I just love how the pollen is so thick it is running down the flower in the light rain.  

I finally decided to enter some photographs in the games and they were ordered and delivered this week, both bird shots taken in our yard. I'm happy about that, keeping it local. This little Song Sparrow has been in the hedges or on the growing plants for over a week, singing like crazy.

That day before we met our new neighbors who just bought the house behind ours that has been for sale for a while. It will be more of a weekend home for them because they aren't all that far, living in an Atlanta suburb. Of all things, she manages a pickleball/tennis club there!! We hit it off right away and who is surprised that when we went out to lunch they were at the restaurant! It was totally unplanned but we shared a meal and it was delightful. His mother was along for the fun.

More new plants from the farmer's market for us including this Jacob's Ladder plant that is doing so well.

I also bought some vegetable plants for their beauty, neither of which we normally eat. Mustard green on the left and a Peppermint Swiss chard on the right.

Don't they have such great leaves? 

There were two very old Rhododendron plants in the yard when we moved in and they are just beginning their bloom cycle. BTW, on May 3 it will be two years!! Two wonderful years I might add.

What a color, right? Another old and leggy plant is the azalea plant on the shady side of the house that has also just begun blooming. The color is outstanding!

Most of us grew up with the saying April showers bring May flowers, but until the last few days, showers have been few and far between, however, this week might be the week to break the drought as it is meant to rain very frequently, including on Saturday when the big Spring Fling is planned for downtown. I sure hope the weather is clear for the vendors and also our ladies group who are planning on having a booth with popcorn and face painting. I'll let you know.

A broken record; that's what I probably sound like when I exclaim over the abundance of flowers, but seriously, I am not exaggerating. Jason has a Snowball viburnum in bloom with both pink and white flowers, more flowers than one can count.

Here's a close up.

Exquisite!

The garden is coming along, teaching me patience each and every day. 

As you might notice, there are marigolds planted all over the place as they are meant to ward off bugs. I planted sets of them between the roses as well, and we shall see how it works. I have baby broccoli heads forming, we have been eating romaine lettuce like mad, and the cabbages are forming. All very exciting indeed, but never think for one moment that everything turns out perfectly. I finally gave in and pulled all of the radish plants because I knew in my heart there were no radishes, only foliage.

My mistake, or so I think, is not thinning them out early because the plants were so close together, bulbs could not form. I did plant more seeds at least a week ago, so perhaps round two will be a winner. And then again, maybe not!

All kinds of good things are happening but sadly one unexpected thing has popped up. Last Tuesday I was counting the offering at church when Bruce sent me a message that Pastor Wil wanted to meet us at our home around noon. His thought was that he was going to ask us to take on a project so when he told us he was leaving Murphy, along with his wonderful family, we were speechless.

He has been transferred to Waynesville, which while it is a big loss for our congregation, a big blessing for theirs. Plus, Lea's parents live there, so they will finally be able to spend time with their grandchildren. He was the kind of leader who never asked you to do more than he would. It's been a week now that we have known, but so far it is not getting any easier to accept! That said, we will. He will be here for six or so more weeks so we have time to get used to the idea before a new pastor arrives. Big shoes to fill and I don't just mean physically!

Although Bruce went to the school to spend time with Grayson, he was not able to see him because they were in testing mode. Instead we did some leisurely errands. While driving I could not help but be struck by GREEN everywhere, including all of the mountains, most of which were all brown only a month ago. 

It's so thrilling. 

My heart is full despite our disappointment. It's a case of turning a frown upside down isn't it? Selfishly we want Pastor Wil to stay, but what we should be focusing on is his and Lea, Norah and Nathaniel's opportunities ahead. 

Yea, that's the ticket.

your friend,

Gail

Back to Our Routines

As promised in my last post, I am here to share neighborhood flowers and more! 

For those who have lived the sort of life when all manner of trees bloom profusely in the spring, perhaps this won't excite you, but for those of us who have not lived that way, and that means me, I continue to be overwhelmed with awe and gratitude that I can witness the magic of spring in the mountains. 

And yes, there is a lot to absorb from the photo above. The azaleas here are absolutely awash with blooms, so much so that the leaves are almost non-existent.  In the foreground is a gorgeous pink plum tree, dogwoods above and two gorgeous shades of azaleas. Yup, I could not get enough of it!

Other neighbor's homes with both white and pink dogwood trees.

Not to mention green leaves on the non-flowering trees that have been bare branches for months on end or so it seemed! 

I'm not sure if I prefer the white or pink version of dogwoods but one thing I know is I like them both!

While I wish I had more than just two tulips, that is a little greedy thinking considering I went almost seventy years with none!

Another neighbor had this cute display.

All of the shoots I was seeing in the side beds turned out to be lovely hostas that seem to me to be larger than last years bunch.

What is not to like about a redbud tree? Absolutely nothing.

Because the weather has warmed a bit, many nights I've left our bedroom windows open and we wake to the sweet and loud songs of the abundant robin population, another thing that is new to me. In Orlando, once a year robins would come through and eat the camphor berries on the trees in our back so I was familiar with them, but it was maybe a two week relationship, rather than months on end.  Oh yeah, windows open is another plus!

There are lots of pretty old houses in our neighborhood that are even prettier when the trees are in bloom.

That said, most of these photos were taken when we returned and a good many trees have lost all of their flowers and replaced them with green, which if you are anything like me, is just fine because there is just something so refreshing about spring green!

The garden is going well and I am doing my best to document things in order to learn something about having a vegetable garden. I am also watching numerous YouTube videos.

We have eaten more salads in the last week or two than we had for the previous two months as the romaine is going crazy! I wish I could say the same for the radishes but I think that is going to be a bust, however, hope springs eternal. or so they say!

The little container in the foreground with the blue latches contains last year's marigold seeds which have done nothing when I planted them in my seedling trays. I'm not sure what I've done wrong, but I relented and bought a few plants. 

Speaking of plants, our neighbor Sandy gave me some lily of the valley and variegated hostas and let me tell you, the fragrance of the lily of the valley is heavenly. 

Apparently they are prolific spreaders, so hopefully next year at this time I will have a bunch.

Let us now turn our attention to some friends and outings, all of which have been so good. It just turned out that we were busy, busy, busy last week beginning with Easter lunch at David and D'Anna's house where she outdid herself on seasonal decorations.

We enjoyed a lovely lunch and time of visiting with other friends, Gerri and Rhonda.

The picture of the guys did not turn out but the one of D"Anna and her favorite chicken Henrietta did except for her having to squint in the bright sun which no one complains about after such a cold winter!

Monday evening we finally saw the finished product that is David and Randy's new home and holy cow, what a place! It is absolutely wonderful and filled with their craftsmanship in both rug hooking, and cross stitch ,and let us not forget David's magnificent quilts. 

Two of my favorite food groups in one picture!

Their whole house is filled with eye candy and although I am sick to death of hearing the word "intentional" when it comes to decorating a home, in their case it seems fitting. Aren't most people at least a little bit intentional in what they put in their homes? How has it becomes such a buzz word?

I am standing on a rug hooked by Randy and I am saying publicly that it is even better in person.

The meal Randy cooked was wonderful, the sunset from their back deck, magnificent,

and the drive down the mountain in the dark, scary!! Most all of the folks we know that have moved here did so after visiting for years during which time they became accustomed to dark and winding roads. We are not there yet, or what I should have said is, Bruce, our chauffeur, is not there yet! 

That Saturday we ran into Julie at the farmer's market that has just opened on the first Saturday in April.  We have discovered a terrific plant vendor, but I will save anything about that for another day. Anyway, Julie had out-of-town guests and invited us to join them for dinner and a hymn sing, an invitation too intriguing to decline. Gosh it was fun. They cooked out and we ate in their magical back yard that you have seen before. Her twin sister Jamie, along with her husband Colby joined us. 

The guests whose names I have forgotten, and I'm embarrassed to admit that, were a great couple from Vermont who are long time friends; the husband went to school with Jamie and Julie in West Virginia. We did our best to sing along being led by him and his wonderful voice.

A chill as the sun was setting sent us indoors where we continued with our singing and listening. Jamie and Julie are twins and both have tremendous singing voices.

A few years ago Jamie (r) had a stroke making things a little more difficult for her but singing with her sister is second nature. Her two daughters are getting married this summer so we have two weddings to look forward to! Bonus points for the abundance of stars we saw, oh my goodness, not something I want to forget. 

We have met some pretty amazing people here, although truth be told, they are everywhere aren't they? Nevertheless, it's a first for us working side-by-side with a 91 year old woman doing yard work which is what we did a week ago on service Sunday. Esther can work with the best of them.

As can Dottie who is 81 and as sturdy as a 50 year old!

Talk about service with a smile. Sue is trimming and Bruce and a lady I do not know are doing clean up.

We were tasked with putting mulch down and trimming at a blind parishioner's house. 

Maybe two years ago Bruce worked on that ramp adding stability, but it looks like it could use refreshing. Lots of good downtown projects were completed by our church members including working on removing invasive species from the riverwalk, as well as picking up trash that people so thoughtlessly throw on the ground.  

Two more things to talk about, well actually there are more things than I can count, but for our purposes let's wrap this up with one of my strawberry plants that had such a cute strawberry ripening and doggone it, it disappeared!

I will say, so far so good on critters, something I am very thankful for. The broccoli are forming, the potatoes are fourteen inches tall, as is the romaine lettuce. Look at the cabbage!!

Isn't it cute? This has been so much fun and I could not be more grateful for the privilege!

I lied. One more image of the riverwalk that has been knocking my socks off. (the river is on the right)

Seeing such abundance is anything but routine, so my title is not very good today, but it was the best I could come up with! 

I remain, 

your friend,

Gail 

When One Visits Orlando....

....as 68 million people do annually, for most visitors, the theme parks come to mind, that is if you are not from Orlando. Don't get me wrong there are native Orlandoans that go to the parks, but most of us try to stay away from that part of our area because there are just so many people! We, on the other hand, or perhaps I should say more me than Bruce, although he did bring his binoculars this time, think of our family first, and our friends second. It is a close contest, but I will put birds as number three. 

But before we get into more from the trip I opened my last post with a photo of our home as it looked when we left. Should you want to compare, here is the link to that post. I mentioned that things had changed dramatically and I was not exaggerating one bit!

The creeping phlox were still putting on a show, albeit less dramatic because they did not want to compete with the Japanese Maple that, in some lights looks as if it is on fire, not to mention it fills our view from the front windows, gloriously I might add! It is outrageously pretty if I might be so bold.

So back to Florida where it is not uncommon to see this happen at the Orlando Wetlands when you are strolling along looking at birds.

It helps having a zoom lens but still we were not all that far from the gator crossing the road. Oh my dear readers, it was such a good visit to the Wetlands. Since our previous February visit, the baby birds have grown quite a bit and are easy to spot, beginning with an aptly named bird called a Glossy Ibis.

Common at most lakesides there in Central Florida, white ibis are readily seen, however glossy not so much. Rarely had I seen any until the last few years, well before we moved to North Carolina is more like it. Here the birds are small, small, small! 

The wetlands are designed to filter water before it runs into the St. John's River and consists of many large ponds, or that is how they describe it. Mostly it is shallow water with spindly trees growing in the water where birds and alligators co-exist.

If you have a keen eye, you might note an alligator in the grass. I'll tell you who has a keen eye for gators and that is Bruce and our son-in-law Tom. It's like a game counting gators when we are all together. 

As is always the case I took way more photos than is good for me, but in the case of say the young spoonbills, it is hard not to!

The shade of pink is so beautiful and many of them are showing off their new wings.

It is quite the spectacle and unlike folks coming to Orlando for the theme parks attracts birders from all over, especially since CBS Sunday morning show highlighted it two weeks ago in a segment.  

The Great Blue Heron nest is not getting as much love, however, they put on quite the show while we stood watching from the boardwalk. It was feeding time and it gets pretty wild, or so it looked to us.

It was hard to tell exactly how many were in the upper nest which is above and below, but it seemed like that mamma had her beak full! (my lame attempt to be amusing)

After a bit, both sets of birds settled down a bit.

What a privilege to witness in person and hopefully through this blog; watching the natural world is such a tonic for what ails you!

The spoonbills are the opening act, loved by many; following closely behind are the Sandhill Cranes and their two colts. I believe I posted a photo of the nest and by golly they hatched in our absence and are just as cute as can be. We circled around the ponds until we found them and just when we did, some folks were coming down the path on horseback which happens rarely, but is totally allowed.

Dogs, on the other hand, are not allowed due to the prevalence of alligators. Actually the horses created a little stir with papa/mama crane and the kids went into hiding but eventually popped back out. I have always loved the heart-shaped marking on their heads.

One more of the hiding colts!

Plenty more, believe me, but time to move on. I used to go often during a season, so I am grateful I had the opportunities I've had this year. 

You know me and birds!! Extra, extra!! Listen up!

This little Carolina Wren was at our complex as were the birds below.  The morning after our arrival, first thing in the morning looking outside for birds, I could see some way across the lake, but I was not able to identify them from such a distance. Well....the next morning I looked on our side of the lake and was ASTONISHED to see a family of Black Crowned Night herons along with a green heron and a little blue heron, plus a snowy egret.

Perhaps you are of the mind of who cares and I get it, however, for this bird enthusiast, I was freaking out because I have only ever seen two night herons in the wild before!!! And to think that they were outside my back door and stayed for two days. Such cool looking birds. 

Do you find it as amazing as I do, the variety of birds, both in color and sizes? 

I am happy to report that Christian did not cry when he saw his Grandpa and he even played with him.

We have reached the Christian portion of this post. He is such a little cutie said this adoring grandma, and I am just so interested in his concentration which seems to be quite strong.

Another thing we learned about our little bit is that he has a generous streak or so it seemed when he went out to dinner to celebrate his father and uncle's 47th birthdays. We went to Primrose Lanes, a trendy bowling alley where Bruce and I have been before. Christian had his first restaurant experience and he did so well thanks to his Mommy!

They brought a high chair and it was his first time ever sitting beside his daddy and look what he did!

We have waited a long time to welcome another Peck boy into the family, but it's been worth the wait!

Because I avoid most news I was not aware that Artemis was lifting off the next day when we most likely would have been able to see it from our place! Darn it!! Thursday morning, before leaving the hotel the moon was so beautiful and to think that they saw it up close!

We arrived in Murphy in time to attend all of the traditional Easter services. Here is your favorite blogger and her sweet husband. (How she can take photographs out of those squinty eyes is a miracle, right?)

We came home to a neighborhood awash in spring flowers that I will share in my next post. The days post trip have been busy and then there is the little matter of our garden that is looking good as I add more plants.

Yup, lots of garden stories yet to discover! Woo hoo!

your friend,

Gail