Mostly About Plants

Sometimes vignettes just appear before me, this being one of them. Red fence, mountain laurel, several shades of green--what's not to like?

So yes, I did come across this, but what my intention was on that afternoon was to find the source of the loud chirping I was hearing in the lane. Lo and behold, luck was with me that day. This is a pair of House Wrens, birds that I rarely see, but there they were, really almost out the back of our yard 

Loud as can be, it was not but a few days later that they went out on their own. I think they might be coming to our feeders now and if not, some look-alikes are. As in small brown birds.  It is astonishing how many birds we are attracting at the moment, including one of my favorites and definitely not a regular, but welcome nonetheless, a Eastern Towhee with a little sunflower seed in his mouth. 

Here's something that is a little bit amusing, or some might find it so. My bean harvest to date.

Green beans are said to be easy to grow, however I had a heck of a time getting them to sprout, thus one plant and four beans to date. Unlike my romaine lettuce that grew too big and with the constant wet weather of last week, that I wrote about here, began attracting slugs, thus I did a big clean up of the garden and pulled all of the lettuce leaves off.

Whether it was a good idea or not, for a different reason I also clipped off all the bottom leaves on the cabbage plants. And what would that reason be, you ask? They were so large and were shading the burgeoning cucumber plants. The four cucumber plants are now flowering, the broccoli is forming new little plants, and there are tomatoes on the vine. Aside from some "pest pressure", I am overall pleased with how things are progressing.

The rainfall since last I wrote has diminished somewhat, yet still the threat of rain has loomed meaning finding the right time for Bruce to paint the parking lot with a new directional sign using a giant stencil he made using a large cardboard box, was tricky. 

Buying a stencil that large was not in the budget, so he got creative.

Unfortunately, people are still coming in the wrong direction, but he did what he could. Note the looming clouds pictured above and about two hours later it looked like this!

Not a whole lot later, the clouds opened up wide.

As I have mentioned before, hard rain is not that common here; instead it is slow and steady, however on that day, it came down hard and fast!

That same day, while waiting on Bruce, I met the new pastor and his wife and son who were coming to Murphy for the first time. Porter, aged four, is as cute as a button. A catered lunch was held on Sunday following church for Pastor Wil, Lea, Nathaniel, and Norah. 

Nathanial, aged nine, was still just a baby when they came to Murphy, but now he is a budding preacher because he took the mic at the after event with no nerves at all.

Mayor Tim Radford spoke as well because Wil was such a presence in the community. Saying that they will all be missed is an understatement!

Weren't we supposed to be focusing on plants? The title says it so it must be true.

I was a little greedy, thinking I could separate the plant above (Paristemon), and by golly I seemed to have done it with success as two of the three are now in the ground. Whether they will make it is another story, but I'm thinking that if they were going to die, that would have already happened..

Lavender in pots on the front steps, 

and Autumn Sage, a very fragrant plant, adjacent to the front door. 

I keep buying more plants, in part because I can, and in part because so many are new to me I want to see if I can grow them successfully. 

So cute, right?

Hummingbird's Lunch Cigar Flower and Strawberry Fields Gomphrena are two newish plants in one pot near the hummingbird feeder because they are meant to attract the same.

Speaking of hummingbirds, sightings to date have been few and far between, but every now and again, a little gift of seeing one happens. One morning I was captivated by the antics of one on this plant below.

Keeping a garden notebook is helping me keep these new names straight! What in the world did I do in the winter because I sure was not tending to plants? 

One thing I have not done as much of lately is walk on the river walk, but yesterday afternoon I corrected that, in spite of the warm weather which we all know I am not a fan of. The depth of color, as well as the shades of green when I was at the park made me think of a book I once loved, How Green Was my Valley. No coal was mined around here, as far as I know, but talc was, as well as marble that still is  being mined.

Anyone else read that book and love it like I did? That was a long time ago for sure, but it just popped into my head. There was a small flock of Starlings that would all fly off at once, in a very mini-murmuration. It's fun to watch that sort of thing and try to catch it with your camera. I failed miserably, but I did get this one shot that if you look closely you will see them all lined up on the fence top.

Something else that caught my eye that was something entirely new to me.

I have no idea what happened, but the butterfly seemed to be trapped and never moved while I watched and waited. So strange.

According to my notebook, this garden experiment began on March 5, 2026, and I've learned more than I can imagine with a little help from our friends on YouTube, as well as friends who have gardened here for years.  It's very common here and you know what they say..."when in Rome" . Yup, that's me.

your friend,

Gail

An Abundance of Rain

 If you have ever tried dead-heading a viola plant, you know it is quite the pain as there are so many blooms and, frankly, oftentimes it is hard to tell what is a bud, or what is a spent bloom. With that in mind, I decided to do an experiment and I am thrilled to report the results so should you find yourself with said plant you will benefit from my experience. I was sitting on the front porch steps, diligently picking off what I supposed to be spent blooms in order to force new ones. So far, so good. Except, with four plants it became seriously tiresome which is when I thought to myself, "self, what do you suppose would happen if you just gave the plant a serious cutting back?" Friends, that is the ticket! After about a week, blooms began appearing and the plant now looks better than ever, just when the warm weather is meant to cause a decline!

Foliage was what remained after the shearing, and take a look at it now!! Bonus points for maple tree starts! Actually they are happening in all of my potted plants out front. As well, Bruce planted a Japanese Maple that started under our tree; apparently they are very slow growing which, in part, is why they are so expensive. A tree that looks beautiful in every season! 

I took the photo above a few days ago and you can see that it is changing from the deep magenta right before my eyes. Well, Bruce's as well, but he is just a wee bit less enthusiastic about all that we see. Not that he does not like it but, let's just say, there are times where he is more focused on doing things. Such as making the frame for our painting which now we are questioning my color choice for the frame. The idea was to match the adjacent windows in the craftsman style, but neither of us are completely sold on the white. Any other ideas? We want to honor both the painter and the frame maker so we want to get it right.

Last week was not nearly as busy as some which left Bruce time to do something he has wanted to do since we moved in. Not the fireplace, although I have information on that front in a little bit, but paint the basement floor. What a task that he made look so easy because he is so methodical. We do not share that trait! We went to our local paint store and by that I mean the one that is privately owned for the last 50+ years and Jeff had just what we needed. Epoxy garage floor paint that had been sitting for awhile so he gave Bruce a half price deal on four gallons. Paint in hand, he was off to the races. You might wonder how he managed and I am hear to explain. He moved things around a little bit at a time.

He has amassed a lot of equipment in our two years of residence, 

and there were plenty of cabinets and what have you when we got here. Look at this!!!

That ancient, well ancient is a bit strong, but anyway, the decades old basement floor now looks amazing and brightens up the whole space.

One of the things he moved out of the basement was an old grave marker. Say what? We've been told the house was once on a Halloween ghost tour because of said marker that from my research has been there for 50+ years! Of course we did not know what to do with it except probably not keep it in the basement any longer so carrying it on a dolly Bruce placed it below the gigantic magnolia tree.

It seems as if it is from the man of the house Roy Dennis Chandler who died the year we graduated high school.  From the linked information, I see that his wife Ruth, who lived here for 50 years, lived to be 98 years old! Well, I suspect when you opened Camera Crazy today that you never imagined I would be writing about this subject. What is interesting is that apparently both Roy and Ruth are buried in the Sunset Cemetery that is up on a hill adjacent to the river walk! It's a small town folks. 

Wednesday, last week, was the day we were scheduled to go to the fireplace store in Waynesville, a town of 10,000+ about 80 miles east of us. 

We saw a version of this gas model which is the only one suited for an old coal fireplace. 

A list of questions a mile long was on Bruce's pad and the young man answered them well, however, we did not say yes that day. It is a very involved project that apparently we needed to warm up to! 

Actually, six days later, I think Bruce has pretty much decided, why not? 

The town is very cute,

and apparently the gateway to the Smoky Mountain National Park.

The mountain backdrop is really something!

And of course, Waynesville is where our pastor is going and will be leading this big church that takes up a whole city block!

We have become accustomed to the idea, but no one is saying that we are not still sad!

The drive to Waynesville was so lovely with walls of green beside the road. Please forgive me for going on about the green, but it is just amazing this year.

Which is actually weird because rain had been sporadic until this week when the heavens opened wide! 

A crazy thing happened last night and not for the first time since we have lived here. We were having dinner at a friend's house up high on one of the mountains during which time it stormed like crazy. During a break in the action, Jonathan happened to text me, saying he was seeing big storms in store for Murphy. Mind you he is in Japan and who knows what time it was, but anyway, I said we needed to leave before darkness fell and it began pouring again. Bruce is better at mountain driving, but is still not a fan of nighttime driving, especially in the rain. Driving on the only road we know out of there, and well, a massive tree had fallen across the road.

The fellow pictured above was coming to see if we had a chain saw, which of course we did not because we have not taken up that practice just yet. Apparently his chain saw got stuck in the huge tree! Now what? I have no idea what happened to him, but fortunately for us, using our trusty iPad, we found an alternate route, one which took us past a pasture with like 25 deer in it!!!! If it weren't dark and raining we most certainly would have stopped for a picture.

Whew! We made it home safe and sound! One more crazy thing about that night is the house was built by John and Laura when they still lived in Dade City and came up for the summers. They used the same floor plan that was on the first floor for the cottage we rented!! It was sort of weird. Then again, it was good thinking about how much we loved the cottage.

Garden update: Cabbages are forming in spite of having "pest pressure" a term I learned on one of the Youtube videos. 😁

Lots more to say about the garden but I will mostly save that for another day. Please tell me why are the pests eating the very marigolds that are supposed to be protecting my plants?!

Shishito pepper plant with a tiny pepper and flowers, okra and spinach on that row. Bottom row are peppers, tomato plant seedlings, bush bean plant and other beans. Time will tell!

It just keeps getting bigger and bigger. Woo hoo!

The next two photos are another super cool thing I witnessed, taken 5 seconds apart. Tree swallow family was considering a move into the bluebird families home.

Not so fast!!

Both parents swooped in at once! A little before the above photo, I took the one below that is so fun.

So what about all that rain? I wish I knew. One thing I always did in Orlando was watch the rainfall in the newspaper which recorded how far over or under we were from the norm. And while they measured it at the airport which obviously was not the same for everyone, at least it was something. Here, I have no idea where to look for that information. One bit of information I have is that my garden is happy because of daily rain!

Guess what? Do I really need to know? No. Each and every day I am learning to change my ways and just be grateful. This morning when Lori and I were walking to the bank to pick up the offering, I told her about Carol and Maureen and the motto we adopted when we moved here: doing all that we can while we can." It still applies!

your friend,

Gail 

Remebrance and Celebration

Meet Jamie, Eddie and Julie all of whom had something to mourn and something to celebrate and we had the privilege of joining them in a beautiful setting that is the home of Julie and Harry. A father and his two girls who cherish him.

 This is the view from the parking area that leads one into a magical place.

It is hard to describe their home because it is like no other, filled even outdoors with artistic flair. For these occasions,  Julie turned it into a sanctuary fit for both a celebration of life and a wedding. We have been here before in other seasons but never in spring and did it ever shine with the light filtering in through the fresh leaves as Julie gave a eulogy for her mother.

That evening the air carried a chill which would give way to more warmth as the days progressed. Friends and family, along with the Brasstown community, gathered to celebrate her life.

Demonstrating how small our community is, there is a man and woman standing behind the seated guests who I knew I recognized but could not place them until she reminded me that I buy plants from them at the farmers market. I don't know about you, but when I see someone out of context I often struggle to place them, however, I should remember them because to date the plants I have purchased from them have thrived beyond my expectations. Let's take a quick moment to see how my garden grows, shall we?

The lettuce has gone haywire while the broccoli are doing great. Behind the lettuce you are seeing small pepper plants I started from peppers from the fridge, shishito peppers, beans, okra, marigolds, spinach and broccoli on this end of the garden. 

Cabbage, nasturtium, sunflowers, several varieties of tomatoes and herbs. Who knew those cabbage plants would get so huge? It has been fun to see them begin to form heads amongst those giant leaves! Since Bruce put the cages up, little birdies are landing on the one supporting the sunflowers allowing them to nibble. As well, for the first time ever we had the sad misfortune to discover that a creature, as yet to be determined, ate some of the hosta plants to the ground!! Many friends have that same trouble, but they live in the woods! Say it ain't so!

Please forgive the garden insert there; back to the matter at hand! 

The family sat front row, including this little cutie that loved having her photograph made.

Both Julie and her niece, along with some friends, spoke before Harry (Julie's husband) took back the microphone and asked folks to tie a string around their neighbor's wrists to remind them of loved ones that they want to keep close to their heart.

This was followed by a huge potluck dinner that most everyone contributed to.

Once the service portion was done, tables were assembled and filled the area.

A fire was lit for both ambiance and to ward off that chill I mentioned.

So that was the remembrance evening for Nancy. Perhaps you remember when Bruce and John built a ramp in the snow that I described in this post? That was for Nancy.

Friday evening, on the other hand, was for celebrating with a wedding rehearsal dinner for this couple who came down from Michigan to celebrate with the family.

The kids preferred pizza over the catered Caribbean meal. 

It was that night that I found some kindred spirits.

It is so rare that I see anyone with a proper camera so I thoroughly enjoyed meeting them. He is the brother of the groom.

There were glam parts and there were rustic parts, both of which are no surprise when two artists put on a wedding. Because Eddie lives in his own house on the property, Julie sits with him watching Mash most mornings during which time they made this garland. Although he is doing as well as can be expected, there is no getting around the fact that he's lost the love of his life after 65 years of marriage, give or take a year.

A clearing in the woods, complete with a wedding arch made by John and Harry, was the spot for the ceremony. 

Meanwhile guests were mingling...

as well as singing.

All of the folks above are involved with the Campbell Folk School and the man pictured in front is the owner of a popular restaurant in town named The Crown. Bruce just had a birthday yesterday and Matt gave him a gift card to there, so we will be enjoying that in the near future. While talking with him, it turns out he grew up just up the street from our home! 

I cannot imagine what the Michigan family was thinking about the charming wedding festivities, but I have a suspicion they thought it was a special and unique time.

Both Julie and Harry are potters and there was an abundance of their creations put to use, including the tea light holders that were meant to be taken home by the guests.

Flowers from a local flower farm were everywhere. Stick with me folks because the wedding day has arrived! In fact, after we see the mother of the groom, and maybe her sister, we will head to that special place in the woods.

Let the bubbles lead the way...

Here comes the groom and Mom.

I did not envy her in her heels! 

Once the groomsmen arrived at the altar they unrolled a burlap runner for the bride who looked lovely on the arm of her mother, Jamie.

I was not in a great position to take photos, so I relied on the kindness of strangers.

Following a delicious meal that included a roasted pig (a first for me ever seeing),

mostly it was the ladies, and isn't that always the way, who hit the dance floor!

The cake ceremony was simple and beautiful and it was then that I realized the bride looked so much like Taylor Swift, a fact that apparently she is not fond of hearing. Seriously though!

Next up her sister is getting married here in June! 

Are you tired yet? 

We were most definitely tired, so much so that while yesterday was Bruce's 73rd birthday, it was completely low key with an early bedtime. Did I say he turned 73? And I'm not far behind? 

I will close with this sweet photo of Eddie and Bruce. Julie asked if I would take photos and did I ever love that question. 

We were so thrilled to be included in a remembrance and a celebration. 

your friend,

Gail