Light Snow is Falling

 Folks who have lived here for many years told us that don't be fooled by the very warm weather because once you get used to it, changes are inevitable. Perhaps I wrote about it last year? Booming thunder woke us from sleep twice overnight, with heavy rain accompanying it. Since the beginning of the year I have been keeping track of the daily weather around 8AM during my time recording the birds from the front porch. Off by about twenty minutes, the thermometer read 59 degrees at 8:20. By noon it had dropped to 40 and is expected to plunge to around 20 overnight! The heat has just come on. Speaking of the heat, holy cow propane is expensive! Lest you think I am exaggerating, on Dec. 31 we got a call while we were driving back to Murphy that they were filling the tank and it was $350 and about six weeks later another $470 was delivered. I'd oftentimes heard of people struggling to pay their gas bills and now I can surely see why.

My heart breaks for those who have to choose between the gas bill and being warm. 

On a happier note, Spring, aside from the next few days is on the move. Your favorite blogger is thrilled to report that her radishes are thriving!

I've also planted more seeds using the toilet paper roll method; in this tray there are zinnias, marigolds, green beans, peppers and tomatoes. One they are strong enough I will move them into the ground.

I move it around to the sunniest spots, however, for the next few days it is on the bookcase just behind me under the big window, not that there is any sun today, but there is light. For sure the zinnias are sprouting along with the one beside it, but for the life of me I cannot read what I wrote! Time will tell as it always does. Next time I will write on the tubes before they are planted! 

Continuing with the exciting sprouting front, the carrots have finally begun showing life. We read it can take two weeks and I believe it was just a day or two shy of that. The sprouts are about as fine as a strand of my hair, so it will be so fun watching the development. Something else we read to do is cover the seeds with 2x4s until they sprout. I have no idea how that works, but it did, so score one for YouTube. How did we do anything before YT? Speaking of root vegetables, there are potato chunks under the dirt and straw in the same place that cucumbers grew last year. I figure if I had zero knowledge last year and things grew, I am a little more educated this year so surely we will have some success?!

Weeds in the thin grass mark the spot. I read that it is best to cover your garden with straw so that's what we did. A bale cost about $9, information I am including because who knows, I may want to know in a few years! All the plants are doing well so far.

Around the yard things are looking good with shoots in the ground for the peony bush, hyacinths of the big variety,

and cute little grape hyacinths popping up all over the place. Note the end of our wall that is filling in nicely with the new phlox Bruce planted last year.

Which reminds me that I wanted to mention that it was two years almost to the date that we spotted our home and one of the things that made me notice it was the wall with the creeping phlox. I remember once we bought it, and had to wait for 45 days, that when I was on my walk I would go by the house and there were beautiful Swallowtail butterflies that presumably will be showing up soon? We dreamed about Bruce having a shop and being able to plant anything we wanted anywhere we wanted to which may sound silly to some, but when you live in a condo, they make the rules! While I am typing Bruce is in his shop using a new toy that we bought for his upcoming birthday. A drill press, one of the few big tools that he was missing down there. 

Remember all the paint color samples I had taped up ages ago for the front screen door? 

Navy was not one of them, but over the weekend Hale Navy by Ben Moore it is. I am thinking of painting the little plant stands navy, what do you think?

I left off forsythia from the yard tour which is a shame because that shocking yellow is a welcome sight after months of only brown and green.

I can see through the front windows that the snow and wind are picking up big time. Let me go see what the temperature is on the porch. 4:30 PM and it is 38, although with the wind chimes going crazy, I am sure it feels far colder. That said, I see a tiny bit of light coming into the sky so who knows what will happen next?

Look at this!

The tiny little strawberry is so cute.

Bruce told me my last post was long and for that I apologize but I can't help my enthusiasm with every thing I see! Like our new town signs that Laura worked on with Chad our city manager. We just love them.

There are three of them along the "four lane" and I feel it gives us a little more modern look. 

We did have a lovely week which included a trip to our neighboring town where we roamed an antique mall that I reminded Bruce we stopped at on our very first trip to Murphy. What is it with me that I am drawn to strange women figurines?

Made in Switzerland is stamped on the feet.  The other acorns and stuff are from a hike and the dried hydrangea came from last year's bloom. See, I love everything!!

Obligations for one thing or another have kept us from roaming around but on this trip, after eating lunch at a place Cobby and Diane recommended, called Hoke Poke,

we drove back to Murphy on a road we'd never been on before. Oh man, I sometimes forget how lovely it is here.

Everywhere you look there are blooming trees.

Yup, Cherry Farm began in 1900. A few readers are from Europe so that may seem very recent but in this part of the country it is old. Before the TVA, development was very much a slow going affair.

We drove up a hill to a church that overlooks a valley and small lake which is also no very common here. Creeks, rivers and streams are more numerous. In fact aside from the lakes created by dams I can't think of any other natural lakes.

How about these pretty cows?

It's an exciting time here and even more so once we get past this cold front that is taking its' toll all over the country. 

Snowing again. 

Fallon sent me a video this morning and Christian said bubble. Bubble!!

your friend,

Gail

What a Time We are Having!

 I meant to get a start on my blog post yesterday afternoon, however, a trip into town, all two blocks away, filled the afternoon time slot. A regular prescription was ready at the town pharmacy, a visit to the library, as well as one of the boutiques, and antique shop were on the agenda. As I was coming into town, a woman asked me if the courthouse was the post office. No, I replied, but I can tell you where the post office is. She asked if I lived in Murphy to which you already know the answer. Her reply was, "lucky you, it is such a cute town." Need I tell you what I replied? I should think not.

It was a lovely afternoon, most welcome after the hard winter, albeit a little warm for my tastes! 

Pray tell what could that title mean you might be wondering. I'm a little giddy right now because the garden I wrote about in my last post, is coming to fruition thanks to Mr. Peck who, let's face it, makes most things happen. Well, he doesn't do much cooking, but aside from that.....

He began by designing it, followed by painting the wood to make the enclosure.

While he was working on filling it with compost and soil,

I was on the other side of the house, pruning the hydrangeas which I am mostly showing to document how dreadful they look now, and how gorgeous they will become as the months pass. Truly a wonder.

I waited one full day and then these were planted,

in their allotted space. 

A few days later we bought some plants at Lowes, including broccoli, cabbage, romaine lettuce and spinach. Here is a look at  some of that.

At the same time, I put this in the garden adjacent to the carrots, which may or may not be right, but after watching a ton of YouTube videos some of the gardening rules have scrambled in my brain. At any rate, somewhere I read that you could root your celery in water and by golly it's working! So cute!!

Although we don't have many our neighbors have lots of daffodils coming up bringing joy with their cheery yellow color.

Over the winter I have posted countless photos of birds in Sandy's magnolia tree but that opportunity is coming to an end, replaced for now with gorgeous pink blossoms.

I took this two days ago and during this time of the year, things seem to happen lightening fast, so there are even more blossoms covering the tree. 

Perhaps you tire of photos of the interior of our home, but I sure hope not because the light is so good, I feel compelled to photograph it at every turn. 

While you may be tempted to scroll past the above photo, it has a story to tell, what with the gold bowl Matt and Tom gave us for our 50th anniversary, jackets and camera bag hanging at the ready, and the open door that tells you that while the cold may not be gone forever, as it is meant to come back next week, we are nearing the end of winter much to many folks delight. I have mixed emotions because while the cold does not really bother me, heat does, so there's that. But folks, as the days lengthen and the light becomes brighter, I definitely realize why spring cleaning is a thing. I am most definitely noticing dust that had been obscured before!

And guess what? The radishes began sprouting yesterday!!! It's been decades since I planted a seed and it's such a miracle. I can hardly contain myself! Oh my word.

So I've spent loads of time on the here and now, but friends, you have not been treated to a few great experiences from our trip to Florida.  Beginning with the trip to the Wetlands to view the baby spoonbills which have grown four-fold since I photographed them. 

Do you spot the Great Blue Heron youngster?

This is the first year that I can remember the spoonbill nest so out in the open, and let me tell you, people are having a field day photographing those youngsters and posting them on Facebook. Should we still be living in Orlando, the MINI would be getting a work out.

As well, we spotted a Sandhill crane on her nest, I think in the same spot as in the past.

The memorial gathering for Cris has been set for March 29th, so another Florida trip is in our near future. Perhaps we will find time for one more spring birding fest at the Wetlands? Before we leave that place though, while admiring the nests, I looked down in the algae covered water below and much to my delight, a Green Heron posed for me in the harsh noon day sun.

The detail in those feathers is nothing short of remarkable, don't you agree?

We decided to stop for a visit with Bill and Lisa in Live Oak on our return journey, and although it was a but a short one, it was action-packed with nature, beginning with a visit around their property on the golf cart to their neighbor's property that houses two horses  right now and soon to be a third. 

The beautiful mare adjacent to Lisa is pregnant.

While she is beautiful, I could not help but be drawn to what seemed like a sheen on the male.

Maybe it is the deep color? They were friendly and I got to pet them which sounds silly to some, but that has been a rare occurrence in my lifetime. Woo hoo!

Following that fun activity we changed places and let Bill and Bruce do the tour leaving me to sit adjacent to their big picture window with FOUR bird feeders and LOTS of birdie friends. It was the bird bath that was so perfect for photographs.

The birds were so numerous, including loads of cardinals while I had the joy of watching,

however, Lisa texted me later to say that there were 11 cardinals there at one time after we left. Who has EVER heard of such a thing? Note those weird and useful little shoes that our cardinal friend is wearing.

This bird, while I thought it was a Black-Capped Chickadee, I learned that it is in fact a Carolina Chickadee.

You live and learn is what I have to say about that.

After spending the night at the Drury in Valdosta we woke up to rain; we experienced either rain or threatening to rain for hundreds of miles.

Which prompted us to get off the interstate and take the slow route. Normally it is not such a big difference but I will concede that this time it was. We stopped to rest in Social Circle, GA.

And while I don't think I agree with their claim, as Madison, GA is much cuter by a mile, Social Circle is good and packed with a little more interesting things than at first glance. Bruce was taking a short nap in the car and I went exploring while looking for a lunch spot. 

The seated gentleman was drawing on is iPad beneath a huge wreath made with baking pans! How clever is that? We ended up eating a mediocre sandwich in this spot, but it was cute which improved the experience.

Across the street, and down just a bit ,was a shop that seemed like it had home decor as I peered through the screen door. Well, friends, it was a little of that, but something far more interesting was learned in that spot where the decor in this space, rather than a wreath of pans was cleverly stacked law books.

While admiring the books what do you see at the far end of the space? Should you have said antelopes, and big cats, you are indeed correct. Check out the other end of the space below.

The proprietor is accustomed to questions and quickly provided answers to our curiosity. This all may be hard to believe, but after confirming her story before I wrote this, I will provide a link for those who are curious and for those who are content with bare bones information, the animals are at least 100 years old and were donated to the owner of this shop by none other than, Asa G. Candler Jr. And who might that man be? None other than the son of the man who founded Coca Cola. 

Good night, what one learns when one goes off the beaten path!!  Apparently he not only turned his father's business into an empire, his influence was much more than that. Are you brimming with curiosity yet? You know just what to do!

I am still astonished that we came across this by accident. 

The mountains finally came into view and our journey was nearing its' end. 

Finally we were back to our sweet little home on Campbell Street where all was well. When I went to the library yesterday, maybe it's been there before, but I had not noticed this pretty sticker on the door.

Thanks to the efforts of Laura and other town folks that will soon be true once again. For the last two years no town flowers were planted, but now that most all of the downtown renovations have been completed, I can't wait to see all that beauty again.

For now, bring on the radishes!! 

your friend,

Gail

It's Been a Minute

But I am back once again!

Although I took my computer with me, while in Orlando it never seemed like the right time to spend two or three hours to write a blog post. Now, however, the timing is right, or as right as it's ever going to be. One would be tempted to think that we have a lot of time on our hands ,but one would be wrong. How in this world I was ever able to manage with four children is a mystery to me! 

Along the way though, it's been a beautiful ride.

Before we went to Orlando to celebrate my brother's 80th birthday, something exciting happened on Campbell Street and that is we had the huge stump ground up in the space we wanted to use as a small garden. 

I'm not sure if you can tell that there were actually about seven stumps from what must have been a very large and complicated Crepe Myrtle tree. It was an interesting piece of equipment that he ran back and forth over the stump.

Having a giant stump in the midst of what was planned to be a garden was not ideal, so Bruce found someone who could make it go away, or at least grind it up. In my next post I will show you how this looks today, but I've got a lot to cover from the trip so let's get going.

Our nephew Joey planned to surprise my brother Pat and he succeeded beautifully as Pat was so surprised when he got to the restaurant.

It was such a thrill for everyone, including our brother-in-law Hank who had also driven down from Murphy.

The truth is, Pat was in tears, as well as my sister Nancy on the right. Nieces and nephews were present, including our twins, minus Fallon who was at home with the sleeping Christian. You gotta respect nap time!

Rarely seen in this space is my sister Lisa in the pink sitting beside our son David, as well as her two daughters, Amanda and Emily. Indeed it was time to celebrate Pat turning 80, a milestone that seemed out of reach years ago. It must be his sweet wife Ruth who has supported him through several maladies and who I am sorry to report somehow escaped my camera lens. A very happy occasion, to say the least. 

When we arrived at the condo we were shocked at the dead foliage that, although the kids told us about, until seen in person it seemed impossible. 

Not every plant has turned entirely brown, but a whole bunch of plants and trees around the community have.

It is hard for anyone to imagine the damage, because frankly it is unprecedented, but apparently back-to- back- to back hours long freezes killed more plants than we could imagine.

Above is a Staghorn fern attached to a tree behind our condo. A much larger one down the way, had no green remaining. It is so sad because it takes decades for these type of ferns to get this large. So while the plants were a bit sad, the birds did not disappoint. I must say that just walking out the back door and knowing I will see birds in action is pretty darn great. Ducklings!! 

Over the four days since I discovered them. a number of them disappeared, either from a roaming hawk or perhaps the otter that lives in the lake. 

Below is called a Tri-Colored Heron.

This little cutie is a Palm Warbler.

Many days Ibises lined the shoreline.

Actually there were a ton of birds that kept me busy. Birding was also planned for Monday at the Orlando Wetlands Park, however, you know how it goes, the best laid plans oftentimes go awry. As was the case on Monday when we drove the twenty plus miles out there only to discover that it is closed on Monday! Our niece Amanda who came from Durham for Pat's party went out on Sunday, so after seeing her photographs of the Spoonbill babies, I could NOT miss it! With birding out of the question on Monday, we went shopping instead. 

For the longest time I have struggled with getting the battery out of my camera that I use for zooming in on birds. which I know sounds crazy, but it's been true. After months and months I finally did a Google search and discovered that it must be a swollen battery. How did I manage you wonder? What I would do is beat the living daylights out of the camera on an edge of, really anything, to dislodge the battery. Well, finally I could do something about it in Orlando and I did. Saturday, late afternoon following the party, while Bruce and Hank chatted, I went to Colonial Photo and Hobby where I bought the camera. Hank was spending the night with us before he returned to Murphy, seeing our condo for the first time. 

But, I digress.

Explaining my situation to the young man who waited on me, I could see the skepticism in his eyes. I have faced the discrimination against female photographers forever, so I am ready for it. He tried a few times, eventually heading to the back where several others tried removing the battery. No dice. So, they could not help me until the battery was removed. I left and noticed their cool window celebrating 70 years in business. 

Being old does not help when it comes to asking for assistance I can tell you that much. During all my years of doing art shows there were very few women doing photography and I think it is because loving gear seems to be part of the male DNA, and maybe it is for lots of women too, but not this one. I am always content with very middle of the road. Speaking of gear, you should see the big guns out to play at the Wetlands. 

Haha! The only one whose big camera. is visible is a woman! The jokes on me.

Anyway, Bruce beat the battery out after our wetlands visit, we went back and I bought two batteries that come out beautifully. The crazy thing is I was blaming the camera, and was thinking I would need a new one, but thanks be to God, I am now good-to- go. 

And so you ask, did we see our grandson? Why yes we did.

I got a kick out of how he loved playing with his feet. There will come a time in his life when the thought of grabbing his feet will make him laugh at the prospect. Poor Christian had a cold and was not feeling his best, but he eventually let me play Grandma.

At least for a little while. Looking at this photo of Fallon blowing bubbles for Christian makes me happy. Can you even imagine the delight that a child would experience with the magic of bubbles?

His sweet little hair is kind of like his Daddy's.

We decided on our last afternoon, instead of visiting at their home, Fallon agreed to meet us at the park for a walk. What could be better than a walk with our grandson and his Mommy, and birds? Not much friends, not much.

It was a little chilly so our poor little sick boy needed all the comfort he could get. 

He's much improved since we departed and even has attended his last swim lesson class where he has learned to float. Bill and Fallon have a fence around their pool, but you can't be too careful around water. 

The temperature was cool and the light was perfect. 

This is part of a very old apartment complex if you can call eight buildings a complex!

The morning light from my shower is golden.

Holy cow, one evening when David was visiting we took a walk around and by golly we saw a Pelican land in the water!

A most unusual occurrence that I was thrilled to witness.

David and Michelle met us for dinner at F&D where the light is pretty great too.

I took a lot of photos that I have been excited to share with you, but for now we are just catching up with the bare bones of our week away. 

Before leaving I saw Crocuses coming up in Jason's yard and it made me very happy to see that some of them remained upon our return.

Today at pickleball people were talking about what is coming up in their yards and I got so excited because I could add to the conversation saying that irises, tulips and hyacinth are coming up in ours.

There's definitely an excitement in the air knowing that Spring is just on the horizon. Woo hoo!

your friend,

Gail