Easter Week

And what a beautiful week it was, between meeting up with folks for fun, and meeting up with folks for worship. Not to mention that it has been warmer and in fact, a few days have been too warm for my liking! After so many months of cold weather it is going to take me some time to adjust. In our home I would rather be cold, while Bruce would rather be hot, although wouldn't it be nice if the weather stayed about 72 degrees every day? Heck no--where would be the fun in that, after all variety IS the spice of life.

Because we live so close, it is easy to participate in most church activities. Aside from Soul Table this past Thursday, we went to Maundy Thursday service (my favorite), the cross walk and a noon ecumencial service on Good Friday. Finally the culmination, the Easter sunrise service, followed by a breakfast and the main service. It was so nice that we have been the April door greeters, handing out bulletins and welcoming folks. We were both delighted that we ran out of bulletins on Easter Sunday! That is actually saying something because living in the Bible Belt, there are many, many churches to choose from!

Like many churches a cross is put out and parishioners are asked to adorn it with flowers, and ours is no exception. My three tulips hung in there, much to my surprise and delight, until Easter morning when I brought them with a few other flowers to place in the cross.

Never having had a tulip come up in my yard before it was very exciting indeed. 

On Good Friday we met at the local Catholic church to join forces and shoulders, in carrying the cross from their church to ours. 

As was the case last year, Bruce carried it up the hill for the last bit.

We stopped for readings of the stations of the cross along the way.  Seven local pastors joined in reading parts of the Easter story.

The sunrise service was held at Harshaw Chapel, the beginning of Methodism in Cherokee County.(should it interest you, click on the link)  Our church has been raising money for ages to restore it as time and weather have worn it down significantly. The day began overcast and only a sliver of the sunrise appeared over the mountains.

The view is a good one.

Earlier in the week, Bruce along with a multitude of other volunteers tidied up the cemetery with weed eaters, lawn mowers, and was the case for David and Bruce, trash bags! Between them they gathered enough trash to fill six lawn garbage bags! Sadly, the few unhoused folks living in town often make this area a place to rest.

Lastly, our pastor is a big fan of deviled eggs and the folks did not disappoint him on Sunday!

Have you had your fill of Easter stories? I suspect you have so let us cover other parts of the week. 

Big news folks! Christian has rolled over on his own! Although we are far away, Fallon sends photos and videos many times each week and boy do we love them, watching them multiple times with big grins on our faces! Here's the little one with his Daddy.

Won't this be fun  to look back at his growth in a few years? Hopefully in May sometime we can get down to Florida to hold that chubby little boy!

Speaking of Florida, Bruce wanted to get his North Carolina drivers license and car tag, along, of course with insurance. The insurance was pretty easy because we have made friends with our agent, the license took some work because the office is way understaffed and they actually put a sign on the door that they are giving someone a road test and will be back in a few hours! With dedication Bruce got it done, but when it came to the license tag, dedication only took him so far. He needed the car title and after some searching here, we determined it had to be in Bruce's files in Orlando. A big shout out to Keith Parson, such a good friend and person, who went into our home, dug through Bruce's files, and the very last paper was the title, which he promptly mailed! He had less success in starting my car which appears to have died but that's a story for another day. In short order, the title arrived, and get this, Bruce showed up at the tag office, just down the street from here, and had to wait for only one person! Done and done.

The farmers market has re-opened and will remain so until late October; Saturday morning I went over to see what I could see. For now it is small, but will get bigger as the crops come in. There were some wonderful plants, so many that I have never had the pleasure of growing before.

One of the vendors who sells bread, eggs and flower bunches, had this most gorgeous peony, the plant of which came from the pictured vendor above. The fragrance was heavenly!

It was so perfect, at first I thought it was fake!! Our peonies are nearly ready to burst open and there are so MANY buds. At last count there are forty on one bush! 

Meanwhile, Bruce was mowing our unruly lawn that is filled with weeds and wildflowers! You could not tell it from this picture though! That tree!! It is so red IT looks fake!

Ironically I went on a hike to see wildflowers when, in fact, they are everywhere, including these Mayapples on the river walk.

The butterweed is in full bloom on the river banks, something I have seen now three times and it's appearance continues to thrill me.

Seeing more birds out and about  has not happened, so when I do have the pleasure of spotting one it makes me very happy. Who does not love the sight of the bright red plumage of a Northern Cardinal in the forest?

Woo hoo! Look who is hanging around the back yard now that I have lured him with mealworms?

Actually there are two Bluebirds and I hope this means what I think it means!

The dogwoods in our neighbors' yards are nearing the end of their showy display.

Here were my three little tulips before I cut them. Actually there were four, however one I had previously brought inside for a vase.  If we are lucky, it seems as if there is one other bloom that may or may not come to fruition.

Although I was hoping the bulbs from Tammy that I planted last year would come to something, I am still not sure because although there is some foliage, nary a bud is to be found. Bright sunshine is a premium in our yard, so I imagine that is the problem. Thankfully Sandy has an abundance of irises that I can admire.

Small rhododendron are blooming around town and when I say blooming, I really mean it as the blossoms are so dense!

Oh my goodness there is so much to write about, but as I know your time is precious I will end this by saying, isn't life such a balancing act? 

Of course when we were young it was work, our children and their lives, and our extended families. These days we are trying to be a part of one community, and at the same time, not forget where we came from and who we love. One would think that when one is retired and children are managing their own lives. one would have plenty of time but somehow that has not turned out to be the case, as you well know. 

Thank goodness for texts and Facetime!

your friend,

Gail 

And the Beat Goes On

Oftentimes, I have no clue where to begin relating the joy and blessings we find ourselves involved in. 

Here is the little couple of whom I speak, two lovebirds that go way, way, back.

For the most part we avoid selfies but every now and again, an occasion calls for it. Bruce drove us to Gibbs Gardens on Saturday and oh my, oh my, what a place in the spring. Before we get into that, is it any wonder I can't see as well as I might like? Look at those Price eyelids!! The hat is cute though. Actually I purchased it at one of the downtown shops last year, however, before this trip had worn it maybe once. Turns out it worked beautifully, keeping the glare of the mid-day sun from bothering those squinty eyes. 

I will talk a little about the gardens soon but first off, on Friday I made the mistake of going on a hike again because it was billed as a wildflower hike and seriously, how could I say no to that? Once again, the pre-trip talk was that it was an easy trip. So they said! No hike has been easy for me because it is all so new and why I keep trying to do new strenuous things at my age is downright silly. Dr. Dan Stroup, our leader and wildflower expert, is pictured here beside the lovely waterfall we came across.

Turn about is fair play, or so it has been said many times before, he took this very flattering photo of yours truly crawling over a huge log. Anita flanks my rear and D'Anna is carrying my poles and both are wondering why in the world am I on this hike!

But first we had to get there and I was lucky enough to catch a ride with Anita, who is not only good and kind, but fearless as she demonstrated driving through this heavy fog. Count me happy to have been in the back seat!

And as you can see by our ponchos the predicted rain fell but not nearly as much as we feared. Here's the whole group post poncho wearing time.

The Appalachian trail crosses the same land. Our hike was called Wasilik Poplar Trail and if you want to know more, click here.

Immediately we noticed the little plants that turned out to be a wildflower called Mayapple, although the ones we saw were not yet in bloom.

This one is called a Rue Anemone.

And here is one of the many Trilliums we saw, a plant that has many colors and is widely found, most especially in Appalachia.

It was super fun finding the flowers amongst all of the fallen leaves, if only I did not have to hike to see them!! Actually, if I can take my time, and I do not have an audience, I am not nearly as nervous as when I am with the group of experienced hikers, although isn't that the way it is with most things? 

The main thing is that I returned home intact with some fond memories of good folks.

Before we go on another excursion together, let's talk about home for a few moments. The CHAIR is done! Isn't it fantastic?? Yesterday afternoon, in good weather I sat in it on the porch while reading. 

I am super proud of Bruce ! Not that I am not always proud, but even more so because he's never done anything like it before. 

So those pesky squirrels forced our hand. They were enjoying a feast on the Bird Buddy. Bruce moved it away from any trees and here's where it is now.

He's pictured putting out topsoil ,but before that he dug the hole with the post hole digger he borrowed from John. After a little bit of drama, realizing we were very far from internet connection, we got that solved and here is some exciting news to round out this story. Bluebirds!!! Never has a bluebird come to our feeders before, and I do mean never. Our yard was bereft of bluebirds!  I tried luring them in and it seems to have worked! The bag of mealworms was just the ticket. Not only did I put them on the Bird Buddy tray, I put some atop both of the birdhouses. Time will tell if they decide to nest on Campbell Street, but obviously we hope that they will.

Friday afternoon the awards for Silver Arts were handed out in a small ceremony in the church fellowship hall. At the last minute I decided to enter a wall hanging. Here are the entries in quilting.

Can you pick mine? In short order I need to get over there to watch the entires while the public files through, should they care to see what us old folks are doing!! 

I am so loving my windowsill, however, by the time next week rolls around, my mountain view will be covered by the new growth on the trees outside the kitchen window. It has been so nice seeing the mountain.

The front living room window affords a view of the TREE that is gorgeous beyond words. We saw our fair share of Japanese Maple trees during our visit to Gibbs Gardens on Saturday. I know, right, a field trip??? 

It will not surprise you in the least to learn that I took a gazillion photos of every beautiful thing that I saw, and there was something at every turn!

There is a lot to say and see about that visit, and I hope I find time to document it because the weather was glorious, the company the same, and the drive there super special. I was hoping to see more tulips, but perhaps we were a wee bit early. Hard to say, but I did get this shot that I think you will like.

If any of my readers watched some of The Masters golf tournament, also in Georgia, the grass and azaleas are similar. In other words, out of this world!

I am done with my volunteering for the day, and now it is time to go grocery shopping. The cupboards are not so bare, but the fridge most certainly is! 

Until next time, I remain,

your friend,

Gail

Dogwood Winter

A month or so ago I was told about three winters that happen just when you think winter is over. One that I cannot recall, but the other two I can. Dogwood winter, when a freeze is not out of the question, and blackberry winter. So, the dogwoods are blooming like mad and it is a glorious sight to behold. Especially when they are pink!

Speaking of pink, my favorite blossoms are to be found on the plum trees with their luscious fat flower clumps. My gosh!

The close up is great but look at the whole tree covered with literally thousands of flowers! It is in Shannon's back yard, although she and Randolph have already moved to Blue Ridge so she is missing this spectacular display. 

The white screened porch on the left is ours. But, I digress, I was talking about cold weather and in the last two days it has been chilly indeed, after some record breaking weather last week. Actually, it's been a pretty wild ride, but we will get into that in a moment. Yesterday morning we woke to no frost on our yard but Shannon's had a bunch. I think David and Randy even had snow.

Although it warmed up throughout the day, it remained blustery and chilly, requiring several layers of clothing. Last week we had on shorts for a few days when the temperature reached 80 degrees, which by Florida standards is just fine, after months and months of cold weather, it felt like I was burning up! Friends who live higher up in the mountains had some really cold overnight weather yesterday. 

But the big news around here was the weekend rain. A steady rain fell on Sunday, after Saturday's heat wave, unlike in Florida where it pours like a son-of-a-gun but only for a short while, here it goes on and on for hours, but rarely very heavy. Those hours of rain add up and while I could not find a total anywhere in the Scout  (and our rain gauge is out of commission), the rivers were very swollen and in some areas homes were flooded. We drove to Andrews for pickleball on Monday morning and it was then that we saw the results of the rain.  The green!! After months of brown, well need I say more?

I figured that the visitor rest center in Andrews would be a good place to see the raging Valley River and I thought right.

You have seen the scene below often enough from my walks that you probably see the high level of water in the Valley River, rushing to meet the Hiwassee River. Lots of tree limbs included. 

To put this into perspective, I took the photo below about a month ago and the river was still low. This is where the two rivers join.

Not only was it high, but it was moving very fast as well.

So fast that this duck couple could find no place to enter the water.

Keeping my eye on their movements, before too much longer they a place to take a dunk!

Lots more exploring because one cannot stay home when one has a penchant for photography and there are subjects at every turn! I nearly missed the cherry tree at city hall.

Beauty amongst the wrecks.

Check this out!!

No enhancement in this photo of a color that I am at a loss for words to describe, although the tree is called an Eastern Redbud, I'm thinking the namer of the tree was a wee bit color blind!

I put some little daffodil bulbs in and they are plenty happy where they are planted.

The front wall is looking good.

The small rhododendrons bloomed like mad and then the rain came and knocked more blossoms off than I would have liked. 

A bumblebee!! For many months there were exactly no bees, or other insects for that matter, and now they are buzzing around all big and fat!

Let's talk about the lilac tree. It was absolutely gorgeous and purple, our friend Mary's favorite color. She even had a purple pickleball bag, shoes with purple, you name it, if it is purple, she is in. Anyway, she would have loved our tree that I photographed from every angle including looking out to the street.

And should you be wondering about the color behind it, well, you guessed it, the Japanese Maple tree which is on fire!! 

Actually I took the above a week ago and now it is even more amazing.

So back to the dogwood winter lore and their prevalence here, but not in our yard, I must add....apparently when the dogwoods are in full bloom, another cold blast occurs, followed by another cold blast when the blackberries are in bloom. It is advised to not plant major plants until after Mother's Day. We are learning what it means to live in the mountains.

While we do so, we are enjoying the glories of spring. My peony bush, that only a week or so ago were just weird things sticking out of the grand, are covered with buds already! 

Tulips have just begun to open. These are in an open field but it won't be long before I will be showing ours off.

Remember the Murphy Bed from a previous post? Hank's company arrived, deemed the bed good and we went over to Hank's house to celebrate with Mike and Michelle, longtime friends of Hank and Carol. We had a good dinner and liked it so much that I invited them over for the next night. Here we are at Hank's place,

and here they are with my darling husband and brother-in-law.

Are you tired of flowers, or people, or both? Let's do a little art then, shall we?

Anna Claire, John and Laura's 16 year old daughter has crazy artistic skill which is presently on display in a downtown gallery for a student exhibit. I am pretty sure this was an assignment that she nailed big time.

We had seen the above in progress so knew of how great it was; this one, on the other hand was a beautiful surprise. Drawn from a 1990 photo of them, we just love it. 

There is more to say, but I suspect I have lost most readers by now. TMI? Nevertheless, lastly I will say that when Mike and Michelle arrived, as we were admiring the lilac tree, and let's face who wouldn't, we were treated to the appearance of two Swallowtails, another species we've not seen in months and months.

As we await the arrival of blackberry winter, we have seen two groundhogs so I wonder if that says something? 

your friend,

Gail