Early Summer

Florida friends, don't be too envious because we are feeling the heat here too. The heat wave that is roasting the country has not spared our little piece of heaven with temperatures reaching the low 90's for several days in a row. Fortunately, lower temperatures are on the horizon because as has been documented ad nauseam, I am no fan of extreme heat. However, the heat has not stopped us from going places, it has merely made it less comfortable. 

In this edition of Camera Crazy, I am happy to report excursions to new places and experiences. One thing I thought perhaps I might mention is that one thing about this adventure is, and I am speaking only of myself, it is easy to lose confidence. Pray tell, what does that mean? Well, for one thing, never having lived in a home with stairs before, the first year I was so timid navigating three levels on a daily basis. The other day it occurred to me that I am improving my step skills! So that is one thing and when I think of others I will dive deeper into the topic. 

For now, take a look at this strawberry!

It was the sweetest strawberry ever grown! Haha...just joking, but it was pretty tasty. Although I have gobs of flowers, the strawberry size is low. I am on a learning curve when it comes to this kind of thing.

I picked one the other day and it was not all that tasty, so either I was too early, or too late. The above plant has some flowers and fruit but it does not seem to be producing more flowers so we shall see what happens next. The larger tomato plant seems to be thriving.

There are plenty of cucumbers on the way, as well as peppers, or so I hope. At least it is trending in that direction. Caladiums are popping up in places that I forgot I planted them, and finally one of the day lilies bloomed!

Before we leave the yard a few other things of note to show you. I mentioned the stand Bruce was building for the kayak and how in the world did he join the pieces of wood etc. Carpenter skills in other words. Here is how he made the space for the next piece of wood. Using a circular saw he made al those cuts, removed the chunk and then used a chisel for fine tuning. 

Chisel action: 

A router was used to soften the edges. Please note the joint on the end of the wood.

I have not taken a photo of the completed project, but here is when he had only one post in. 

He's painted it, as well as the back steps, so more photos soon. 

The strawberry plant! 

Hydrangeas galore! They are not loving the extreme heat so hopefully they will hang on for a while longer.

Most of the time when we see the backyard rabbits they are munching the weeds. I have no idea what this one is munching. 

This is the first I have seen one on it's haunches! 

I could go on and on about how much we are loving having a yard, but now it is time for two field trips! Yes, I went on one with the pickleball ladies,

and the two of us went on one with our friends, Cobby and Diane.

Curious? Of course you are!! Let's go!

Each month one of the pb ladies dreams up a field trip and for this one we went to the farm of a Georgia poet named Byron Herbert Reece. Never heard of him? Now you have. None of us had heard of him either but now we all have too and are happy that we have. The farm has been restored with the buildings that once shaped their lives. One building housed tools:

The old barn:

with his writing desk in the loft.

I think it was in the barn that I spotted this poster.

Living off the land, as his family did, required lots of advance planning. The garden:

We heard the sound of the rushing water before we spotted the stream.

Wait a minute...is that a stream? A brook? A small river? What would you call it?

Seeing as how he was a poet, those too, are displayed in a beautiful way.

Sadly, he took his own life when he was 40 years old. Suffering from depression and a case of tuberculosis, apparently it was just too much for him to carry on. The society that I linked to above means to carry on his legacy as a poet of the land that shaped him. 

Would it even be a field trip for me if I did not spot any birds? Probably, but truthfully it definitely enhances a field trip. While I thought this was a new bird for me, apparently it is a Catbird.

That said, I am finding it difficult to confirm. Super cute whatever it is.

Following our visit to the farm, we went to a barbecue joint alongside the road.

Placing your order at the counter, they bring it out to you and in our case to the furthest picnic tables.

The common denominator of the group is pickleball and in a lot of cases, Florida, as so many either lived there, or still have a place there. Time in Mississippi had something to do with Tammy's tastes. 

That's right...grits and banana pudding! Her vehicle was so comfortable, large, and had the biggest screen any of us had ever seen.

Spending her working career as a highway patrol officer, Tammy had no problem with driving out of the way to take Janet to her home before we headed back to Murphy. Well, we were glad she did because the view from Robert and Janet's deck was pretty darn good.

Something else super cool at their home was this display downstairs. Now I am having trouble remembering if it was his father or uncle, but one of them had a nightclub where records were spun back in the day. Robert now has the collection and displayed a fraction of them on the wall.

A few days ago I realized that folks here think in terms of time rather than miles. To us, Robert and Janet live so far, as in about twenty plus miles from the court, but they think in terms of it taking only about thirty minutes to get to the pickleball courts. That is one of the big differences here, or so it seems. Living in the country, driving is the rule, not the exception.

For the record, Nancy delivered me to our front door and did a good job of it I might add!

So that was on last Friday, and Saturday after breakfast at the local Waffle King, Diane and Cobby took us on a driving trip. Here is when I should mention that the relentless rain had finally stopped. We went from one extreme unto another. I prefer the rain to the heat, but that's just me. Anyway, one of the beautiful happenings at this time of year are the presence of lilies by the score alongside highways. Stopping at the rest stop in Andrews never disappoints because there is usually some kind of beauty to be found there. 

The above is but a fraction of the lilies, some native, some planted.

Here are our Southern friends: Cobby is from Georgia and Diane is from Alabama , both of whom are teaching us more about Southern ways.

I was trying to remember if our family ever went on a drive in the country for entertainment and I think the answer is no. Too many people and too small of a vehicle might have been why, but then again, where would we have gone? Here there are lots of places that one might want to drive to or through, that is if one likes curves! Well the Barfields love curves and driving and it showed in their confident manner. Driving through the Nantahala Gorge, through Bryson City and on to Cherokee. Stopping at the visitor center,  Diane pointed out a lone elk.

The rest of the herd must have been hiding in the shade of the large trees in the area. Going one way leads one into the Great Smokey Mountain National Park and the other takes one onto the Blue Ridge Parkway. We took the later and were afforded some wonderful views.

We were riding in the back seat of their spiffy red Mercedes.

While it was still hot on the lower part of the Parkway,

the temperature dropped as we climbed higher and higher. In fact, by that time drivers had switched and Diane was behind the wheel, taking us up to the highest point on the BRP.

It was their that the Fir trees appeared.

Hardly any time after I took the photo above it began raining! But not for long. However, their plan was to drive us further, however the road was closed, so with no other choices, we turned around and headed back to Cherokee where we ate lunch here.

There is a wonderful river, the name of which escapes me, that runs through town where Diane put her feet in the water.

Again, here is where the confidence thing comes into play. Rocks and roots make me nervous, of which there were plenty of both!

On the other hand, I was okay walking through the bamboo forest.

It was then that my camera lens began acting strange, which in the end was not bad timing as most of the rest of our adventure we spent in the car going home. We are so grateful for our new friends. 

While I am typing in my nightgown, Bruce is mowing the cemetery again, with hopefully enough other volunteers to ease the load. The roof is being replaced on the Harshaw Chapel, the culmination of years of fund raising. 

I believe I have mentioned it before so I won't go into too many details, but suffice it to say, as to mowing the grass, winter cannot come soon enough! 

One would think it is about time to get the day going beginning with changing out of my nightgown and so I will. Lately field trips have been few and far between so I hope you enjoyed both of them thanks to the kindness of friends.  

Lots going on this week so keep an eye on this space for more adventures with the Pecks!

your friend,

Gail

p.s. Good grief, why I saved this for last is beyond me, but here is a photo that warms my heart!

Mr. Bill (my nickname for him) reading a bedtime story to Little Man (their nickname for Christian). Woo hoo! 

Learning to Care for Plants and More

For the last week or so, when the alarm goes off, I pop out of bed pretty quickly and dash the curtains aside, looking out our window to see if the deer have returned. They have not. The thing is, we knew when we left the cottage that our deer gazing days were most likely over. Maybe not 100% over,  but pretty close, so it was with astonishment that last week I performed the above and what to my wondering eyes should appear, but a family of four deer in the empty lot next door!!

Racing down the stairs, well as much as this old body will allow, I grabbed my camera with the zoom lens, unlocked the door, stepped into my porch sandals, and raced to an open spot in our towering hedge, all hoping that they were still there. And they were, as you can clearly see. 

Although the photo would make you think that it was pretty light outside, actually no, it was not ideal lighting for good photographs, but as I once told a small class I was giving tips to, take what you can because with wild animals you may not get another chance. Anything is better than nothing, right?

So far my morning efforts have produced nothing but I will keep trying! In the meantime we are contenting ourselves with our rabbit visits. Most days two cotton-tail rabbits do weed control, and then they hop over the little stone wall between our house and Shannon's until we meet again the next morning.

Wasn't this post meant to be about gardening? Why yes it was, and I will get there, but let us talk about something I did not plant and in fact was shocked to see had returned and that is those tiny mushrooms!

I was admiring my hydrangeas, and really how could you not?

The tree adjacent to the above plant laden with blooms, so heavy and plentiful that the branches are drooping like mad, but I digress. The Rose of Sharon tree is right there and again, what to my wondering eyes should appear but this at the base of the tree:

They are back again! The next day the mushrooms had formed, extending into the grass, 

and around the other side of the tree trunk.

Aren't they just so cool? Don't get too attached because, voila, the next day they had vanished again! I will keep my eye on it; perhaps it is a monthly thing? 

Because we spent five years obeying condo rules about plants and now I don't have to, I am having a heyday with plants, so many plants. Some were here while some are new. Thank God for all of the what I am calling "the legacy plants" that we were gifted. The Rose of Sharon plant has begun blooming, with two trees and one very large bush of the same just coming along nicely. 

The aforementioned hydrangea, and the hostas are about to show off big time. 

One of the roses Matt gifted me last year when we moved in has become happy and is starting to bloom, while not yet profusely, promising is the word I might use to describe it.

Just this week two more were delivered from David Austin and Bruce was kind enough to plant them because he is much better at digging in the hard dirt than I am. Once they take hold I will show them off.

LOOK!!

Aren't they cute? So far so good with the tomatoes, I've got about ten strawberries on the two plants as well as three pepper plants that have the tiniest peppers on them right now. Plus a cucumber plant that is flowering!! All of the above are in pots because of my digging problem and also because we lack a lot of sunshine in the back yard. What we have I am using to showcase a floral display. So there are petunias and impatiens along with zinnias in the pots in the foreground.

On the wall are the Vancouver geraniums that I bought to replace the pansies in the front planters, but although they are looking somewhat bedraggled, they still have not given up. I've got lantanas, more pansies, salvia, more impatiens I put out under the magnolia tree which brings me to the blooms on the magnolia tree. You know the one that is about a hundred feet tall with four trunks? Yea, that one. The blooms are gigantic which is hard to show in a photograph so take my word for it, will you? 

Geraniums are producing their vibrant blooms like mad and the mandevilla Bruce planted is going gang busters.

Just yesterday I freaked out when I saw that at least one of the caladium bulbs had broken ground. I had to interrupt my writing when Bruce came home from taking Grayson to play pickleball for the first time. Turns out that he is a natural and will be good in no time according to Bruce. I mention this because, of course I knew you would want to know about their time together, and two, because I was just out in the yard and found two more coming up! I love caladiums but have only bought plants in Florida. Having a bulb come to life is such a miracle to me. 

On the front porch here are the balloon plants I told you about. They open like a Chinese dumpling or something like that!

The back porch is home to indoor plants that are thriving in the humid weather.

The truth is, one of the biggest stories around these parts is that rain has been our constant companion. 

Day after day it has been raining at least some of the time. One of the days, coming home from VBS, I had planned to walk, imagining this sky would wait for me to get home.

Not a chance! Rob and Mary insisted on taking me and it was a good move on their part as the heavens opened up just as we got to their truck!

Through the living room window I watched the sun come back out, as is often the case. 

By golly, looking the other way, well you probably already guessed what I saw. If not, here it is.

Faint, but still it is always a joy seeing a rainbow.

With all that rain, comes problems. Closest to home the problem is mosquitoes despite having the yard sprayed twice. I feel bad about asking them to come back but on the other hand, I've gotten far more bites than I would like. Secondly, the river, controlled by the TVA,  looks terrible. Sluggish, over the banks and brown. You have seen this view many times before but never looking like this.

Yesterday I took the above photo, minutes later crossed the bridge and the heavens opened up on the other side! Finding shelter under some big trees, I carried on once it stopped and saw how much the water had risen. 

The town did good when they put these brochures for the river walk under plastic.

I had sprayed myself liberally with repellent before I began my walk but after the rain shower soaked me, I decided not to take any chances with bug bites and made my way back to the street that leads to our neighborhood. Everything is growing like mad including this butterfly bush I saw on my walk home.

Leaving plants behind, oh wait.....Dale sent me this gorgeous card from Vancouver last week and it is so pretty I wanted to share it with you. Along with it in the picture are some weird "made in occupied Japan" s & p shakers I bought at an antique store. And, of course an hydrangea that I am putting in several rooms so I may enjoy them while they last.

Another off topic item is this corn salad I made for Saturday night company. No ordinary corn salad, it is from Ina Garten and it is every bit as simple and good as folks say. My word friends, if you can get your hands on some fresh corn on the cob, MAKE it!! Bonus for me because I was able to use basil from my plant. And I don't really like red onion!

So good. Tammy and John are up from Florida for the first time in months and months so it was fun catching up with them. Wait until you see the bird box she brought us! Once Bruce has it up, I'll show you how elaborate it is. 

Bruce brought his kayak with us this time which means he needs a place to store it off the ground. A trip to John's house for the post hole diggers, 

a trip to Lowes for lumber and he was off and running, only stopping for another fierce rainstorm.

The process to make that joint was one I should have caught on camera. So impressive!

If it sounds as if I am enthusiastic about this planting business it is because I AM! This is what living with seasons will do for a person and I'm all for it. Thus far, bugs have not gotten to my plants, but I suppose only time will tell. I cannot wait to show you what comes next. Oh wait, I have no idea what will come next, but I eagerly await the arrival.

In closing, enjoy our neighbor Jason's front wall, so lovely and so reminded me of England. Oh wait, this was once an English colony, although I suspect they never got this far west when they were in charge. Who knows, maybe they did. (a quick search is inconclusive as to the British, the Scottish on the other hand...)

In spite of a sunny forecast clouds are forming.

your friend,

Gail
 

p.s. My last post with the bluebird family is here in case you missed it. For some days the twins, as I came to call them, spent time at the Bird Buddy which was fun, but I am afraid those days are past. Time will tell, but here is one of the juveniles when they were around more. Such a cutie!