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