Back to Our Routines

As promised in my last post, I am here to share neighborhood flowers and more! 

For those who have lived the sort of life when all manner of trees bloom profusely in the spring, perhaps this won't excite you, but for those of us who have not lived that way, and that means me, I continue to be overwhelmed with awe and gratitude that I can witness the magic of spring in the mountains. 

And yes, there is a lot to absorb from the photo above. The azaleas here are absolutely awash with blooms, so much so that the leaves are almost non-existent.  In the foreground is a gorgeous pink plum tree, dogwoods above and two gorgeous shades of azaleas. Yup, I could not get enough of it!

Other neighbor's homes with both white and pink dogwood trees.

Not to mention green leaves on the non-flowering trees that have been bare branches for months on end or so it seemed! 

I'm not sure if I prefer the white or pink version of dogwoods but one thing I know is I like them both!

While I wish I had more than just two tulips, that is a little greedy thinking considering I went almost seventy years with none!

Another neighbor had this cute display.

All of the shoots I was seeing in the side beds turned out to be lovely hostas that seem to me to be larger than last years bunch.

What is not to like about a redbud tree? Absolutely nothing.

Because the weather has warmed a bit, many nights I've left our bedroom windows open and we wake to the sweet and loud songs of the abundant robin population, another thing that is new to me. In Orlando, once a year robins would come through and eat the camphor berries on the trees in our back so I was familiar with them, but it was maybe a two week relationship, rather than months on end.  Oh yeah, windows open is another plus!

There are lots of pretty old houses in our neighborhood that are even prettier when the trees are in bloom.

That said, most of these photos were taken when we returned and a good many trees have lost all of their flowers and replaced them with green, which if you are anything like me, is just fine because there is just something so refreshing about spring green!

The garden is going well and I am doing my best to document things in order to learn something about having a vegetable garden. I am also watching numerous YouTube videos.

We have eaten more salads in the last week or two than we had for the previous two months as the romaine is going crazy! I wish I could say the same for the radishes but I think that is going to be a bust, however, hope springs eternal. or so they say!

The little container in the foreground with the blue latches contains last year's marigold seeds which have done nothing when I planted them in my seedling trays. I'm not sure what I've done wrong, but I relented and bought a few plants. 

Speaking of plants, our neighbor Sandy gave me some lily of the valley and variegated hostas and let me tell you, the fragrance of the lily of the valley is heavenly. 

Apparently they are prolific spreaders, so hopefully next year at this time I will have a bunch.

Let us now turn our attention to some friends and outings, all of which have been so good. It just turned out that we were busy, busy, busy last week beginning with Easter lunch at David and D'Anna's house where she outdid herself on seasonal decorations.

We enjoyed a lovely lunch and time of visiting with other friends, Gerri and Rhonda.

The picture of the guys did not turn out but the one of D"Anna and her favorite chicken Henrietta did except for her having to squint in the bright sun which no one complains about after such a cold winter!

Monday evening we finally saw the finished product that is David and Randy's new home and holy cow, what a place! It is absolutely wonderful and filled with their craftsmanship in both rug hooking, and cross stitch ,and let us not forget David's magnificent quilts. 

Two of my favorite food groups in one picture!

Their whole house is filled with eye candy and although I am sick to death of hearing the word "intentional" when it comes to decorating a home, in their case it seems fitting. Aren't most people at least a little bit intentional in what they put in their homes? How has it becomes such a buzz word?

I am standing on a rug hooked by Randy and I am saying publicly that it is even better in person.

The meal Randy cooked was wonderful, the sunset from their back deck, magnificent,

and the drive down the mountain in the dark, scary!! Most all of the folks we know that have moved here did so after visiting for years during which time they became accustomed to dark and winding roads. We are not there yet, or what I should have said is, Bruce, our chauffeur, is not there yet! 

That Saturday we ran into Julie at the farmer's market that has just opened on the first Saturday in April.  We have discovered a terrific plant vendor, but I will save anything about that for another day. Anyway, Julie had out-of-town guests and invited us to join them for dinner and a hymn sing, an invitation too intriguing to decline. Gosh it was fun. They cooked out and we ate in their magical back yard that you have seen before. Her twin sister Jamie, along with her husband Colby joined us. 

The guests whose names I have forgotten, and I'm embarrassed to admit that, were a great couple from Vermont who are long time friends; the husband went to school with Jamie and Julie in West Virginia. We did our best to sing along being led by him and his wonderful voice.

A chill as the sun was setting sent us indoors where we continued with our singing and listening. Jamie and Julie are twins and both have tremendous singing voices.

A few years ago Jamie (r) had a stroke making things a little more difficult for her but singing with her sister is second nature. Her two daughters are getting married this summer so we have two weddings to look forward to! Bonus points for the abundance of stars we saw, oh my goodness, not something I want to forget. 

We have met some pretty amazing people here, although truth be told, they are everywhere aren't they? Nevertheless, it's a first for us working side-by-side with a 91 year old woman doing yard work which is what we did a week ago on service Sunday. Esther can work with the best of them.

As can Dottie who is 81 and as sturdy as a 50 year old!

Talk about service with a smile. Sue is trimming and Bruce and a lady I do not know are doing clean up.

We were tasked with putting mulch down and trimming at a blind parishioner's house. 

Maybe two years ago Bruce worked on that ramp adding stability, but it looks like it could use refreshing. Lots of good downtown projects were completed by our church members including working on removing invasive species from the riverwalk, as well as picking up trash that people so thoughtlessly throw on the ground.  

Two more things to talk about, well actually there are more things than I can count, but for our purposes let's wrap this up with one of my strawberry plants that had such a cute strawberry ripening and doggone it, it disappeared!

I will say, so far so good on critters, something I am very thankful for. The broccoli are forming, the potatoes are fourteen inches tall, as is the romaine lettuce. Look at the cabbage!!

Isn't it cute? This has been so much fun and I could not be more grateful for the privilege!

I lied. One more image of the riverwalk that has been knocking my socks off. (the river is on the right)

Seeing such abundance is anything but routine, so my title is not very good today, but it was the best I could come up with! 

I remain, 

your friend,

Gail