Good Folks, Good Times

The proverbial questions....where do I start counting our blessings? 

How about my new flower bed?

So far it is performing beyond my wildest expectations, but then again, can that be true? Actually I had no expectations but I did have hope that the plants would work well together and hopefully compliment each other at the same time. The blooms on the pink hydrangea are huge below with the one above just coming into it's own. I await the zinnia blooms, but holy cow, are the plants getting tall and to think that I started them with seeds makes my heart swell with happiness.

Seriously, the idea that a tiny seed holds such potential sounds preposterous, yet by golly, it is true as I have discovered for myself.

A cabbage from the garden,

was used in this quick dish because I did not have time for anything more elaborate. Such as coleslaw!

A few days later I did make coleslaw to go along with the pulled pork we brought home from the cook out at the Libers.

It was very unfortunate that while the drive there is beyond beautiful( I still can't believe we get to see this view regularly),

there was the little matter of getting the start time wrong on my part. Yes indeed, I remarked to Bruce on our way that I was surprised we did not see anyone we knew on the drive and that would be because the gathering began at one o'clock rather than 2:30 as I told Bruce! In my defense, I called and texted earlier with no answer so I will take most of the blame. Sadly, in the back seat, the salad that D'Anna requested for David, was far too late to be eaten by the crowd. I will say it was pretty what with cucumbers, tomatoes, red onion and my very own parsley. Topped with some red wine vinegar and a few splashes of olive oil.

It won't be too much longer when I can make the same salad with the tomatoes in the garden,as well as the cucumbers which are beginning to flower. Since I wrote this earlier today, I did eat my very first tomato and it was delicious.

Reading every day about some gardening practice or another, I read where should you leave the broccoli stalk in the ground and it will produce more and sure enough, that has turned out to be true. 

We shall see what they taste like soon. Not everything I have read has turned out to be true for me such as putting my peony buds in the refrigerator to open at a later date. I finally looked at them this week and it was a sad day for me. While oftentimes I've shared not so pretty things, I just could not bring myself to do so in this instance.

Our pickleball friend, Lori, gave us a box of small plants including more hostas and some grasses. With the last of my Mother's Day Lowe's gift card, I bought a few other discounted plants, and between the two of us, we cleared out a bed, 

which frankly was a lot of work because to the right of Bruce you will see landscape border stones piled up, all of which were buried in this bed! I began the work, picking up a dozen or so with the shovel and then Bruce got into the act which was not unwelcome, I will say that much! On Bruce's left are stones we found in said bed, as well as about a hundred bulbs which produced plants but no flowers. It's going to be interesting to see what the remaining ones do next. 

Which brings me to an exciting happening and that is the day lilies that Tammy gave me two years ago are blooming! Last year there were a few bloom,s but this year every plant is raring to go!

Isn't the color just gorgeous? 

Gorgeous would not be the adjective to describe what I discovered in the huge pile of magnolia pods.  Otherworldly comes to mind.

I will keep you posted on what happens next!

Another happy thing that is going on is my roses seem to be getting established in their new environment and are producing more this year; some more than others but that is to be expected as they were planted a year apart. Matthew reminded me to fertilize and that seems to be working magic.

Thursday was fantastic for several reasons, beginning with the ribbon cutting for the downtown improvements that Laura was so involved in. The town is decked out for America 250.

Laura gave a fantastic speech about third places and if you don't know what that means, I get it because I didn't either before she explained it to me. If that sort of thing intrigues you, click on this link for more info. Before her speech Braden Rumfelt sang the national anthem a cappella. 

And here is Ms Laura with her beaming smile, doing the official ribbon cutting. 

The truth is that the new road paving is still underway, but the project that has been going of for nearly two years now is nearing the end, and we are all the better for it!

Meanwhile, I heard from our new neighbor, Jessie, that she was already at the park for the free concert so we got our folding chairs and carried them the few blocks to meet her at the park where I walk beside the river.  What a lively young woman she is and when I say young what I mean is that she is but a few years older than our son Matthew who is turning 50 on July 5! 

The sun was hot as blue blazes as we watched the hometown boy sing his heart out with his band which includes his twin brother on the guitar and his best friend singing with him on this song. 

Because we have been here awhile now we forget how easy doing things is compared to what we were accustomed to. We may not have loads of opportunities for some things, but what we do have is done without difficulty.

Murphy is mighty proud of this young man for making top five on American Idol. What happens next for him is still being figured out. One thing to note is he played baseball for years in this same park!

The Murphy master gardeners have been doing some improvements on the river walk and the perennials are coming along nicely, including this plant appropriately called Bee Balm.

I bought red one for here that is beginning to bloom so I will show you that soon. Much to my dismay the Echinacea seeds I planted did nothing, but the real gardeners know what they are doing.

Sunday was very special indeed. 

I said to Bruce can you even imagine we are witnessing this? One of the things I love so much about living here is that I so often have new experiences. Sure everyone does that, say, while traveling to a new country but we are doing it close to home. So am I killing you with suspense yet? Haha! 

A river baptism friends. Yup. Methodists are not know for this, but the young boy asked if Wil would do the baptism at the Lochaby place along the Hiwassee River before they move to Waynesville. Freddy, who is on the board of trustees with Bruce, has been a member of the church all of his 78 years. He cannot remember a time without a garden and he keeps it up with a little help from a neighbor. Look how big it is! There are two rows the length of the garden planted in sunflowers and Freddy's sister who was visiting said to come and cut them when they begin blooming. How can I turn down that invitation?

The setting was so beautiful and is but a little over two miles from our home. When we don't get out of town I sometimes forget how stunning the landscape can be, especially at this time of year. 

The water is super cold but little Jack did a good job hiding it. 

Aside from Wil everyone is a Murphy local. I won't get into it but last evening we visited with two locals and they talked about how people think that they are hillbillies and make fun of them. I'm pretty sure that is why we are friends with locals because we think they have great value. Some worry that Murphy is growing and I rarely tell them how much our hometown grew from when we were children. It's horrifying to see what has happened to Orlando but those who did not know it like we did think it is just great. I suspect it happens all over the world, people being protective of their hometowns. 

Just when you think I have it all together, this past week I had an unwelcome reminder that I DO NOT. First off, I learned from the pharmacy that I had no medication insurance and to shorten this story to its' essence, in January I paid twice for Bruce and none for me. It took multiple phone calls to sort out what happened. I knew that I had paid it and even wrote on the little payment book the date, but with the last digit of our policy one number different, somehow I made the mistake. They told me sorry, try again at the end of the year. So there's that. 

This morning I stumbled on a curb and although I landed on both hands and knees (!!!) on the concrete sidewalk, thankfully the only real problem is my right knee is hurting like a son of a gun. When I finish this I'm plan on icing it for the second time this afternoon.  Good grief! That said it could have been so much worse, so for that I am grateful. 

Bruce has been painting and supervising at the parsonage since 9AM where they are painting much of the interior before the new pastor arrives in two weeks time. He put together a good sized crew of volunteers so hopefully a few days will be sufficient. 

And with that news, I think I will put that knee up and on ice!!

your friend,

Gail