The Mountain Thymes

Nights have been warm enough to sleep with windows open so when I was awakened by an unfamiliar huffing sound out in the road around 1:50 AM, of course, I had to get up and investigate.........from inside.  I stood at our bathroom window listening and trying to compare it with other familiar sounds so in the morning I could recall the sound and google it.  The huffing reminded me of the deer Mike, Barb, Cliff, and I heard one summer night when sitting on the back porch around 10 PM.  But the immediate "clicking" sound stumped me.  I knew it wasn't the sound of hooves.  Deer are stealth and quiet as they move even when bounding down the mountainside into the forest.  Opossum don't click or huff, turkeys gobble, and it was not the sound of a mountain cat.  I didn't want to just assume it was a bear.  I finally fell back to sleep and when I woke at 6, took my coffee out in the mountain fog and quietly scanned the road for bear scat.  No scat....

Temperature remained in the 60's all night......was 64 when I got up at 6 AM.  I was in the garden with my hoe, trowel, tomato/vegetable fertilizer, and tomato plants by 7:30.  Forecast was for thunderstorms off and on today and I wanted to get a start on the tomato plants.  Radar showed a line of storms out near Cleveland, TN so that gave me a good hour to set and stake the plants.  So far six plants are staked and three will use a fence support.  I tried a new method I read about in the NC Extension booklet.  Trenching the tomatoes allows for more roots to develop and a stronger plant to support the heavy fruit.  Around 9 o'clock I put tools away and returned to the house when thunder rumbled in the distance.  I don't have much luck around thunderstorms as I seem to be a magnet.  My brush with lightning 21 years ago is still vivid in my mind.  The sky became as dark as if it were 9 PM.  The gentle rain arrived and I stood on the b...

The blackberry bushes hang heavy with white blossoms this spring.  We are blessed with an abundant supply of wild berries that grow along Clay Durrett Rd and in our woods.  Earlier this spring we went through the dogwood winter and a few days ago experienced our blackberry winter.  The locals tell me this makes the blackberries sweeter.  The last couple of days have been chilly, windy, and raw. Today's temperature was ten degrees warmer than yesterday and the rest of the week is looking good.   Whether on the porch, down in the garden, or working in the kitchen, I'm always surrounded by nature and never tire of deer sightings or the playfulness of the birds.  looking around to see if the finch is there squirrel hoping to find seeds or morsels in this flower pot My new clothesline.....small, lines are 10' long, but enough to hold a load of laundry. most of the potatoes are up Tomorrow, Thursday, is a heavy planting day....

Just have to share this photo of our female hummingbird. When I walked into the kitchen this evening, I noticed she was just sitting on the edge of the geranium window box.  If you look carefully to the left, you can see a white plastic flower which is attached to her tiny feeder.  She and her mate have been active all day drinking and doing acrobatics in the air.  This afternoon I heard the male thump one of the windows and hit the porch floor.  I said a little prayer that he would recover.  Cliff took over the watch for me and witnessed another hummingbird swoop down, whisper something, and the two birds flew off together.  They truly are the most amazingly resilient creatures. My previous post shows this window box and feeder.   Also, I had to revise this page because this bird is the female..........doesn't have the bright red collar.

Some of the benefits of having a warm wet winter. The dogwoods lasted longer and were showier than other years. I discovered this deep orange wild azalea blossomed at the west edge of the garden.  We have another with  softer orange blossoms near the back porch and another deep orange nestled in the woods.  I don't remember seeing the deep ones show off last year.  I'd like to root a couple shoots and plant them closer to the house.  This morning around 6:45, when I stepped out the door with my coffee, I was buzzed by the male hummingbird.  Evidently, he had been feeding and I disturbed him.  He was feeding here this morning. These are the greatest little feeders.  I'll get more of these to place in the other window boxes and potted plants. Lettuce is doing well.....so far.  More snails in the garden this year.  Deer haven't feasted on my salad yet.  Red Russian kale..........frilly leaves...... fava be...

Murphy sits about 90 miles from the central time zone which is just a little west of Chattanooga, TN.  This time of year, it's still dark around 6 AM.  When my coffee finishes brewing, I step outside in the 50-degree air to feel the quiet of the morning. As first light peaks in the east, the first cardinal calls what-cheer....wheet , wheet, wheet, wheet and is immediately answered with a distant reply of the same.  This begins the chorus of songs and calls that echo through the trees.  From the porch this morning, I hear the rushing creek in the hollow.  A soft orange glow changes the eastern sky and daylight arrives.  This welcoming of morning doesn't last long enough.

Days ago we experienced our "dogwood winter."  Three nights dropped to 28 degrees with daytime temperatures reaching 66-70.  The locals tell us that the next cold snap might come in May but won't be as cold. The "blackberry winter"  sweeten the blackberries.  Then it becomes a race between humans and deer to see who gets the most berries. Sunday at 12:10 PM was my first hummingbird sighting at the back porch feeder.  With the unusually warm weather we'd been having,I thought their journey might bring them here earlier than last year.  The feeders have been out for three weeks awaiting their arrival.  Yesterday afternoon while sitting out on the porch reading, I witnessed air combat maneuvering between two HBs.  There are three feeders with fresh nectar spaced along the porch beams and they vie for the same one like toddlers struggling for the same toy. Last week Cliff built a rustic clothesline for me.  That part was easy compared to ...

Many years ago........... many, many years ago when I was an adolescent, I had a place in the woods that comforted me when the world didn't go my way.  The walk took me along the Assabet River, past the Portuguese Club, continued again along the river and lead me into the woods where I came to a huge boulder jutting out of a sloping hill.  It was here that I positioned myself on top of the rock and contemplated life.  I would have lived out there if I could have.  Must be why I fell in love year after year with My Side of the Mountain when we read Jean Craighead George's novel in 5th grade.  Sunday after working in the garden, I put on my high rubber boots and headed down our back hill through the thicket and tangles with clippers and camera in hand.  I've been down to the water many times before but this time intended to trim and clip some of the wild rhododendrons allowing better access to the creek. Before the woods fill in, it's easier to get down and ...

Brrrr.  After waking to 56-60 degree mornings for the past month, I walked out onto the porch and was greeted by a crisp 36 degrees this morning.  That'll cool your cup of coffee down quickly.  I just learned today that the April full moon is named "pink moon."  I  was aware that October's full moon was a "harvest moon" but a "pink moon" was new to me.  The full moon names come from the cultural histories of the Native American tribes of the Northeastern parts of the United States. January-Wolf Moon February-Snow Moon March-Worm Moon April-Pink Moon May-Flower moon June-Strawberry Moon July-Buck Moon August-Sturgeon Moon September-Corn Moon October-Harvest Moon November-Beaver Moon December-Cold Moon Around 1:30 AM, I awoke to hit the bathroom and noticed the moon illuminating the yard so brightly that this was my chance to see what roams about in the night.  Out the bathroom window I spotted one large deer nibbling little saplings. ...

Early this morning, I joined one of the search-and-rescue groups to go out and comb the area woods for a missing child.  Last evening around 6 PM, an alert went out for fire/rescue squads to meet and search for the missing two-year-old boy.  It seems he was with his grandparents who were unpacking their vehicle at the rental cabin when the dog jumped out of the car and the child followed his dog.   He wasn't found and another tone-out woke us up at 5AM this morning.  After downing a bowl of cereal, Cliff put on his hiking boots and we headed to the command site to see how we could help.  Because of his fire/rescue training, Cliff was put in charge of our group of volunteers.  People came from Tennesee, Georgia, and some distant NC counties to aid in the search.  Last night residents searched their  own properties when the community phone-alert system stated that the family dog had been found on Hedden Road only about a mile from our house.  F...

"Every path has its puddle." Yesterday was our 30th anniversary.  Where does the time go?  And our children are in their 40's.  How did that happen so quickly?  Considering the economic events of the past few years and how they've changed  our view of retirement, we're still happy that we're not working and content to be living where we are.