The Mountain Thymes

For days Cliff has been trying to troubleshoot my blog site.  We couldn't get pictures to upload to the blog page.  He even started a totally new blog with a new title which gave him some clues on why pictures might not be uploading.  Today he tackled it at a new angle and as of now, pictures will upload to the blog page.  I've got my fingers crossed that the issue is resolved. Last Thursday I cut potatoes and set them to dry. Saturday was my potato day!  After breakfast I headed to the garden with my tray of Yukon Gold and Blue potatoes, a hoe, some stakes, and my string.  Of course, I wasn't going to plant as many as previous years until I got excited with how many I had and planted all forty-something of them.  When I filled the planned area, Cliff helped me quickly dig another ten-foot patch to put the rest in. I trenched a good six-inch furrow under the strings, and after setting the potato pieces, covered them with about three inches o...

Haven't been able to download pictures to the blog.  I messed up something and may have to start a new blog site.  I've read FAQ and done my little mindless research.  Cliff has been trying to figure out what I did and how to fix my blog site.  This is not a good time of year for me to lose my mind or the site.  I've been working the garden, adding compost and cow manure.  Digging and arranging more raised beds to stop the soil from eroding.  Most mornings are still in the 20's but days vary from 58 to 70 degrees.  I have two dates this month on which I can plant potatoes and I'm planning on next weekend, if the soil isn't too wet.  Cliff called the fire chief from station 25 for me and asked him when he would be planting his potatoes.  Billy is born and bred here so he understands the climate. Tomorrow, Monday and Tuesday, I'll be planting beets, carrots, turnips, and any other root crop I can plant after I get home from my Zumba class....

The hummingbirds have begun their journey north from Central America.  When I started checking  Journey North online about ten days ago, there were very few sightings along the gulf coast.  Last week the tailwinds were favorable for bringing birds across the gulf and an explosion of sightings were reported along the coast of Texas, Louisiana, and Florida.  Citizen observers posted their excitement upon seeing their first male ruby-throats arrive at the feeders.  I bought our first bag of white sugar today but my feeders won't come out of storage for another ten days...........maybe.  We covered the raised seed bed in the garden with black plastic because of the frost warnings for the next couple of nights.  We had an inch of snow last night and by Wednesday, the high will be only 34 degrees.  I covered the sweet pea bed with straw.  We're in for a cold 4-5 days but it shouldn't hurt the seeds now.  Cliff set the grow-light in the dining ...

The fat camouflaged toady in my blog picture is one lucky amphibian.  Days ago when Cliff was tilling the raised beds with the Mantis, he caught sight of the toad in the clay.  Just the thought made me cringe.  I gently placed the poor stunned toad under the straw covering my garlic.  It was probably hibernating, heard the rumble, felt the earth shake and thought the world was coming to an end. We did some armchair gardening yesterday.  Chairs came out of winter storage,  were scrubbed, and placed in their spots overlooking the garden.  Weather was breezy and mid-sixty.  My energy has returned and I'm ready to tackle the garden.  Viewing the raised beds from the chairs, I decided how I would trellis the sweet peas this year.  Cliff is coming down with the cold now so I'll have to have him put in the trellis before he's out of energy and collapses. I dried and saved these peas from last year's harvest.  They'll get soaked in fis...

I started messing around with my blog, confused myself, so now I'll have to spend some time finding out what I did. The respiratory virus that's been going around is one of the nastiest colds I've ever had.  The last time I actually laid around, slept, and did nothing for six days was when I picked up the flu bug while visiting my parents at Thanksgiving about twenty years ago.  Ever since that episode, I faithfully get my flu shot late August or early September.  I've added pneumonia and the shingles shots to my updates.  Eating two cloves of raw garlic a day also helps ward of evil spirits.  Cliff knew I was desperate when I asked him to drive me to the doctor.  The nurse and doctor knew I was at my wits end when I showed up begging for relief.  Today was the first day I felt human again, like the me I know and love.  While Cliff was torturing his body at yoga this morning, I opened windows and let the 40 degree fresh air in, vacuumed and sani...