The Mountain Thymes

Last night kicked off the first event of the season in the open barn at the John Campbell Folk School.  The weather cooperated for the Brasstown Morris Dancers, Dames Rockets, and the Hoop Dancers.  Our weather went from hot and dry to cool and rainy over the past couple of weeks.  Last week we had over five inches of rain in two days.  Days of thick clouds put our house temperature in the mid-sixties and we put the heat back on.  Last evening was beautiful and very comfortable while watching the costumed dancers.  Individual slices of pie were sold to help fund the dancers upcoming trip to England in June where they'll perform in the streets of Britain. The Morris Dancers.  The little performer on the right is the massage therapist that Barb and I go to.  She's little but she's mighty.  The Dames Rockets. We've been working on the shed.  Being that the shed is located on the mountain slant,  I needed a step to prevent me from rolling down the side of the mounta

Morning in the garden...................                                                     sweet pea blossoms                                                     blue potato flowers                                                 my toad house, one really lives there                                                    chickadee nesting home I set up at the farmers market on Saturday.  It was a cool start and a comfortable day.  Being the day before Mothers Day, I was hoping for good sales.  It was a good sale day.  Of course, I spent the proceeds on Swiss chard, beet green sprouts, and two borer bee traps. Borer bees are plentiful this year.  We found ten starter holes in the garage and multiple holes in the house.  Daily I sweep pollen and sawdust off the porch.  Also, we've had an infestation of cockroaches.................in the house! Ugh!  Ack!  I've placed large roach hotels (with vacant neon signs) in every dark corner, under furniture and in ba

A couple of months ago while dancing in my morning Zumba class, my head kept tilting to the left as if I had a clump of garden clay embedded in my ear, maybe from all the tilling Cliff did.  The Zumba instructor suggested I make an appointment with her husband who's an ENT & Facial Plastics doctor.  On the way home from the gym, I made the appointment.  At my visit, tiny ear forceps were used to extract dead skin tissue (gross), wax vacuumed out, and  the doctor gave me a DIY recipe to keep the ears clear and comfortable.  He did a quick hearing test which I passed and asked if I need to discuss anything else.  I knew he meant baggy under-eyes and loose vulture-neck skin, but I've chosen to keep what I've earned in my 70 years.  What a relief to be free of garden dirt. This past week I made Cliff an appointment to have his ears cleaned and checked.  I needed to know if he had a selective hearing loss.  During the exam and wax removal, the doctor told Cliff how to keep h

We've gone from very humid 80's and A/C to 41 degree mornings and running the heat again.  A few days earlier four of my many tomatoes were transplanted to their new home in the garden because they were outgrowing their pots.  This is our blackberry winter and the last of the cold snaps.  The wild blackberries are in full bloom and the locals say this cold spell sweetens the berries.  The tomatoes are covered with straw and for as long as this spell lasts the seedlings and sprouts on the porch get covered with sheets at night.  I had planned on setting up at the farmers market today but the cold morning changed my mind.  Lettuce is starting to come in. The last of the radishes.  Can't freeze them so Cliff may get a few radishes with each meal and for snacks. Another vole/mole hole spotted today while I was weeding and planting spinach seeds.  My first spinach planting attempt failed.  After talking to one of the farmers this morning at the market, I came home and p