The Mountain Thymes

 It's a dark dreary overcast day with only a 16% chance of rain predicted.  The weather station says it's raining cats and dogs.  And it's correct! Back in my classroom days in Florida, when it felt like this with dark clouds and the sound of rain on the roof, I used to think how I would love to be sitting with a warm cup of tea and a good book instead of managing a classroom full of energetic students.  I had been out on the porch when the this 16% chance of rain opened up and it brought the classroom image back to my memory. So I'm making my cup of tea to return to the porch and enjoy the peaceful rain.  In the last twenty minutes the weather station registered 0.54 inches and still raining and the wind has picked up. The temperature dropped from 79 to 70 degrees. My choice of teas for this dark feeling day is "Rosy Mood" with Damiana & Butterfly Pea Flowers, an uplifting tea that supports a good mood.  The tea bag even looks happy.  Since I drin...

 The floors need to be vacuumed.  Both bathrooms need to be cleaned.  Dishwasher is waiting to be emptied.  It's raining again and I can't go outside and play in the dirt.  Temperature is a comfortable 76.  So this is a good way to avoid unpleasant tasks.   Last week I used the pry bar to remove the rotted step board, pulled the crooked nails out of the porch wood, and bought a new 6' treated step board at Wilson's Supply.  They made a 6' cut from a warped 10' board that would sell and only charged me a couple of dollars.  I stained it and allowed it to dry for a few days before screwing it into its new home.     That step will darken as time goes by and it gets restained.  Eighteen years ago the whole house used to be that color.  I wasn't going to try and match it for one step.  I had another porch board replaced two years ago and it's darkened and beginning to blend in.   Last week when I was in...

 Temperature was 63 this morning!  A lovely start to this sunny day.  Hummingbirds were fighting over flower blooms early this morning and the raccoon got into the back porch nectar feeders in the night to drank all the nectar.  It hasn't touched the feeders all spring or summer but now it's time to take them in each evening at dark before I locked up the porch doors. Early signs of seasonal changes.   Busy in the front gardens.......   She's eating weeds between the pineapple sage plants.  They will begin to shoot red trumpet-like flowers in late August. Such a beautifully peaceful sight. Pruning the forsythia for me. Drinking from the ground water dish.     Before she came to the garden I had a doe with her fawn spend time browsing around and then later another doe wandered up from the woods heading toward Charlie's yard. I planted more moon flowers yesterday in the fenced garden.  They can climb the garden wind vane in the f...

 Some mornings I spend a couple of hours in the hill garden, as opposed to the kitchen garden in the driveway, just enjoying everything that grows in the garden and the lush surrounding trees.  Even the "weeds" moving with the gentle morning breeze are pleasant and I don't have a need to destroy everything that doesn't serve my purpose.  A few weeks ago I paid a young man to weed whack the whole yard as it was out of control, too much for me to clean up with a whimpy whacker. This morning I started pulling weeds in the garden around the butterfly plants, pulled up the rotted tired zucchini and summer squash plants to toss into the woods, and found a few green bean plants that I planted late May and have ignored them because with all the rain and cloudy days we had before this dry period, things weren't thriving. To my surprise I picked a serving for me to fix up for today's lunch.  No rot, not blemishes, just beautiful beans.  After clearing weeds from a vacan...

   Happy Summer Solstice!  It was a beautiful start to this day.  The typical mountain fog had settled in when I got up at 6:30 but burned off shortly after.  I always go outside when I first get up, scan for wildlife, and walk around soaking in the morning peace and calm.  Did about 20 minutes of stretchy yoga, showered and had a light breakfast of cream of buckwheat with ghee-fried peaches.  I still felt  a little full from eating Italian food with Janice last night.  We go out at 4:30 and take our time eating and talking, have a glass of wine and Friday night is dessert night.  Janice is doing better.  It'll be a year in August since she lost Ernie.   I left the breakfast dishes in the sink and headed to our Murphy Farmers Market.  First stop was "Healing Ways" produce farmers for fresh Swiss chard, butter crunch lettuce, and a bunch of young summer squash and zucchini since all of mine are falling off the plants....

 After four weeks of mostly blender meals and occasional ice-cream, I can chew again and what an amazing feeling.  We take chewing and digesting foods well for granted.  Going without gives a deeper appreciation of things that we do day to day.  My gum discomfort and sore spots caused fatigue, more than I realized.   Clouds and rain..............  My wisteria is blooming a second time.  This has never happened before.  One spring bloom is all I've ever been able to enjoy.  I figure it must be the plentiful rain. Morning sun on the squash and zucchini open the flowers for the bees to pollinate.  Checking them a few days later I found the baby squashes dropped from the plant rotting on the ground from too much rain and not enough sun.  When it's not raining, the cloud cover doesn't allow any sunlight.   The thunderstorm that came through earlier this month caused a lot of damage throughout Hayesville and areas in Murphy...

 Started today by helping Janice fit a new soft cone on her sweet little pup.  Lilly had major hip surgery last Friday and has to wear the plastic cone for two weeks and Janice has to do PT four to five times each day.  She calls me when she needs support or help with Lilly. The new cone didn't work  because it was too soft.  This afternoon the new surgery pj's from Amazon arrived.   It looks like the pj's will stop her from licking her itchy stitches but she can't pee without wetting the suit. They will both get through this annoying trial. Yesterday morning I washed and bleached the uncovered deck getting it ready for stain.  This morning I began staining when I got back from helping Janice.   I'd like to wait until Thursday before walking on the stained steps to do the skipped ones but will have to check the forecast tomorrow.  It feels good to get this done and this amount shouldn't hurt my wrist or shoulder.  This afternoo...

 I sat down to type last Saturday but when I reread what I wrote, it came through to me as wah, wah, wah, whining.  So it's still in the draft.  Let's see if I can relate what's been happening without the whine. The past ten days I've been in and out of the dentist chair trying to get this temporary partial to fit better.  Eating is challenging but I'm coming up with lots of ways to make the soupy food tasty and keep the nutrition.  Most of the mouth sores are healed.  At the beginning of May I had my yearly eye exam.  Last year I purchased vision insurance at a reasonable price through AARP so I updated my old glasses with a new frame and Rx and ordered single lens piano glasses.  Last time Mark visited here he measured my sight distance from the bench to the sheet music.  Two weeks after the exam both pairs of glasses were ready but the order got mixed up and the piano frames had the new Rx and new frames had the piano lenses.  They we...

 Last Thursday I had an abscessed tooth extracted that had a problem previously about ten years ago.  This time the tooth needed to be removed.  Of course  it was right smack in the front bottom where I couldn't avoid looking like an old mountain woman who lives in a log cabin and sits on her porch with her rifle beside her leaned again the log house and her jug of moonshine in one hand.  When I arrived home from the dental appointment I started right away on two Motrin and one Acetaminophen every six hours so didn't feel too badly.  I've worn a bottom partial for years so had a temporary new one was made with a false tooth to fill in the space.   I had a follow-up app't the next morning to see where the sore spots from the temporary were starting.  It was more painful to remove the partial than any sore spots.  My dentist filled down areas that showed sores but putting the partial back in was awful.  By Friday night I removed the partia...

 Can you remember a moment or a day that everything felt calm and peaceful?  A time that you wanted to hold onto for as long as you could?  Today felt like like that for me.  When you go without something you need for a while, there is a greater appreciation when it returns.  Today there was no rain in sight, no deep gloomy overcast, even though the weather alert radio sounded off three times in the early morning hours with severe storm mornings, hail, lightning, and probable power outage with trees down.  There actually was a sunrise this morning.  I drove to the Murphy farmers market after breakfast for arugula, most of mine have bolted, and her new mustard greens for lunch today.  Also visited the English lady for a few of her fresh baked pastries.  As soon as I got home, I headed to big garden to plant the new Coreopsis I had just bought at the farmers market.  Also planted pineapple sage planted which have lovely red trumpet flowers...

     Monday the mountain got just under 3" of rain in two hours.  Driving home from the yoga class was a bit challenging.  There was pooling and rivers of water running down the highway.  As suddenly as the rain cell opened up, I drove into sunshine with no rain.  I did get to the garden to transplant my zucchini and squash plants but soil is so soggy I put the trowel away and quit.  Collard are growing well.  More delicate things like basil and red lettuce have some torn leaves,  That's okay I'm going to chew them anyway.  Tomorrow is supposed to be a longer period of sunshine.  The record rain in Chattanooga for May was 12" and we're over 8" so far at this halfway point.   My wrens have fledged.  The two new birdhouses I built are occupied.  Black-capped chickadees are feeding their babies in one house and my bluebirds have nested in the other.   When I'm at the kitchen sink I get to enjoy the bluebir...

The new fence looks wonderful.  Ricky T. and Travis raked and cleaned the whole area before measuring, cutting, and installing the new fence. It doesn't look like much in this photo but it's neatly done and I am so pleased. The past couple of days we've been experiencing the last cold front, the blackberry winter.  Thunderstorms that rattled windows and shook the house like an earthquake brought 40 degree nights again and daytime temperature around mostly cloudy 60 degree days.  Breezy and chilly compared to what it was.  Actually, more comfortable for exerting work outside. I bought two flaming azaleas from Spud's fresh fruit and vegetable stand not far from the house.  Yesterday I dug a bowl in the wet clay to plant one.  Fenced it in before the deer could smell the blooms.  Giving my writs and hands a rest today.  Will plant the other one tomorrow.   Once they are established and have some height deer won't pay attention to them. ...

 Last evening's wonderful time together at Michaelee's Italian Restaurant.......  left to right...Sandy Durrett, her son, Keith, who moved into the house to be her caregiver when Clay died.  Lynn, always with a smile and a happy attitude and willing to eat out.  Janice, lost Ernie late last summer.  We were seated in the Monaco room, had the room all to ourselves.  It felt like a mafia meeting! It was quiet and cozy with soft cushioned chairs and wonderful service.  Janice kept saying she was so content and happy.  That was good to hear because she has been so depressed since Ernie's sudden death.  Travis and Ricky T. working on my new fence around the old garden. They raked and cleaned up the garden and put in new 6' stakes. I can do some serious planting in May.  The locals say to wait until after Mother's Day.