The Mountain Thymes

   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.     

I don't need to adopt pets............. Mother Nature has provided me with a variety of creatures to enjoy from morning to night.   About ten days ago Janice and I were returning home from Clyde, NC where I had an endodontist appointment for an abscessed tooth when as we drove through the Nantahala Gorge all traffic was stopped.  We could see people clearing branches from the road and heard chain saws cutting trees.  We sat for at east twenty minutes when one car drove from where the noise was coming from and people were clearing the road.   Two people and their two dogs got out of this car that was crushed when a group of trees slid down the mountain totally covering the vehicle.  Someone must have had a chainsaw in their truck or car.  People were lifting limbs and small tree trunks to free the car and passengers.  The roof was crushed and all the windows and windshield were shattered.  I can't imagine the frightening sound these poor people hea...

 My little female hummingbird showed up on the back porch feeder Thursday afternoon.  I figured she had arrived because whenever the male perched on a feeder he craned his neck upward in defensive mode.  My friend, Susan, headed out her door this morning to walk her dog and saw a bear on her property.  A first time for her so she and Nigel went right back inside.  She lives about 10 minutes from me. The temperature was 40 degrees this morning at 8:30 when I headed to Murphy's farmers market in town.  Not many vendors set up early in the season but my favorite husband/wife team are always there....rain or shine.  Today they had their first harvest of baby kale, spinach, and mustard greens.  Bought a bag of each.  She is a native Cherokee Indian and sells her homemade healing salves made with her farm grown herbs. When she sets up each Saturday she burns dried sage to heal, protect, increase wisdom, and boost defense against disease.  This...

 Good morning!  I've been awake since 4:30. Laid there trying to fall back into a gentle sleep.  Did my calming breath routine, went through the body scan slowly telling each limb and body muscles to relax.  Did all the practices that normally calm my mind and muscles back into a light sleep for another hour.  Nothing worked.  Got up at 6 and took my morning tea out onto the back porch.  It's still dark here at 6.  Whippoorwills are back singing every morning now and my first male hummingbird was spotted on the back porch feeder at 2:30 yesterday. Stripped my bed sheets and cleaned out the fruit draw in the refrigerator.  Actually vacuumed out the draw then washed the draw with baking soda and water.   Yesterday afternoon got a frightening call from a female in Jamaica telling me my BOA charge card had been compromised.  The call showed up on the iPhone as potential spam.  I didn't answer it.  The call kept coming in ...

 Two hummingbird feeders are out waiting for the first sighting.  One in my view on the back porch and the other at my kitchen window.  Kitchen window feeder was hung Monday in case there were any travelers and back porch was hung this morning.  Last year was the earlier sighting in all my 17 years here.  A male arrived and sat at the feeder drinking on April 2, our anniversary.   Thunderstorms are predicted for Sunday afternoon through Monday morning.  Maybe the storm will carry a few hummingbirds to Murphy.  We're very dry and really need the rain.  I'm not in the fire areas.  It's very dry here but luckily no fires.   Thursday I went to a wedding in Andrews for my friend MaryAnne's daughter, Erica.  MaryAnne and Dick are the the friends who live out in the boonies in Robbinsville and drive to the gym in Murphy three days a week.  He's 89 and she's 87.  He looks 89 but she looks and acts like she's in her ...

 Mark arrive Wednesday afternoon.  We sat down to a light beef stew later and just relaxed and talked.  Talking comes easily to John.  Each morning during his stay was 28 degrees but sunny days warmed up to around 70.  Tuesday morning the two tree guys began removing the flagged trees I wanted gone.  It was quite a show Tuesday, Wednesday, and some of Thursday.  They  didn't use a chipper so the price was very reasonable.  I had at least ten trees removed from various place .  Some I wanted down and others were showing signs of blight and needed to be removed.   Once the trees were down they cut and stacked them to be place on the trailer for removal.  Watching them put the trees down between other trees was fascinating.  Never breaking other branches or trees.  This forest needed badly to be thinned.  It looks so open and airy now.  The corner fences were removed and everything was neatly replaced afte...

 Just a quick update............. Cherokee County was under a tornado watch until 1 am.  I fell asleep by ten and was awakened by rattling windows, wild winds, and close flashes of lightning. I figured that was a good time for a bathroom break then crawled back under my covers and slept until six.  My weather station reported over an inch of rain and the creek is flowing rapidly.  By the way the back woods shows a stream of cleared leaves, I can see where the rain gushed during the storm.  I have a few limbs down but nothing to really heavy to clean up. It's sixty now at ten o'clock with a light rain.  The storm is slowly clearing away with passing showers and sun.  Not a good day for my walk because we're still under wind advisory in Cherokee County with 15-20 mph gusts.  I don't want to meet a broken limb coming down with a gust.  I was very hungry this morning and felt like pancakes.  Made a batch of buckwheat pancakes and ate them al...

  My little Carolina wrens have built their first seasonal nest.  Construction took place just a few days ago, just in time before this approaching storm system is predicted to bring all modes of severe weather.  Last year my canvas porch swing was up when the couple began building the nest and chose the swing.  During the storm the nest  with eggs was blown out of the swing and thrown to the woods.  That broke my heart so this year when I began using used my swing I brought it in each evening to avoid that from happening again.  I hope this nest is more secure as this storm comes through tonight.  This afternoon I moved the flower pots and vegetable containers back into the shed, placed the garden chairs in the she-shed by the big garden, and hopefully secured everything that could become airborne. All day the winds have been 15-18 mph with stronger winds expected through the night.  No rain yet today.  The heavy line is due around 9 to...

 I'm not sure what the trigger was this morning, but suddenly I remembered that eighteen years ago this weekend Cliff and I spent that weekend with a realtor driving up and down mountain roads looking at homes.  I stepped onto my porch to toss the last of my morning ginger/turmeric tea over the rail, and to feel how cold it was, when that weekend became a memory.  Those two days were dreary, cold, and windy.  This morning on the porch was dreary, bitter cold, and windy.  The instant I stepped out and felt the wind hit my face, that weekend flashed back.  All Saturday and Sunday Steve must have shown us at thirty houses.  We turned down some without even getting out of his truck to tour because of location.  Others were too remote.  I wanted a walkout basement for a sewing/craft room and a place for Cliff to set up his HAM equipment.  He immediately turned down three story homes and large cabins.  My heart was disappointed but Cliff ...

 Last night's night weather was loud and wild.  I woke at 2:45 to rain beating against the windows and against the house. By the time I woke it only lasted another 15 minutes as is quickly moved east.   Higher elevations had winds in the 50's.  I didn't see lightning or hear thunder close by.  By the time I fell back to sleep it was time for me to get up.  The weather station showed 0.83 inches of rain but I know there was more than that.  The gusts probably blew the rain right over the little rain collector.  I set my iPhone for 5:50 to get the truck to the Kia service department for 7:45.  Everything thing is being checked out and the Toyota is still there.  I should get a call sometime tomorrow on the diagnosis.  The Kia is back in the garage nicely detailed. So clean and shiny inside and out.  My neighbor, Janice, picked me up from Kia at 8 this morning, probably still in her pj's.  I returned the Mitsubishi  arou...

 Life just threw in some more detours for me to navigate around.  Last Monday I brought the Kia to Ground to Graphics for the right front bumper repair appointment.  No problem because I have the truck. It has no backup camera because it's a 2002 and I'm spoiled by the backup camera in the Kia.  Whenever I do take the truck, I drive without a radio to listen to and go back to basics of using the rear view and side mirrors.  Good for the brain.  Wednesday morning the trusty truck began shaking and rattling at 50-55 mph so I just slowed down to 45 but my heart didn't.  Thursday I drove it into town slowly just to pick up what I needed and drove home.  When I called Mark he advised me to get it checked out because it could be serious.  This morning at 7:45 I was at the Kia dealer to see if it could be checked  just to see what the problem was but they were so booked  that I couldn't be squeezed in.  So I have an appointment early ...