The Mountain Thymes

 Another sign of autumn is saying "good-bye" until next spring to the farmers markets in the area.  I visited the Blairsville market this morning, much later than my summer runs.  It's colder in the mornings and I chose not to rush out.  In the summer I was at the markets by nine to be sure I got the fresh greens before the vendors ran out and the summertime I have more energy.  Now I linger longer under my warm cozy covers, stretch and wiggle before putting my feet on the cold floor.      Japanese turnips and whatever the other bunch is.  I can't remember what she said.  Maybe a variety of a kale? Anyway, it's something for me to saute or throw in a soup.  A few days I did a slow-cook whole chicken, picked all the meat of the carcass, and froze the chicken in four bags.  Then added water to the carcass and onions, carrots, celery, a couple of bay leaves to boil for stock.  I got four containers of stock in the freezer for...

 With two approaching cold fronts coming, I brought most of my potted plants inside Sunday evening. Monday and this morning were in the high thirties.  That's cold to me but it's nice for sleeping.  Thursday morning will be close to thirty on the mountain and in the sixties during the day.  It's been a lovely October.  Leaf colors are not as vivid as previous years but still enjoyable. It's been raining so I figured it was a good time to sit and type. After complaining and whining, driving my friends crazy about the microwave  issues, I just went to Lowe's last Friday and bought another one to replace this one that Cliff and James installed only four and a half years ago.  The mother board had been replaced during the first year but stopped working about a year later.  I kept paying for repairs.  Charlie told me it would be better at this point to buy a new one.  I bought the same style GE but in stainless steel.   I'm so happy...

Today is Cliff's birthday.  Mark called this afternoon to see how I was doing and we had a lovely talk.  He sounds good.  Sometimes I get concerned about him but he's really doing okay. We both found things to laugh about.  He's had rainy days for the past two weeks from the tropical systems.  It's terribly humid and there is standing water everywhere.   The temperature here this morning at six o'clock was forty-six degrees with thick mountain fog.  I went to the Murphy farmers market around nine and bought Swiss chard and the last of their green beans.  Only a few more weeks of these markets. The fog finally burned off around 10:30 when the temperature shot up to high sixties.  The rest of the day was wonderful.  This has been the nicest October in the eighteen years I've lived here.   Last Sunday my last hummingbird perched on the front feeder and when she didn't show up Monday or Tuesday, I figured she had left for Cent...

 My goodness....This feels like the longest day in years.  When Cliff and I were working we used to get up around five or five-thirty to start getting ready for work...feed the cats, pack our lunches, shower, and whatever else working people used to do.  This morning I woke at 5:10 and didn't go back to sleep because I promised a dear friend I would pick her up in Blairsville where she was dropping off her Kia Soul at 7:30 to be cleaned and detailed.  I showered, did my ten-minute yoga routine, made my oatmeal with chopped dates porridge, brushed teeth, took morning vitamins, got dressed and headed out the door by seven-forty.  Felt like I should be going to work.  Thank goodness I wasn't!  Traffic was heavy as all the "worker bees" were heading to their job sites.  I picked up Susan at Weavers Detail & Car Wash  and she navigated me to her house up in the mountain and into the woods.  Cliff responded to emergencies in Susan's neck-o...

 I just made a hot cup of Mandarin Mint tea and told myself to stay put at the computer for at least fifteen minutes before jumping up to start another task.  The mountain fog has finally burned off (10:20) and sunshine is making its way through the forest.  Temperature was 53 when I got up at 5:30, is 68 now and predicted to reach about 80 in town so maybe high 70's on the mountain.  I still have three hummingbirds battling at four feeders.  It's very entertaining to watch their behavior this time of year before they head back to Central America.  There is more of a slow dancing type movement in their flight as they approach each other.  Their wings and tails fan out as they stay in rhythm face to face.  I sit on the porch mid-afternoon and watch this.  I've even had all three sit at the feeder at one time and sip nectar before bothering each other.     Then there's this male who has claimed the swing.  He sits waiting fo...

 Two cool weather fronts came through since the weekend bringing drier air and relief from the heat.  This morning's temperature was 53 when I got up at 6. I got to walk Konehete Park before going to yoga at the gym.  Gardens are winding down.  Always a welcomed sight as I get tired of fussing and watering by this point.  I've pulled up tomato plants and whatever else looked like it was suffering. Most areas need weed whacking again.  Monday I tackled the back tall weeds near the garden.  Most mornings forest leaves are dripping from the early mountain fog.   Grass and weeds don't dry well until afternoon.  I went through both batteries before quitting late morning so my arms and clothes were covered with wet grass shards but it felt good to get that under control.  And............   I got to use my new outside shower for the first time.  There is still work to be done.  Ricky will pressure clean the platform for me t...

 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...