The Mountain Thymes

We are just shy of three inches of rain in the plastic gauge since it began yesterday and it's still raining.  The creek is roaring once again.  I carried the kitchen peelings and scraps down to the compost heap during a light shower and walked around the garden.  The peas love the cool rain.  Lettuce and spinach have grown another inch since yesterday and I counted fifty-four potato plants through the clay.  I guess I planted more than fifty.  The birds are water-logged and taking shelter on the back porch.  This titmouse had been sitting under the eaves for half an hour shaking his feathers dry and preening.  The male hummingbird flew in and perched on his swing for awhile before hitting one of the seven feeders. (and Cliff and Lauria think I'm nuts!) Yesterday Cliff spent much of his day out in his radio room and I was in my studio sewing and looking for my next art project.  We love our spaces and the house doesn't feel so crowded with stuff. I decided n

Yesterday just as we pulled out of our driveway we saw a doe and her two teenagers standing in the middle of Clay Durrett Rd.  We stopped, rolled down our windows and spoke to them. This morning I saw three more on Boulder Creek Rd.  With the underbrush greening up again, there's more grazing happening. Latest picture of Christopher just sent to me.    

A few weeks ago our weather went from below average temperatures to above the norm causing an explosion in tree pollen and grasses.  As soon as the sour wood dropped blossoms to expose new green leaves,  dogwoods flaunted their creamy white and pink flowers announcing more signs of spring.  Inches of rain again irrigated the garden soil moistening the newly planted seeds and feeding existing roots. Waldo and snow peas Black seeded Simpson lettuce red cabbage onions arugula    rhubarb Half of the fifty potatoes are through the ground.  The past couple of nights I had to place all the porch plants and the window box herbs against the house and insulate them with sheets.  Another cold front crept into the mountains dropping temps to 30 degrees by early morning.  Hummingbird nectar didn't freeze but it must have been cold on their tiny tongues.  Feeders remain out all night because HBs feed up to dark and before the morning sky lightens in the east.  If they&

 Last week the sour wood trees were in full bloom.  from the back porch  Cliff painted the ceiling for me so I wouldn't have neck and shoulder pain........or was it so I wouldn't be a pain in the neck!  We moved my armoire out even  though all the walls aren't painted.  Most of my watercolors and art supplies are out of the house.  You can't see the rough texture of the walls, but this OSB is a bear to paint.  We use a fluffy roller and a paint brush to get the paint into the little grooves, nooks and crannies.  It will take three gallons of whipped peach to just do one coat and there won't be a second coat.   Getting exciting!  Will paint my window frames later.  I have a wonderful view from these two windows.  Plan to put bird houses and hummingbird feeder in my view.

Hummingbirds have arrived!!!  Last night when I checked the hummingbird site, the latest posting was that evening in Blairsville, GA, about 18 miles from us.  I've had three feeders out for about 10 days, changing the nectar every 4-5.  This morning at 7:18 as I sat on the porch steps with my Quaker oats and coffee, a miniature fighter jet buzzed me and flew into the woods.  It was larger than the titmouse or the Carolina chickadee and its flight pattern didn't dip and dive as the other birds do to slow down their approach.  It zoomed past my face and into the woods.  I really hoped it was our first hummingbird returning.  At 12:50 as I walked past the French doors leading to the back porch, there was our HB drinking at the feeder.  It's amazing how these little creatures can create such anticipation and excitement in us.  In the past week the reported sightings have exploded.  The site I follow is http://www.learner.org/jnorth/maps/humm_ruby_spring2013.html

My art/sewing room and Cliff's radio room are being built at the back of the garage.  I had dreams of building a garden shed down near my garden that I could retreat to and soak in the peacefulness of the woods listening to the birds and watching up close as the deer ate the peas.  Garden magazines display rustic buildings that husbands and wives build together.  Her garden shed is surrounded with flowers, clay pots, french doors that open to a path leading to more flowers.  When I found out what this dream would cost, we decided to just have Jeff and Larry build two rooms at the back of the garage.  We're not carpenters.  Cliff is a technical person and anything that requires wires, coax, plugs, antennae, and duct tape is his comfort zone.   My room Jeff and Larry cutting out two holes in the corner of my room for my windows overlooking the woods.  Windows in place and insulation up. The beginning of Cliff's ham shack. My windows from the outside.  I hav

At the end of your pregnancy, everyone watches each move you make.  If you sneeze, people hope you won't pop.  You waddle across the street at turtle speed holding up traffic.  When you are two weeks plus past your due date, tension increases.  A groan or a moan as you try to get off the couch or maneuver from any position signals those near you to look at their watches and begin timing contractions.  Forty-five years ago my due date was March 13 but Lauria hung on until April Fool's Day and embraced the world at 5:30 AM. Lauria and John Christmas on Lincoln St in Massachusetts.  Michael, Mark, and Lauria with her unicycle. At her grandparents' home in Massachusetts.   She is an amazing woman, mother, and wife (wow! that was hard to write.....the word woman to describe this little girl).  Today we celebrate her loving spirit and  accomplishments. Happy Birthday, Lauria! Love, Mom and Cliff