The Mountain Thymes

On the way home from doing a few errands in town this morning, Cliff was paged out to respond  non-emergency to an elderly man who had fallen off his step-ladder.  Non-emergency means he couldn't switch the red strobe light on and step up the speed a little.  There's more Adrenalin when  responding emergency.  When medics arrived on the scene, they found it necessary to have the patient flown by Life Force to Erlinger in Chattanooga.  Station 17 was then toned out to set up the landing zone for the chopper's arrival.  We drove to the station and I got to ride shotgun in the engine to the LZ. Medic 4 arriving at the field they use for the LZ.  About 30 minutes later, Life Force heading back to Erlinger with the patient. This gave me a better understanding of the process the medics and responders go through to ready their patient and secure him in the chopper for transport.  For me it was quite a thing to witness but for a pa...

Once upon a time deep in the forests of mountainous western North Carolina, Goldilocks came upon an adorable mini-dwelling.                                            My new garden shed!  Nothing is easy when you live on the side of a mountain.  Cliff's friend, Dutch, came by to help dig and level the platform.                                                       front view Placing the parts to be assembled near the site.  Walls are held together with the square connectors that slipped into grooves. We began assembling around 8:30 Sunday morning.  Cloudy day with no rain....

Little things make me happy like hand-printed letters and drawings from the grandchildren, our Carolina wren perched atop Cliff's tower singing his heart out first thing in the morning, the taste of pure goat cheese purchased from Donna at the farmers market, and just recently discovered at Wayne's Feed Store, Deer Stopper barrier ribbon!  In preparation for our trip to Myrtle Beach a few weeks ago, Cliff and I started to wrap twine around bamboo poles hoping to deter deer from wiping out my yellow and green beans.  He didn't have any faith in my plan and I doubted it would work.  He insisted we go to Wayne's and find a product that would give me a better chance than twine.  In the six years I've been planting, the beans never made it taller than about six inches and if they did, once the sweet blossoms appeared so did the deer.  I bought the last box on the shelf.  The barrier tape needs to be tied tautly thirty inches from the ground.  If it sag...

My first time riding the down the tube water slide with Grant on our mini vacation at Myrtle Beach. This was a major accomplishment for me.  My idea of a thrill ride is the tea cups at Disney.  While in line climbing the stairs, Grant kept checking with me to see if I had butterflies and was doing okay and was such a good sport to put up with my screaming all the way down.  It was so much fun we got Cliff to ride it.  Last June when family members got together in Florida for Richard and Sarah's wedding, Mark and Kathy invited us to join everyone at the beach house they were renting for the family reunion this summer.  Cliff and I delighted in watching the expression on friends' faces when we announced that we were spending a few days in Myrtle Beach with my ex-husband and his wife.  Closer view of my water ride. The race slide which I did not do.  We floated on the lazy river and I climbed the stairs a few more times to ride the tube.  ...

My buried treasures are slowly being dug up.  I've uncovered about four pounds of Yukon Golds with about another pound of the reds.  Still have another 24 mounds of potatoes to unearth as the plants turn brown. Carrots ready for harvesting this week.  Chantenay Red Core produce a sweet stump-rooted carrot perfect for my rocky clay soil. The beginning of our tomatoes.  We need a good rain.  I'm watering but the roots need a soaking rain.  Green and yellow bush beans. View of the garden from the driveway. Now that the kale and spinach are finished, every couple of days I cut another bunch of Swiss chard, rinse the spiders and snails off the leaves, and bag the clean leaves for salads, fritattas, or quiches. Bags of Swiss chard and beet greens tucked into every space available.  Poor Cliff.  No room for desserts!  The other day I researched some recipes online that use bunches of greens so none of this will got to waste....

Cliff and I packed the Kia at 8 AM with my table, hat rack, and tubs full of creations.  I drove to the market and he rode his Harley so he could help me set up then ride before the temperature became too uncomfortable.  Business was slow today.  I spent more than I made.  My lettuce is done growing and my poor beets are pitiful.  I bought a nice big bag of red leaf lettuce, two bunches of beets full of huge green leaves, fresh eggs, and new summer squash.  Guess which beets came from our garden............................. When I got home, I made my favorite beet, ginger, and coconut milk soup, cooked the remaining beets and washed the leaves for later meals.  Some of my new hats, adult and children sizes. I added a few new aprons, too. The heat set in early and the small number people that came by walked slowly and didn't have much interest in anything but the fresh produce and the English lady's pastries.  It's never too hot fo...