The Mountain Thymes

Happy Father's Day! No crowded restaurants for us today.  Cliff decided he would rather spend time outside at the Ocoee Gorge watching the rafts and kayaks.  No swimming allowed today as the water was too high and very rapid.  Great for riding the rapids. With our folding chairs and a picnic lunch we sat under a shady canopy enjoying the day.  Actually, there were quite a few families there today.  All picnic tables were occupied but our chairs were much more comfortable than the wooden benches when sitting for a long time.  It's pretty warm and humid today and with dark clouds building there's a good chance of thunderstorms later, On Boulder Creek Rd heading home............ Young mother doe trying to get her new fawn to follow her and get safely away from us. Wobbly legs and following the scent of mother's milk.   We wonder if it's only a couple of days old.  It wobbled slowly up the hill following the doe into the forest...

Hannah picked up her yoga mat and moved to the Roanoke, VA area in January.  I used to drive to Brasstown Tuesday evening to enjoy her instruction for gentle yoga, a wonderfully calming way to settle in for the evening.  Her voice is soothing and her sense of humor enlightening.  A couple of weeks ago I found out she has been doing an online 7:30 am wake-up yoga session daily.  Now I join her her group every morning that I can.  For some reason, which neither Cliff not I can understand, the session won't play on my iPad but will play on my laptop.  Weather permitting, Hannah's instruction is performed on her open porch in Virginia, undercover porch in the rain, with birds singing good morning and the cicada chorus loudly trying to outdo the birds. The freedom of stretching, breathing, and welcoming the day outside sparked a vision of a yoga deck overlooking my garden. Cliff couldn't square the corners because the tree was in the way so he used a differen...

On his way to Kansas City, tropical storm Cristobal spread his energy outward bringing us a couple inches of rain, flattening many of the garden vegetables. Who ever heard of a tropical storm in Kansas!  This morning we're mid fifties at 7 am with sunshine and pleasant temps for the next couple of days before it rains again.  I told Cliff I'd much rather see this rainy cycle we're in than the dry parched cycle we had the first couple of years we moved to Murphy.  That hot dry cycle stressed the forests and the animals.  The tropical energy causes achy joints and a little inflammation for a few days until it moves on.  So I have to take it easy and not build a stone wall or carry bags of wet mulch.  I say that because I did carry a bag of wet mulch on my shoulder down to the garden a few weeks ago before we bought my new wagon. I found the wheel barrow pulled me down the slope when it was loaded and was difficult to push back up the slope.  Cliff ...

Friday May 29............. Mark turns 47 tomorrow red, white, and green...............colors of the Italian flag............and beauty in simplicity I found her the other day when I was playing "where's Waldo" in the sweet pea patch.  I thought I had picked all the peas, set the bowl down to pull a few weeds, and found more peas camouflaged between vines.  The wild roadside daisies that I transplanted last year have filled out even more in the past week with the tropical wet spring weather we're having.  It's good for the gardens but tough on the hips.                  spinach and beets doing great this spring All the lettuce has been ready for harvest these past few days so I'm bagging it and giving it to neighbors again.  I froze three large bags of spinach and we have two more in the fridge to enjoy fresh.  This year I planted a few broccoli rabe to see how they would do.  I got enough...

May 22 Crazy weather................. It's been chilly, damp, rainy.  The sun appears making the air feel humid and uncomfortable.  By the time I get my sun glasses out, change the long jeans to capris and head to the garden, dark clouds move in.  Absence of sun on the house makes the inside feel chilly.  Feeling chilled this morning, I soaked in the Jacuzzi for twenty minutes to soothe my aching hip (from gardening) and warm my core.  Cliff volunteered with a few other firefighters in handing out boxes of donated fresh vegetables to needy families.  North Carolina opened phase two today.. I wasn't even sure what consisted in phase one. We just continue being cautious, safe and staying away from the Zombies.  I guess today other businesses and restaurants opened with CDC approved guidelines. Yesterday when I saw my doctor, (very achy osteoarthritis hip), he advised us to continue mitigation practices and be safe.  Sounded good to us.  Ma...

Two nights ago should have been the last cold night where the potted delicates needed to be brought inside.  I believe this sentence had been posted earlier this month................... We've continually placed  them on counters, window sills, and on the floor. I was even covering my marigolds in the vegetable garden with inverted buckets to hold the heat in and cold out.  Starting Thursday I'll be transplanting them into the kitchen gardens and the big vegetable garden.  Then it's adapt or perish. They're on their own to survive.  I'm not sure what's going on in the kitchen window geranium box but two nights ago when we had a frost warning, I covered the window box with a old sheet rag.  This year it's difficult to tell if the birds are sitting on eggs yet or not.  We're not seeing the usual commotion seen in previous years.  When I carefully covered the geraniums, I was startled by a wren darting out past my head.  Last night I didn...

The air was full of energy today.  Thunderstorms building to our west rumbled off and on all day.  Last night we had over an inch of rain softening the clay soil making it easy for me to pull weeds in the garden.  I spent the day in and out of the garden between rain showers transplanting some of overcrowded spinach and kale.  The clouds kept temperatures comfortable and allowed me to spend most of the day outside.  Cliff and Charlie took down a few more trees opening up the woods behind the garage.  I'm hoping the wine barrel gardens will get more sun.  Thirty-five garlic still maturing and arugula ready to eat.                                                    Beets and lettuce Our weather forecast is for five to six more nights of very cold temperatures, unusually late in the season for this.  I hope all t...