The Mountain Thymes

 No more fuzzy dice! A common sight now is a face mask dangling from one ear a person leaves a building, or over the rear view mirror but today was the best sighting.  Driving through the Walmart parking lot looking for a space was a woman with one face mask swaying from the rear view mirror and three more white and blue masks lined up across her dashboard.  We've trained our brains to a whole different routine when going out to do errands. Face mask.  Check.  Hand sanitizer.  Check.  Ziplock bag with homemade cloth disinfectant wipes.  Check.  Ready to do errands.  Cliff's prize tomato plant rests in peace, cut into portable sections, and placed in the woods.  As the rest of the tomatoes ripened, they were set on the kitchen counter to be made into a nice Italian salsa di pomodoro.   One large juicy tomato took its place  on a BLT!  A delectable taste we haven't enjoyed in many years.   We're always wa...

 I figured I'd sit early to blog since I don't seem to settle long enough at the computer during the summer months.  Every time the computer does a big update, all the familiarity is gone and I have to navigate around looking for new ways to post what used to do easily.  There was another big update last night.  Our days are full and we move slower.  I really dislike moving slower but it's been advised to keep me from bumping elbows when speeding through doorways or bruising a shin when not paying attention to where I'm heading.  Every bump, bruise and slight cut on the arm or leg when working in the yard sets off inflammation.  So I'm mindful of my moves.   Early morning temperatures have been surprisingly pleasant.  This morning is 67 degrees, humid with fog settling in.  We can't remember the last time the sunrise has greeted us.  Every morning is either very foggy or covered with thick rain clouds waiting to empty on us....

Cliff's seven foot tall True Black Brandywine standing proudly in the container garden.  It's full of green tomatoes that are slow to ripen this year.  Finally weeks ago the one on the right started showing a color change.  He said the left one was probably embarrassed and figured it had better follow suit.  Tomorrow he'll pick the ripest one but I'm not sure he'll let me cut into it to make a fresh-tomato sandwich.  I think he's expecting a tomato-picking ceremony.  And......he wants to save the prize seeds for next year's garden.  Also in a container is a Cuor di Bue Albenga that stopped growing at this height.  It's pencil thin and produced only one blossom.  It's planted in the same soil as the Brandywine, gets fed and watered at the some time. I chose Cour di Bue Albenga seeds because it's an Italian heirloom that's great for fresh eating, canning, and making sauce.  It's disease resistant and produces a nice pear-shap...

Over two dozen yellow and green beans were planted in May. This is my harvest.  With every visit to the garden, I found missing bean leaves, chewed down until only a bare naked stem stood.  The garden is wrapped in a wire fence with tent stakes holding it tight to the ground.  There were never deer prints in the clay but we know we have the large bunny residing nearby.  I kept thinking the bunny was too large to fit through wire squares and we checked for openings often.  Mice can squeeze through a nickel-size opening but I never expected this large bunny to be able to get through this fence.  A few evenings ago I stood on the back porch admiring  the garden and the full lushness of the forest from all the rain we've had.  The air was still, not even a slight breeze, but one of the Swiss chard leaves was swaying back and forth.  Then large bunny moved on to the next leave and blew his cover.  Cliff and I stealthy  sneaked down to...

This afternoon I pulled out last year's calendar so I could justify that I'm not loosing my mind.  I usually keep a couple of years calendars tucked in the back of the kitchen cabinet to reference and because the pictures and the quotes bring a calm to some hectic days.  Each year when I get the new calendar, I transfer birthdays, anniversaries, other memorable events month by month.  Through the years, of course, we've accumulated more grand-babies, nieces and nephews, and added more family members by marriage. What used to be a quick task now takes longer and I also make notes of the ages.  He's where my justification is needed.  So far I missed one birthday and texted a birthday wish a week early to Grant.  The aging process seems to be cluttering up the once neatly organized calendar boxes with more doctor appointments, too.  Then I made the mistake of buying a smaller wall calendar this year.  Big mistake.  Next year I'll skip the 1" squ...

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...