February freeze time -

This has been a somewhat strange week.  
Weather all across the board. . . . rain, fog, sunshine, ice, more rain and cold temperatures.  The painless needle in my arm came back to haunt me in the dark night when Covid #2 vaccine played havoc, fever, chills and the run over by a bus sensation.  Don't let my personal reaction put you off though, get the vaccine, and the good feeling later that you are much safer and will be ready to stretch your wings and take flight again soon.

Wings.        Delicate feathers.         Our feathered friends.       The way to fly.

The garden birds are also tired of rain and cold.  On the warmer, sunny day they seemed so chirpy.  We cleaned out the birdhouse - still filled with nests of twigs, moss, grasses and such. Now ready for new construction crews who will hopefully arrive come spring.  

My Valentine flowers are still looking lovely - when they start to fade I will dry the roses. On that sunny afternoon I sauntered around the garden to prepare a list of all the work we need to address come spring.  Many bulbs are pushing through that soggy earth and two daffodils were already blooming. . . . . . . always a lovely sign that things are looking UP!

. . . . over a hot stove!

 

I'm back in the kitchen today!  

Up very early so baked fresh

 Southern Buttermilk Biscuits. 

One each with a fresh farm egg and a sprinkle of salt and pepper.

Scrumptious way to start a sunless morning. 

Yesterday the rains come down so hard there was extremely serious flooding

which, very sadly, caused seven deaths across North Carolina.

We look out now on a saturated garden with soggy leaves clogging pathways,

the back deck, the road. Thankfully dry, sunny, though cooler days are ahead

for about a week. Drying out will happen, the neighborhood will buzz again 

with noisy leaf blowers, and the colorful trees will gradually shed their

 remaining leaves and take on the bareness of winter.

I'm wondering how this winter will be.

Here in the southeast we never know what to expect.

I'm hoping for some snow, especially at Christmastime.

Not piles requiring a lot of heavy work - we're too old for that now.

Just a dusting now and then, with perhaps a few inches just once

in a while so the housebound kiddies can get out with their sleds, 

build a snowman. . . . . . . and let off steam with a friendly

 snowball fight!

Weather woes, wrens and wondering!

It's due to start raining again later today. . . . . . . and continue until Sunday!  

Enough is enough.  Yes, rain is great for the garden, too much rain along

 with predicted evening thunderstorms is not.

The above snaps I took yesterday. It was peaceful outside, the plants

standing tall. . . . . . except for three unruly rabbits nibbling my sunflowers

 to the ground, and the pack of four young squirrels fighting for the bird

 feeders like circus aerialists performing acrobatics.

How lovely the many songbirds birds are, just happy to eat quietly

 in between perching in the fig tree, or coming to the porch. 

A Carolina wren, my favorite bird, just sat on a chair outside the

window . . . . . chirped 'good morning' through the glass before

 hopping off on the hunt for breakfast.

Did you read the New Blogger notification of the late June new interface
  which popped up this morning?

Rather unnerving and not expected. I'm still stressing over

Adobe Flash closing down end of year and wondering how hard it

will be for non techies, like me, to learn the new version of PicMonkey, 

my personal photo editing program!

I thought being in lockdown would bring me much more time, and patience,

to work on things which might make life more pleasurable for this

 new future we are going to live in!

Instead, at this point, I feel like I'm falling into a crevasse, or off a

precipice, heading down into the depths of a darkness I may not be

 able to survive in.  Will this new world throw we seniors into the abyss?

I hope not because I do still have the proverbial 'bucket list' floating

about in the back of my mind. . . . . . . and believe me, I like to think 
I'm not over the hill yet! 

Do you feel up to learning a new blogging platform and editing

 program during this questionable worldwide order we may be facing?

Will you keep your blog going no matter what?

Perhaps we can share with each other any technical challenges

which may befall us in the months ahead. . . . I would be so grateful 

knowing we can rely on each other if need be.

Wishing you a good day as always.

Galway to Dublin. . . . . .

Another leg of our wander around Northern Ireland and Ireland brought us back

 to Dublin. The trip from Galway was enjoyable, more lovely green countryside
 to view from the train windows, and a slightly drier day with clouds and touches
 of blue. It has been quite wet and rather chilly much of the trip.

Traditional Irish music has filled our ears - whenever we could find it - bringing

 on toe tapping and hand clapping, both on the streets and within the low-ceilinged,

dark wood walls, and old planked floors, of historic pubs.

First night in Dublin we were back eating at our favorite Italian down by the

 famous Ha'penny Bridge crossing the River Liffey. 
Being the start of the weekend Dublin was of course crowded beyond
 belief - we felt somewhat like the oldest people on the street, and probably were!
Nights in big cities are definitely for the young.

Saturday we were back on the train heading south to Waterford for the day,
and today again, but not quite as far, leaving the train in Kilkenny.
More stories to come of two interesting and quite different towns,
 as we dodged raindrops, sighed happily when the sun popped out, climbed
 castle steps, found a great Irish silversmith (yes bought a beautiful keepsake!),
and had a lovely chat with an author in one of those enjoyable pub breaks to
quench the thirst.

Hurricane Florence. . . . . . .and an excuse for a party!

We're doing OK so far and thank you so much for all the good wishes you sent, 

and continue to send, as we remain hunkered down watching the drenching rains fall.

Before turning in for the night Thursday, Bob and I took a walk down our street. It was quite eerie, silent, not a person visible, most lights out, most vehicles parked at the bottom of driveways away from towering backyard trees. We could make out heavy clouds skidding across the sky. The sound of the wind already rustling through the tree tops was somewhat spine-chilling - it was reminiscent of a Halloween night but without colorful goblins and fairies with their trick or treat bags. Later it was a noisy night with continuous things falling on the roof, thankfully so far just twigs and smaller branches - Nature pruning our oaks!  

Yesterday I got up early, headed into the kitchen to bake muffins and pizzas to share with our neighbors, just in case we lost power later. We watched live TV coverage from the coast as it was slammed by Florence's eye making landfall. In the afternoon we were in touch with several neighbors as the wind picked up and the heavy rain squalls started. We decided to have an impromptu Hurricane Party here early evening. It helped us all unwind a little while enjoying drinks, snacks, and good conversation about things other than the hurricane.

Today, the stronger winds subsided early morning, but now drenching bands of rain have come and will last for several days as Florence continues to move away from us very slowly - life threatening flooding, power outages and falling trees remain serious concerns. 

Our thoughts go out to friends in coastal areas of both North and South Carolina, inland areas and now also to those in western North Carolina where Florence will apparently turn and head north in the coming days. . . . . .the entire state will definitely be saturated. Stay safe. . . . . . 

 

. . . . . and keep your wellies handy!

Calm before the storm. . . . . . . .

Today we await the visit from Hurricane Florence. She continues a path

 toward the North Carolina coast to make her landfall tomorrow at a

 beach town we often enjoy, the one we always visit in Autumn which is our

 favorite season at our beautiful coast.

I know I've been overly stressed and short tempered for the past couple

 of days as the media bombards us with a mishmash of

  'end of the world', 'fire and brimstone' destruction stories, and yes perhaps 

that's what will happen. It's all in the hands of a greater power from hereon.

This morning when I read the words 'we are in peril' somewhere on my screen

 here, I realized only too well that a huge part of our area is in imminent danger 

from winds and rain, structural damage, and massive flooding, during the coming days.

Juvenile American robins on the front porch.

Even our birds have disappeared from the garden. Do they know 
something is amiss and have 'evacuated' further inland to a 
safer place?  
These young robins, and other fruit eaters, have decided the fig tree no
 longer looks like a place for breakfast.

Our cottage almost looks unlived in today - bare porch, no more hanging 
baskets and feeders, furniture stored away, pots moved. . . . . . just
the grill left out on the back deck in case we lose power and have to 
cook outside. Bob was able to get propane yesterday after three days
of trying, and we also managed to find gas for the cars. Tomorrow we'll 
 park in a deck at the nearby shopping center as we have so many huge
 trees around us - nowhere is safe for the cars even on our street - and as
we are on a cul-de-sac we only have one exit which could be blocked 
by fallen trees.
Memories of the damage we sustained in Hurricane Fran (1996) from trees
 falling on the house, one destroying my car in the driveway, no power for
 10 days, then months of clean up, remind us how we take modern day life
 for granted until those 'perils' arrive. . . . . . and of the mighty power of Nature!

Thanks so much for all the good wishes that we stay safe in the
days ahead. We too are hoping the best for our family, friends and
 neighbors both here locally and scattered across North Carolina.
 I'll be back here as long as we have power. 

Is a house a home?

It definitely is, and when there's chance it could be damaged, or even

 destroyed, one realizes how comforting it is to have a place to call home. . . . . 

 . . . . . . and how upsetting and stressful it is knowing it could be lost.

Nail biting time is here for those of us in North Carolina, South Carolina and 

Virginia as the first tropical storm of the season, Hurricane Florence, churns

 her way across the Atlantic towards us.

She is a huge category 4 storm, and is being called extremely dangerous, 

perhaps the worst storm to hit the southeast in 60 years.

 Evacuations are already underway along our coast. Here, inland, we are also

 getting prepared as it's highly likely the damaging winds, possible major 

flooding and power outages could reach us.

More later. . . . . . . . .fingers crossed!

June garden notes. . . . . . . . .

Thankfully June is here!

We, in just about all areas of North Carolina, after experiencing a truly drenching

 latter half of May, are excited about getting our gardens in shape. . . . . again!

Things were looking good in early May, we all had an early start with landscaping,

mulch spreading, planting summer veggies and annuals, outdoor furniture scrubbing,

 seed scattering. . . . . and then along came constant storms, torrential rains and

 flash flooding in many parts, and so much hard work was washed away, the

 remainder left a sodden mess.

The week ahead looks so much better for gardening chores.

Fingers are crossed, rakes, mowers and trimmers are at the ready, and those 

hundreds of weeds that suddenly appeared will be thwarted come 

Monday morning here in my garden!

Luckily my basil seeds were planted in pots and didn't get washed away. Today

 they are looking good - pasta and pesto making soon. The third pot I planted up

 was gifted to my dear friend MaryAnn as her own basil was supper for

 visiting deer last week!

The Boston fern on the left was the home of the house finch nest for the

 month of May this year. Thankfully, being partially under cover of the porch,

 the birdies were not drowned or blown away!

On May 20 the two baby finches fledged - two unhatched eggs remained in the nest.

The most amazing thing was that for some unknown reason, a Carolina chickadee

 helped feed these babies, along with the finch mama, and the dad often stopped by

 to check on the nursery.

It was a busy porch for all those weeks with three birds checking in, bringing tasty 

morsels of spiders and grubs, and the constant housekeeping done by the chickadee

 (finches are messy birds and don't clean their nests).

I won't mention the snake incident again other than to say I still have 

really bad dreams about that evening. 

Seeing the two new little ones fly safely off in the heat of the afternoon

 was heart warming.

These are my weekend flowers - peonies and alstroemeria 

from Trader Joe's on Friday.

So pretty!

Let's move!

It's a fixer-upper of course. . . . . . . . and someone with deep pockets will

 hopefully come along and turn this country house into a home once again.

It's actually on the main street of a small North Carolina town, surrounded by

smart, well cared for homes. It's sad to see this one unloved.

Driving back from the coast on Sunday afternoon was lovely - everywhere 

green and fresh after heavy rains. The fields were plowed, bright green

 cornstalks were already about a foot high.

******************

Speaking of heavy rains - we were hit by such an intense electrical storm

last evening that serious flash flooding occurred in Raleigh. Here in the 

garden we've got a lot of clean up awaiting when it dries up - especially 

re-spreading all those cypress wood chips we spent an entire weekend

of back breaking work on in such hot weather!  Some have even ended

up in the street after being washed down the driveway in the river of water -

it was quite frightening.

Bob is heading out now to check under the cottage for any water - we

are said to have received up to 5 inches of rain in about half an hour!

Our fear now is although today is lovely, dry and sunny, more storms and

 rain are in the forecast for this week.

Gardening with pink and green. . . . . .

What a crazy Spring we are having here. Everything started blooming during an

 unusually mild February, then three unexpected below freezing nights devastated

 so many trees, shrubs and plants.

 New growth is showing on many things, but the azaleas, hydrangeas,

 jasmines and fig trees certainly took a beating and are struggling.

Sharing a few photos of what we are seeing right now this somewhat

wild April day.

The day started out dark and damp. Threatened by possible severe storms 

which have been forecast, we're hoping "possible tornado activity" will miss our area.

 As of now, early afternoon, the sun is in and out but the winds are gusting and strong.

Some azaleas have not done as well as usual due to the cold, however we still

 have some lovely ones dotted about the garden. In the back right the wisteria

 on the arbor (not very visible) lost its first leaves however new ones are now

 peeping out, hooray!

My tulips are almost over but have been pretty as only tulips can be - always a favorite 

around here.

Dogwoods are blooming everywhere now, apparently not damaged by that freeze thankfully.

Birds are busy in the search for a mate!

Chinese snowball bush starting to bloom.

Hostas and Solomon's Seal pushing up fast and furious - love how they add such

 a bright green punch to the waiting to be raked and tidied up dead leaves in the beds.

Just a teeny hint to the resident gardener!

What's growing in your garden this week?