Monday, May 12, 2008

A Full Day and Night

Mothers Day 2008 will be a day to remember. It was marked by two other auspicious events.

Unable to contain myself, the vegetable garden was planted with the peppers, tomato, cucumber, squash and melons starts, four days before the last frost date. After a morning of rain, the skies cleared and a warm sun and moist soils made for easy planting. It looked like it was going to be a beautiful day.
















Much anticipated company was coming for a visit and garden tour. It was very windy and cool, not the best conditions, but would the clear skies hold or would the predicted rains reappear?

Just as our company pulled down the gravel drive the first pelts of cold hard rain started to fall.














A determined bunch, we did not let the now intermittent showers and strong cold winds stop us. The resident gardeners and I had the distinct pleasure of meeting Frances of Faire Garden and a part of her most delightful family.

The garden tour moved along quickly due to the inclement weather. In the foreground Frances and my building contractor converse. Bulbarella leads the way with the spouse, offspring and the offspring's spouse of Faire Garden. After a rain delay we headed down to my cozy little cabin and garden construction site for the second half of the tour.













The skies continued to darken and the rains became more frequent. The rest of the crew headed inside. This did not stop Frances and I from one of our main missions, the quest for the Black Jack. Two weeks ago 99% of the Jack in the Pulpits I found were black. Now in the strong wind and cold rain all I am finding are green ones. I have noticed many more green ones in my recent treks through the forest. It seems there is a separation of bloom time between the two, the Black Jacks appear first.

Our hunt was successful and we headed back inside.















You can't see everything on a short visit in bad weather that forces you inside. On Frances next visit we will have to hike through the forest to see all the natural wildflowers that grace this mountaintop.













That night will be well remembered too. The rain and winds continued to intensify. It howled. Things went bump in the night. The morning light revealed the force of the winds.













It was a good thing I had strapped and bracketed the cozy cabin together in the days before. The cabin floor was littered with branches. The top of a Black Cherry had come down in the lumber department. Another tree had fallen into the forest along my gravel drive.













Amazingly another tree came down within inches of the Big Blue Pot. That is the third tree down across this path in six months. Obviously the Big Blue Pot has a charmed life.













There are many times when I feel my own life is charmed. Being able to meet Frances and part of her family in person is part of what adds to that sense of a charmed life.

11 comments:

Frances, said...

Oh Christopher, I am amazed at the intactness of the big blue pot as well as the houses. What a day and night it was, thoroughly enjoyed by all of the Faire Garden clan that attended. Thanks for the hospitality, next time we will arrange for the weather to be more hospitable as well, but there will be a next time!
Frances

chuck b. said...

Love the charmed blue pot. How cool to strap-and-bracket the house together. Sounds cool anyway. I shall be very happy to visit outside Clyde one day myself. Hopefully during more chuck-friendly weather.

tina said...

Nice narrative of the visit! Sorry such bad weather-that stinks. Glad you did not suffer major damage and that pot does indeed lead a charmed life. I had one taken out when a heavy branch fell on it. :(

Annie in Austin said...

What a wonderful meeting it must have been, Christopher - your post as well as the post by Frances are getting me all fahrklempt. Since I've met Frances and she's met you, will that give us only two degrees of separation?

We had black cherries in IL and were similarly charmed when a huge branch engulfed and slammed a bicycle parked under its branches...thank heavens my son had gone inside 10 seconds earlier. Hope the blue pot stays lucky!

Annie

Cindy, MCOK said...

Christopher, I moseyed over here to check out your blog after reading Frances' account of her visit with you. I enjoyed it so much I kept reading and was surprised & delighted to learn that you were a long time resident of Hawaii. From 1980-1982, in another life, I lived in the Manoa valley of Honolulu. I always loved to visit Maui ... but I do hear that it's grown a lot since I was last there in the early 80s. I know Oahu has, too. Anyway, I look forward to reading more of your blog and seeing the progress on your cabin & gardens. Long may the blue pot remain unscathed!

Anonymous said...

Hey Christopher! We had such a great time on the mountain this weekend- thanks for the hospitality from you and your folks- who by the way have great taste in nurseries as well since we ran into them today! Glad nothing was hurt with the high winds... Great post!

Lisa at Greenbow said...

You were blessed this weekend with good company and a lucky blue pot.

Anonymous said...

I read Frances' account first and enjoyed her picture of you "working" on your stone wall. I think it's marvelous that you guys arranged to meet up. Having met Frances and the financier, I know that you must have enjoyed their visit. The legacy of the Spring Fling (turning blogging friendships into real-life friendships) continues!

Christopher C. NC said...

Yes Frances there should be a next time.

Just let me know when Chuck. I would love to tag along when Chuck B. tours Appalachia. We have high winds here a lot, that is why the cabin is being strapped together at every level, much like earthquake protective measures in California.

Tina that pot is amazingly lucky. Last winter it was missed twice by that .. much.

Annie one day there should be no degrees of seperation between us. Isn't NC on the way to Illinois kinda?

Cindy yes I lived on Maui for twenty years until last June, when I moved here to paradise. My old blog from there is in the sidebar, "Tropical Embellishments". When I moved to Kihei in 1987 there was only one traffic signal. Now there is one at most intersections along S. Kihei Road and the Piilani Highway.

It was great to meet you Mashley and Brokenbeat. How funny that you saw my folks at the nursery two days later. Ya'll can visit without mama too.

Lisa it was a blessing to meet the Faire Garden clan.

Pam before Frances came, I had called this meeting our own mini Spring Fling. I have also met Xris, the Flatbush Gardener twice since his folks live nearby. Gardeners are good people.

Carol Michel said...

How nice to read that two more bloggers got to meet in person. A mini spring fling indeed. Perhaps we should have some regional meet-ups in between various spring or fall flings (Hearing that something might be planned for Fall '09 in Chicago).

Carol, May Dreams Gardens

lisa said...

What a nice visit, despite the weather! I hope to meet some bloggers one day, maybe in Chicago if that materializes. Those darn black cherry trees seem to fall pretty easily. One of my mom's neighbors had 15 of those suckers come down in high winds...all at once! It was quite a sight, too bad they didn't have a lucky blue pot! ;-)