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.

A Spring Meadow

There is almost too much to keep up with. How will I ever find the time for a real job.













It is time though to devote scheduled set days to my clients. If I have to restart my own business, I need to get out there and present myself.














I could stay busy all day, every day on this mountain. That is a nice thought. I'll think it. Aaahh, that was nice.















A burn spot marks an afternoon of clearing out dead trees, fallen trees and fallen branches in my part of the meadow. We want to be able to skip through the meadow, not trip; though I have certain friends......













I am also having second thoughts about what I want to do with the boulders in the bottom of the meadow. Will it still be a snake in the grass?

The Trilliums Blush

High Spring has definitely arrived down in Clyde. I spent two days weeding and mulching at Client #1's and will go back again tomorrow. All of a sudden things have begun to grow quickly. I think it is time to go at least once a week now.

I was almost too tired to wander into the forest when I got home, but there was something in there I needed to find.













One of the things I found was that the last winter blast had actually damaged some of the native plants. What I think may be the emerging Ageratina altissima, White Snakeroot, the Stinging Nettle, Urtica dioica and many of the new unfurling fern fronds had been frozen back.














The Trilliums are reaching their peak bloom and the older ones have begun to blush pink.















It's like having two different flowers in the same plant.













There are all kinds of Polygonatum type plants in the forest. This one might be ten inches tall at most. I wonder how many species of those might exist here.













This is what I was looking for, the much less common, here anyway, Plain Green Jack. Many of these had been zapped by the ice and snow last week. More are still emerging fortunately. I may still find some new kinds.

















The cold damage from last week was species specific more than micro-climate specific. Some things were not bothered at all, while others lost blooms and/or leaves.













Over all it is barely discernable. Only a prying eye would notice. The big losers were a lot of the deciduous Azaleas. Their blooms were lost for this year.













Each new spring will be different. My first has been pretty good so far.

Aaack!!

It was only supposed to go down to 36 degrees according to the weather diagnosis.













I didn't bring anything in.













I was going to do that tonight when the diagnosis called for patchy frost.













I'm not too worried about the gardens and all the plants in the ground. They have been through a lot and come out smiling.
















But who will survive and who will die in my trays of sprouting seeds?

Cold Force

There is a power in this cold that is fascinating to watch and to hear. The strong winds are one thing as they roar through, wailing and sighing around the house and causing the trees to clatter and squeak when their branches rub against each other in the wind. As the temperature drops the sounds the trees make change. There is a noticeable change in the timber of their voices.

With next to no wind, barely a breeze, a few of the trees crack loudly as if they are going to split and crash to the ground, but nothing falls. It is just the sound of lumber contorting in the cold. It might be the dead wood standing tall in the Black Locust. That is as close as I can come to pinpointing this sound emanating from high in the tree tops and generated only in the cold. It is a cold sound.














The Rhododendrons take on the most pitiful look. The leaves curl, droop and turn dark. The worst case of over night wilting you can imagine. I marvel at this survival strategy. Notoriously shallow rooted, they wilt when the ground freezes and the liquid water is no longer available to their roots. It is a good thing it warms up enough for them to unfurl their leaves, flush out and turn green between cold spells. I do not know if I would want to look at such a pitiful thing all winter. Note to self: Do not plant Rhododendron in a major winter view plane. Just pitiful.

















The real force though, the one to be reckoned with is ice, that frozen water. A real phase shifter, it falls from the sky in a multitude of forms, many I have yet to see. Then it rises back from the ground in an assortment of patterns. In loose soil it rises high carrying a small load aloft. In gravel and firm ground there appears to be no change, but small stones are glued tightly in place in a cold unyielding embrace. It melts and refreezes and takes on a new form.














I have only been lightly dusted twice and I see power in this cold.

My First Snow Day

At 8 o'clock in the morning the sun has not risen above the higher mountain to the east. We are still in shadow and the light is blue.














About a half an inch accumulated during the night. Not enough to cover the vestiges of warmth held in the gravel driveway














A snowplow spreading salt came up the mountain to the county line and then back down around midnight. The roads were clear and drivable before I ever woke up.














I now know what frozen ground is like. Two days ago while gathering stones the ground was frozen solid. It made picking them up a bit tougher. Of course this morning there were no stones to be found, shrouded in a blanket of white, and work on the wall was put off.

Frozen ground will also make the excavation for the footing for the upper wall beneath the cabin more of a warm cycle event, though so far it seems only about the top three inches of soil has turned to stone. We'll see. It doesn't take much convincing to keep me inside when it is below 40 degrees.

So close now.















I have already noted on the first day of melt, about half of what fell is already gone, that just because it gets above freezing, all of this frozen stuff doesn't magically melt in unison.

The lone baby and only pine on this land looked even cuter with its inner snow blanket. I have not pried its needles apart to give it a proper name. My guess would be Eastern White Pine, Pinus strobus because that is fairly common up here. It is however in the wrong place, the chopping zone of the utility easement. If I want it to live to maturity, I need to find it a new home. At this small size it might be successfully moved.














Lichens and fence rails














And Covered Conifers















On the first day of snow.

Old Habits Die Hard

The truck pulled off the road at the turnout just down the road from me. I can partially see down there now because I am higher up and the forest is bare. After another car went by the turnout, I saw two figures fling something dark over the side of the hill. They got back in the truck, turned back in the direction from which they had come and drove away, me watching them, to let them know I saw what they did.

How rude, driving into the next county to throw your trash over the side of the road. At least you could toss your rubbish in your own county.

I don't know what made me do it, but I went to look at what they had tossed over the side of the hill before I headed back to a warm house and called it a day.

The broken toilet, the plastic sacks of garbage, the front seat from a van and miscellaneous debris did not look like the big black thing I saw go over the hill.

Then I saw the fresh blood.














It's a good damn thing I saw the rest of the parts rather quickly. No wonder I have been hearing the coyotes howling almost directly below me for the last few days. It's dinner time.















I mentioned a couple of weeks ago when I was Down By The River there were some scary things. It wasn't the smashed computer and other electronic equipment. It wasn't the various other remnants of crap from a place being used as a dump, right beside the river mind you.

Yes Lisa it was "Deliverance-type" things. It was a head. There was a head down by the river.














I really do not have a problem with hunting. I am of the informed opinion, I think, that hunting and the protein gained from eating meat was a major factor in the evolution of Homo sapien. I don't hunt myself and wouldn't unless forced to, but the fact that others do does not bother me.

I do however have a big problem with people who litter! Litter is just plain rude. And I think a deer carcass would have to be considered bloody litter.

There was something else down by the river, something nice that I may go back and get despite the head. There were thin clumps of Equisetum, probably Equisetum hyemale growing among the grass. This plant is enjoying a renaissance of sorts because of its sculptural qualities and "durable" nature. I may be able to find a spot for it in my garden.


















It might look nice against the stones of the wall and in this area where a placement of the big boulders is needed to transition into a path out onto the slope.














You can't miss me from the road right now. I hope the regular commuters are enjoying watching the progress of the wall. It will all disappear back into the forest come spring.
















To bad my current visibility did not encourage the deer flingers to drive just a bit further down the road. Hopefully the creatures will eat it up before it begins to ripen and the normal wind pattern has a chance to blow it back my way.

BRRRR!

How many bags of concrete do you need to mix before your fingers and toes start to feel warm? About three it seems. Then the footing gets finished and you never break a sweat. This dripping nose thing though, where cold dry air meets a warm moist cavern was a bit of a flashback. Oh yea that. Now what is the proper etiquette for this situation in public?

The high today of 48 degrees was all that could be mustered by the end of the day. It will be colder tomorrow than the low of 40 this morning. I go outside regularly to acclimate.














This guy must have been blown out of the trees by the zippy cold winds. I hope it gets a chance to pupate before it is too late. I remember these from my childhood, but would have to look it up to find out what it will metamorphose into.















Looking closer at the strange fern that was sending up new growth, I found that this is the fruiting stem. When I flicked it, it gave off a small cloud of yellow spores.














It looks like there could be two leaf forms or once again in the world of dozens of similar species there is more than one kind of them.


















The Rattlesnake Plantain, Goodyera pubescens was the first orchid species identified on this land. (Unless, now that I am making a link it is Goodyera repens, the dwarf species.) I am pretty sure the new leaf emerging in the previous post is the Aplectrum hyemale after taking another look and which I found more of on this side of the property line. That is a good thing since the book I am using to ID them says moving these orchids is a losing proposition. I would not be adverse to spreading their seed pods around though. The resident gardeners tell me that Showy Orchis, Galearis spectabilis, a third orchid can be found up here too.














Come spring time I will be counting the violets.

Other things must come first. Those clouds this morning looked like they just might be packing some snow and we haven't done our official first frost.














Brrrrrr!

Stir Crazy

It rained for most of the day.
After my coffee I had the chance for a brief stroll.
I wandered into the woods.















It rained gently for most of the day.
At 2:30 the sun still had not shown itself.
I was getting restless.
I went to Lowes to wander.















The resident gardeners left early this morning
for a month at the beach.
I am now all alone.
The only sound for most of the day was the gentle rain.
And occasional thunder.















It rained for most of the day. Gently.
It did not wash away my newly seeded hillside.
By 5:00pm the sun made a brief appearance.
I went outside and spread more grass seed.

It rained gently for most of the day.

Cacophony

It has been getting louder and louder over the last three days. And there are people on Maui who complain about little coqui frogs.

Like Clouds

Through the Treetops















In the Mountains



















So are the Days of our Lives

Trespass

So the story is this is the third owner since the Big House was built on about 56 acres. They also bought the house next door, a former B+B on about 4 acres. And they bought a lot of the land behind these properties in what is described as the whole mountain. There is much more to the stories of all the various owners, but it isn't necessary for us to Trespass. The current owners are rarely if ever seen.

The gardeners come every so often to cut the grass in what is described as a 10 hour marathon of horrible noisy peace disturbing weed whacking. The grass is mowed and little else seems to get done.















The gate is padlocked and no longer attached to the automatic arms. The gravel drive is rutted, more so from the big downpour two weeks ago.
















A cozy swing beckons, tucked into the taller wild things along the lawn headed up the drive to the house.
















A mighty fine stone chimney for a fancy fireplace inside. The story is the fireplace doesn't work because it wasn't built with the proper proportions. There is a recipe of dimensions that must be followed to get a fireplace to vent correctly. If you build it wrong your house can fill with smoke.
















A very nice collection of conifers by the front entry in need of some judicious pruning. The Easter freeze put a hurting on the small deciduous shrubs.
















The Reading Room is a separate building above the main house. I could not find a path and scrambled through the tall wild things to find out that you don't walk here, you drive here. I don't think that is one spring season of Ivy growth.
















There are some amazingly huge trees on this land. This is one gigantic Maple.
















I took the wrong road and again had to scramble through the tall wild things to find this pool perched high up on the mountain, no where near the house. Going to the pool was a day trip for them I suppose.
















The view from the pool.

















The view from the lawn below the pool. The shortest hill in the foreground that peaks on the right by the tree is where we live. Smack dab in the middle of this picture you can see a dark hole in the forest. That is the resident gardeners driveway.
















Leaving the pool area I have now found the roads and am walking higher up the mountain. The roads are no longer mowed past the pool and the Wildflower Sanctuary promised at the front gate begins to take shape.

The road does not quite get to the top then loops back around to the reading room. I saw evidence of deer and have heard the coyotes howling from our place.
















Headed back down by the road now like a civilized person I find the barn/shed which is twice as big as my cabin will be. It looks to be in serious danger. This is just the attached carport on the side with a rubber dingy parked inside. I wonder how that would ride in a mud slide?
















Where does this lead?
















It goes to a bridge and an overgrown overlook for a series of four ponds which then becomes our stream after it crosses under the road. Another mud slide. Oh my!













I could either end up pushing up Daisies for this or apply for a job as the caretaker. They can keep the lawn mow guys and let me do the real gardening work.
















Back at the peasant gardeners Sunny Utility Valley of Botanical Delights the wildflowers keep gaining colorful momentum.

Going to Knoxville

Some one suggested I take the shortcut to Knoxville. I was going there just to pick up my air freight box at the airport and accidentally ended up in Pigeon Forge, the gateway to Dollywood. I love you Dolly and I always will but, Do Not Go to Pigeon Forge! It is a blight on the American landscape.


















After the garish nature of the place made me realize I was off course, I spent another two hours just trying to find the airport. It took four hours to go 100 miles in circles. There is a major jumble of roads south of Knoxville running up and down every valley and holler, none of which go in a straight line.



















Coming back heavier and slowly after finally finding the air cargo facility on the far side of the elusive Knoxville airport, it started to rain just across the North Carolina state line near Waterville. Yes Waterville. Pouring rain and thunder. Thank goodness I had brought a tarp to cover my cardboard air cargo box. The cool rain soaking me on the Waterville exit while I put the tarp over the cardboard cargo box felt good after coming from the heat and traffic of Knoxville.

At my exit the rain began to slack off, but it had poured big time while I was gone. Fines Creek was a raging muddy torrent. The road up the mountain was littered with leaves from the trees and gravel from ditches and driveways. The rain had stopped. Thank you. How wet was my Big Box gonna be?

But the first thing I did when I got home, that cargo box was no longer important, was to go see how much water was in our little creek from the torrential rain.



I guess it is hard to have a flood on the top of a mountain. Still sweet though. I could even hear it from much further away.

Now where did I put my birth certificate? I am going to need to prove I am a US citizen to the state of NC.