A Year Down the Road

Yes, dear readers, it HAS been a whole year since we closed on our house in High Point and began the odyssey down I-85 South to make a home in GA. [You can read that post by clicking here.]

To recap a bit...Missy M graciously shared her home with us (dogs, too, thank Heaven!) while we became locked in a much more protracted house-hunt than we could ever have dreamt. Thanks to the best realtor we have ever worked with as purchasers (yay, Rose!), we eventually found “it”...exactly the right house on the right lot in a town and a county we’d never known nor would ever have found on our own.

Check one off the bucket list:
find a whole sand-dollar

Along the way, we had a grand adventure to Arizona and have been to the mountains and to the beach, where I was able to check “find a whole sand dollar” off my bucket list. We said sad goodbyes to our Abbie-girl and M’s Miss Dixie...both left holes in our hearts that have only begun to mend with the additions of Logan and Pepper to Casa 303, as well as Rowan at 2244. The Adsit Adventure continues, and the Drool Gang is back to the full complement of 5.

Newest Drool Gang Members:
Rowan and Pepper

MDBT to WDW

Missy M and I renewed our annual tradition of Mother-Daughter Bonding Trips (MDBTs) with a week at the Most Magical Place on Earth. And it is...and it was...!

I found a wonderful group of Master Gardeners in my new County of Walton to help close the gap created when I left Guilford...and to reenergize me with lots of volunteer opportunities. I have worked closely with this year's MG training class (which has kept me on the go every Tuesday and Thursday from early January through the end of  March)...such a great group of people I might add. Slowly but surely, I am learning my way around Walton, one MG commitment at a time.

Columns in Walton Tribune

I began writing a bi-weekly gardening column for the Walton Tribune, as well as a monthly "gardening tips" column for the Loganville Insider, which means I get another check on a bucket list item: "become Elizabeth Lane* when I grow up."

So, what’s happening now, you might ask? Well, we are focusing our time and energy on maximizing our 1/3 acre property to create a kitchen garden space as well as a berry patch and a rose garden. Smaller than our 4-year plan for HPNC in size and scope, but more effective use of the ground we have, we hope.

Not to be too eye-rollingly obvious with the references...while we are putting down roots here, I feel like we are spreading our wings and embracing retirement.

And how is that coming along? Let me let the pictures do the talking...

We brought plants & things with us from NC...

...and then we had to till up the GA clay.

 OK, tilling up GA clay might work for a few irises, daylilies, and liriope (oh my...aching back!), but we are NOT planting our kitchen garden in the native soil here, folks. To mis-quote the Great Wizard: "No way, no how." Altogether now: RAISED BED GARDEN (RBG)...WOO HOO!

...and it should go about...here!

A raised bed garden (RBG) is in our future...

...and then we fill it!

First Mr. T builds it...

Voila! It looks like this!

I have seeded the new RBG with beans, melons, squash, and cukes...but you will have to take my word for that. It is way too chilly still to put the tomato and pepper transplants in the cold, cold ground.  Another week, maybe...

Meanwhile, the seeded transplants wait patiently...soaking up some rays on a sunny day...

Tomato and pepper transplants...waiting for 55 degree nights

Folks, trust me when I say, this is really starting to feel like home.

And, to think, it only took a year...

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*So, who is Elizabeth Lane, you ask? Have you ever seen Christmas in Connecticut, a "true" holiday classic from 1945, and one of my all-time favorites? Certainly, the story is a bit farcical at times, but the characters more than make up for it. Barbara Stanwyck plays the character of magazine columnist Elizabeth Lane, who is one of the country's most famous food writers. In her columns, she describes herself as having a farm in Connecticut, where she spends her days taking care of her child and her husband and being an excellent cook.

Lies...all lies! In reality she is a single New York City apartment dweller, who can't boil an egg and who doesn't "even own a window box." The recipes all come from her good friend Felix (played by the ever-delightful S.Z. Sakall). The owner of the magazine she works for (played by Mr. T's personal favorite actor in mid-century movies, Sydney Greenstreet) has decided that a heroic sailor named Jefferson Jones (played by the engaging Dennis Morgan) will spend his Christmas on *her* farm in Connecticut. Miss Lane knows that her career is over if the truth comes out, so what can she do to save her job?

Anyway...makes for an entertaining Christmas tradition in our family.

I totally connect with Elizabeth Lane's columnist character. Not the food writer part, necessarily (although I guess I have done my share of recipes, even if I don't have an "uncle" Felix to cook for me). And not the "living a lie" part either...since I do indeed have a window box and very-nearly a micro-mini farm, so writing about gardening is much more authentic for me than writing about food was ever intended for Elizabeth Lane. No, it's the I-want-to-be-that-clever-of-a-writer-when-I-grow-up part. And have my own column part.

So, when I saw the words "Columnist" after my name for the first time in the Walton Tribune, you know I was thrilled. It matters not that this is in Monroe, GA instead of NYC...no, the bucket list item said "write a gardening column."

Check!

Making the Most of a Month

Whew! Let me catch my breath. Hard to believe another month is almost history. Before we turn the page on the calendar, I should attempt a recap.

First, though, here’s a photo of the boyz to bring a smile to your face:


Ok, so we started the month of October off right by celebrating Missy M’s birthday.



I cannot tell you how much we are enjoying being close to her. We have brunch together almost every Sunday, although today’s meal was supper of M’s yummy potato soup...which was perfect on this first truly chilly day of Fall.

That same week, I got to attend my first Georgia Master Gardener Association’s annual conference in nearby Buford. Spent a great couple of days devoted to classes, workshops, and meeting new folks. Even had some good fortune with the Silent Auction items. Fun!

I think I told you that we have joined the Oscher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at the University of Georgia. I signed up for several classes this Fall, and we joined several of the Special Interest Groups (SIG) including the Lunch Bunch, the Supper Club, and the Lady Dogs Basketball group. While that last SIG won’t begin until basketball season, the other opportunities are keeping us busy.

I’ve been to two classes so far: Growing Blueberries and Figs in Georgia and World War I Military Training Camps in Georgia. The first one will help us as we plan our garden here (more on that in a sec); the second one gave me some insight into Papaw (Grandfather Keaton)’s boot camp experience at Camp Gordon as well as his service at Fort Oglethorpe (where he was a Quartermaster). 

We enjoyed two lunches at a couple of Athens restaurants (that we probably would never have tried) with the Lunch Bunch. And we met for a lovely dinner with the 6 other members of our Supper Club. Our hosts made a pork loin roast and asked that we bring sides with the theme of Autumn Harvest. I made an apple pie for dessert and baked yeast rolls as a special treat. 

We volunteered to host the November dinner...which will actually be a Sunday brunch instead. (More on that in my next post.) Now, you may be wondering whether I’ve gone ‘round the bend by asking people to come over to our house...you know, the house that is still being moved into? Actually, I thought that might give us just the nudge to get things wrapped up before the Holidays are upon us.

Soooo...we have finished the unpacking of boxes (for the most part)...and are beginning the hanging of pictures and curtains and shelves and what not. And you know what? Casa 303 is really starting to feel like our home. 

We did take a break this weekend to travel to NC to go to the Southeast Animal Fiber Fair (SAFF) and stay with Bro J in Asheville. I took a class on Beginning Spinning on a Takli, and Mr. T took a beginning wood carving class and made a Spirit Stick...cool! 

From the drive through the mountains to the Fair itself to the time we spent with J & J, it was a really great weekend! 

As we begin this last week of the month, I am staying the night at Missy M’s house with the dogs, since T will have to rise-and-shine to welcome the workers who are coming at 0-dark:30 to install our new garden shed tomorrow. It’s the same shed that he and I built from a kit in HPNC (the one with the purple doors), but we decided we had enough on our plates and could get a crew to do the heavy lifting (we’ll still have to seal, caulk, and paint, etc., ourselves). And after the shed is in place, we can get the garden going.

Oh yes. It truly is feeling like our home.

What a Difference a Week Makes

Let's begin with the good news of the past week, shall we? I had a great birthday! We celebrated at Austin's, our fave High Point restaurant, with an excellent dinner and a toast to another good year. And then, the song having been sung, we fired up the three candles ("past, present, and future") on my cake. Ooh...we all know how much I love cake!

I mentioned this on Facebook, but I'm still amazed at how closely the rose on my card from Mr. T (shown above) resembles the beautiful bloom on one of our new roses called Hynotized! (shown below)...which became part of my birthday bouquet. 

In other good news, as of the start of this week, I have retired my cane 'cause my foot feels better. Make that much better. Apparently, the foot doc knew what he was talking about (2-3 weeks)...imagine that. Anyway, I'm up-and-at-'em once again, although the observant might notice a slight limp. I have faith that will be gone in another week or so.

And now for the not-so-good-news. We had planned to take a little trip to Gatlinburg last weekend. However, on Friday morning, just as we were getting ready to take the pups to the Glamour Slammer, Mr. T noticed that Abbie was exhibiting some strange behaviors. She was quite agitated, wandering the house in a dazed state, and vomiting a mucusy-bile. Then she began pawing and scratching at her face and neck. Finally, she stumbled around and kind of fell over, like she was stunned.

I called the vet, but while I was talking on the phone describing the situation, Abs appeared to be settling down. She was breathing normally, drinking water, and she had stopped the frantic pawing activity. The vet suggested we monitor Abs for the time being, and if things changed to bring her in. 

So we "monitored her" for several hours. We followed the vet's advice to try to get her to eat, limiting her intake to plain rice (which Mr. T fixed...because he's gotten pretty good at making rice...;-) and some shredded chicken (we were lucky to have a leftover rotisserie chicken on hand). And, all the while we kept pondering "what was wrong with Abbie?" 

Well. Mr. T may have figured it out when he observed some wasps on the deck. We think she may have snapped at one (or more), like she does when the buzzing bees bother her in the garden, and she may have been stung by one (or more)...possibly even in her mouth. Looking back on her behavior, she was exhibiting signs of an allergic reaction. And doing some research on that makes me think we should take her straight to the vet should this ever happen again. Live and learn. 

Meanwhile, we had to make a decision about our trip. Should we go or should we cancel? Since we had a 5+ hour trip ahead that would mean being away for two nights, we chose to cancel and stick close to home. The mountains will still be there in a few months.

So we spent a quiet weekend at home, enjoying the simple pleasures: harvesting garden goodies like watermelons and sweet corn, playing with our Pound Puppies (who were both better by the next day), and just catching up with each other. It was nice.

Now, it's time to get caught up with all the other things I've had on hold. Since we have more tomatoes and cucumbers than we know what to do with, I am in full-on pickling mode: salsa, green tomato relish, zucchini relish, and sweet pickles. We enjoyed our first sweet corn over the weekend, as well as cutting into our first ripe Sugar Baby watermelons (check out the pics above). Oh my goodness...makes the hard work of gardening worth it!

I hope to get everything under control this week, since it looks like I'll be in GA more than NC in the next few weeks. A week ago, I was struggling to imagine ever walking normally again, much less getting things nailed down so I could start traveling. Wow! What a difference a week makes.

Indeed.

Ye Merrie Month of May

Goodness, time is flying! Hyper speed. And since I haven't figured out how to work in the garden and blog-post at the same time, I've had to defer one for the other. Garden wins this time of the year, hands down. And since I am one "hand-down," so to speak (back to the orthopedic doctor in mid-month following a flare-up of the DeQuervain's tendinitis...another cortisone shot...back in the splint...take it easy...yadda yadda yadda), I sometimes have to choose. Gardening or blogging.

[Yes, we have a separate blog for posts about the garden, which you can find here (http:gardenwithgiants.blogspot.com). I'm no more diligent about posting there at this time of the year, either. Sigh.]

This is the week to remember. As of tomorrow, we will have lived here for six years. Count 'em, s-i-x! Not yet a record, but give us six more months and it will pass our previous "length of stay" in our Cordova house (6 years, 5 months).

Of course, it may be a race at this point, since a move in conjunction with retirement is on our horizon. Still no date for either, but we discuss our options often. No matter...what is for certain, we need to do a little prep work between now and then...whenever "then" might be. In making our lists and checking them twice, we have three BIG to-do's that have been looming large:

1) Decluttering, in general; getting rid of a ton or so of paper (records, receipts, etc.) that we have just boxed up and moved instead of destroying 

2) The Garage

3) The Deck

While gardening and yard word leave little time for other to-do's this time of the year, I am pleased to report that I successfully combined something from the above list with a necessary garden chore. It was time to weed, feed, and mulch the corn. And, once again, we found a use for several pounds of documents that we can't just toss in the trash (sensitive and/or personal information that identity thieves would love). Maybe you will remember that last year, we mulched the corn with a mountain of my parents' old documents (some dating back to the '70's!) that we first thoroughly soaked in the galvanized tub before using to suppress weeds in the paths...worked great! This year, I shredded a large part of the contents of the box dedicated to 2005...which will keep weeds at bay and make a nice dent in Item 1. Check out the corn in the Block Garden...where it looks like it has snowed!

Item 2 is still on hold until the cooler Fall months, but we can now check off Item 3...the Deck. I'm happy to report that our old, sad, badly worn but structurally sound deck is now a thing of beauty. We applied a couple of Rustoleum products called Restore 10X and Restore Solid Stain in a lovely, bright clean taupe called Driftwood. Just check the pictures:

From worn (above) to WOW! (below):

Whew! That was a huge project! Time for some rest and relaxation. We certainly are looking forward to turning in our paint brushes for some fun on Friday, when we celebrate our 39th anniversary. And celebrate it, we shall! We are taking the train to Raleigh for a fun day, then returning to enjoy the Grasshoppers game. More on that in my next post.

We've already "exchanged" our gifts: two new roses. I know, I know...seems an odd choice for folks who may soon be leaving their Rose Garden behind, but we couldn't resist. You see, the gift suggestion for 39th anniversaries is lace. LACE. Really? That just wouldn't do, so we just skipped ahead to the suggestion for next year: ruby. Much better! And we chose two ruby-red roses: a Don Juan and a Mister Lincoln. 

To pick out new inhabitants of our Rose Garden, we took a little adventure to Roses Unlimited in Laurens, SC, to check out their Open House. Once a year, visitors are allowed to go through the greenhouses where the newly-propagated roses are...a little like looking behind the Wizard's curtain in Oz. And then we checked out an eatery in Spartanburg. All-in-all, a fun Saturday.

So, May has been a merry month. A merry month, indeed. Wonder what June has in store for us? Hmmmm....

Is There a Physicist in the House?

• Physics: The study of matter and energy and the interactions between them. Physicists study such subjects as gravity, light, and time. Albert Einstein, a famous physicist, developed the Theory of Relativity.

Now where is Albert when you need him?

Good grief.  It's the middle of January and I haven't written a single post for 2015 yet. Where has the time disappeared to, I ask you? I feel I need someone to help me deal with the swiftly passing minutes, hours, days, and now weeks of this rapidly receding month. Ah. Time, right? Passing time. Sigh. Oh well, since I am not a physicist...nor do I play one on TV... I suppose I could just report on the matter of how I have spent my energy so far. Close enough. Here goes:

[Pause. Has this ever happened to you? I'm creating this post on my iPad since I'm away from my PC and because the pictures I want to share are in the Camera Roll and Photo Stream albums, resident here...and the keyboard has vanished! Well for the most part, the letters have...the numbers are still there, as is the punctuation. Can you see what I mean in the screen capture below? NO LETTERS!!!  

A friend of mine posted something about this happening to her recently on Facebook, and I couldn't imagine what she meant. Well, now I know! And it has intrigued me enough to keep at it...despite all the mistakes I'm making. Right now, I'm relying on the predictive keyboard (you can see the suggested wording of "I, The, and I'm" above the blank screen where the QWERTY keyboard normally is) and autocorrect to get the text on the post. Weird. Folks, this is really weird. Of course, at this point, it's become a game to see just how long I can tolerate the weirdness...:-). 

Still, I have to admit this reminds me of Junior year of high school, when I learned to type in Mrs. Curry's typing class. Talk about bending the space/time continuum! I was assigned an ELECTRIC TYPEWRITER (hooray!), probably because I had whined enough about how hard it was for me to make capital letters...since I have these badly-curved little fingers which are all crooked and have no strength to push the Shift key down...whine, whine, whine. Does anyone even remember that you had to push the keys hard, especially on manual models?  Oh mercy, I'm dating myself, aren't I?!

Anyway, Mrs. C gave me an electric typewriter all right...only it had a BLANK keyboard: nothing on the keys! I thought l was being punished for whining, for sure. Only, it turned out to be a great gift. I couldn't look down to see the keys, you know. I had to learn them...memorize the location...and that played to my strengths. I do have a great memory!

Now, what was I saying? Oh yeah...I was going to tell you how I have been spending all my time in January, wasn't I?]

Home to HPNC to bring in the New Year and then take down the decorations. That's always a little sad for me, so I didn't mind that they stayed up past Epiphany while I battled a stomach bug. Well, I minded the battle a great deal...but I was happy for a few more days to enjoy the lights and wreaths.  

Mimosas to ring in 2015 (above)! Fun!

Followed a week later by saltines and hot tea...oh me. No fun.

While we were there, we got to see the last of the Fall garden...before bitter cold temps took their toll. The lovely winter-weight row cover on the raised bed with the lettuces protects to 28 degrees, allowing tasty treats like you see inside the hoops (below).

Then, just before we left, we had temps to the low teens...officially (although the vast openness of the Way Back combined with clear, cloudless nights and wind chills could mean single digits...unofficially). Lettuce, no more. Still, I'm happy to report that we continue to pull some of the fattest and tastiest carrots ever (photo below)...I'm just allowing them to winter-in-place. Oh, and the "other" greens are still producing; it appears the statement that "collards love a cold snap" is true!

We are back in Georgia, after we loaded up our 3 Droolers in one vehicle and made the (uneventful) trip last weekend. Mr. T then flew out of ATL for Fuso's annual meeting in New Jersey on Monday, and Missy M had an annual franchisees meeting to attend, too. I drew the short straw and got to be the Puppy Nanny for all five Droolers...but since my schedule involved being here this week anyway, it all worked out for the best. You know, having a home-away-from-home and not having to stay in a hotel makes it so much better...and puppies are a small price to pay. I'm loving this!

So, typing on the weird, blank keyboard is getting old fast...not to mention SLOW. Time to share some snaps...and call it a day. Hopefully when I power down, all will return to normal.* Hopefully. Hope. Fully. Ah well, time will tell!

So, here's Winston...cute as he can be. Check out that tongue...:-)

And Dixie and Ella Rae...sofa hog-dogs...

And, Duche$$...not on the big bed...for once...

And Abbie...taking a tan in the glorious sunshine on a 65 degree-day...

And I will leave you with a shot of the Pound Puppies in the back of Mr. T's ride (above)...which I'd driven to the grocery for the essentials: milk, bread, and Diet Pepsi...a truly difficult thing to find in this World of Coke. They leaped in when I opened the hatch to unload the bags...and then I couldn't get them out of the car! I finally got Abs with a t-r-e-a-t (yes, I do have to spell it), and I had to lift Win-man out after over an hour (I think he liked the peace and quiet...a space of his own, away from the Girlz). 

Time to rock and roll! Gotta love them!

++++++++++++++++++++

* YES! Keyboard is back to normal, as you can see in this updated screen capture (below). Whew!

All That...and a Bag of Chips

Feet up? Check. Iced tea in hand? Double check. Whew! Can I just say what a week this has been?!

It's been hot. Really hot. Hot, hot, hot! Mid-90's every day this week...and it doesn't turn Summer until Saturday. And humid...don't forget the humidity. It's the kind of week that you'd like to take up permanent residence over the air conditioner vents. But, there were too many places to go, things to do, and people to see.

First thing Monday morning, Mr. T and Missy M (who is spending her weekends with us) headed to Charlotte. She was flying out to New Orleans (via Detroit, if you can imagine!), for the week, and he was dropping her off at the airport on his way south to Greenville, SC.

Tending the gardens occupied the first couple of days for me. Much is required during this time of the year, as you can probably imagine, with all the warm season crops in. The difficult part is the constant and oppressive heat. We expect this in August, not June. (I've posted an update about the gardens over on our garden blog, Gardening with the Giants. Click here to go there.) I usually try to follow my maxim of "Noon or ninety, whichever comes first," but I'm afraid I couldn't tow that line this week. Too much to do to give up a half-day.

I headed out to the Extension Center on Wednesday for our Master Gardener annual picnic, taking along a pasta salad that I dubbed "Going to the Garden Party Pasta Salad.*"  The theme for the picnic this year was Eating Local, with NC BBQ and sweet potatoes taking center stage. Many of the ingredients in my pasta salad were about as local as you can get, since they had indeed come straight from our HPNC kitchen garden, harvested on Tuesday. Even the lemon that provided the juice (see recipe below) came from my Meyer Lemon tree on the deck! Here's a snap of the finished product...and yes, those are nasturtiums on top. Yes, they are edible. 

Did I tell you it was hot this week? O. M. G. It was hot at the picnic, too. But we had a grand time together, topped off with the release of 50 monarch butterflies to mark the dedication of the Pollinators Garden and the new Monarch Waystation. More photos for you:

Thursday was all about catching up with paperwork, housework, and laundry. And on trying to reload my body with fluids...and salt. After sweating bullets at the picnic, I was craving salt, big time. I fairly attacked a bag of baked BBQ potato chips...even though they are not my faves. Did the best I could on all counts, since I had a fun day on the docket for Friday.

We had planned an EMGV Advanced Training trip to the J. C. Raulston Arboretum in Raleigh, and we weren't going to let a little ol' heat wave get in our way. We were participating in the Landscape Color Field Day, as guests of the Arboretum and the North Carolina Commercial Flower Growers Association. Oh yeah, Master Gardeners live for stuff like this! Still more photos for you, with a few of my personal favorite flowers:

Meanwhile, Mr. T had been to DC and back (I know...he started in SC...what can I say?), just in time to head back to Charlotte to pick up Missy M on Friday evening. What was she doing in NOLA, you ask? Well, she went with several new colleagues to do their in-store restaurant training at a Popeye's there. Of course, you can't go to The Big Easy without a few taste-tests of your own, can you? Here's a shot she sent of Bourbon Street from their restaurant and a pic of her last dessert at Cafe du Monde...the New Orleans Classic, beignets. 

All of that beings me back to another weekend...back in the gardens...and back to the reason I've got my feet up and my hand wrapped around a cold glass of iced tea. With another bag of salty chips in the other hand. What can I say? Gotta get ready for another hot week ahead, don't you know?

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*Going to the Garden Party Pasta Salad Recipe

1 box Tri-Color Rotini pasta, prepared per box instructions
1 large bottle Creamy Italian Dressing
Fresh oregano
Fresh basil

Fresh chives

Juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 cup Dijon mustard, more or less (I like more...you may prefer less...:)
1 cup green peas, blanched
1/2 large red onion, finely diced (save the rest to thinly slice for decoration)
1/2 large green pepper, finely diced
1 hot pepper, finely diced (opt.)4-5 small carrots, finely diced
Fresh broccoli, trimmed and washed
1 cup cooked ham, cubed
4 oz. mozzarella cheese, small cubes

1 small jar pimiento pepper, drained and diced

Fresh ground pepper and seasoned salt to taste

Nasturtium flowers, onion rings, and more fresh herbs for decoration

1. Prepare pasta per package directions. Put prepared veggies in a colander, and pour hot pasta and water over top to "cook." Drain, then wash under cold water to cool.
2. Combine Italian dressing with fresh herbs, adding as much fresh oregano, chives, and basil as you like, lemon juice, and Dijon mustard. I even add a bit of Ranch Dressing, for added creaminess. Reserve 1/2 of this mixture for later.
3. In a large bowl, combine 1/2 of dressing mixture with other ingredients.
4. After mixing thoroughly, chill for several hours or overnight.
5. Since the pasta will absorb the dressing, add the reserved dressing and more seasonings to taste before serving. Top with edible decoration, such as nasturtium flowers, fresh herbs, and thinly-sliced red onion rings. Enjoy!