View From My Window

Yesterday my son-in-law Jim, came up with two helpers and they went to work changing the landscape. They pruned, cut trees, shoveled dirt,tilled,and planted all over this place. Cutting back on the Lantana revealed that the jonquil blades were already up by two inches. What a surprise on the 28th of January. Usually we are into late February or March before that happens. The tilling allowed me to plant some bulbs which did not get planted last fall. I put in Allium, Buttercups and Medeterrean Bells, all new to me.



A huge truck load of pine mulch got spread around in different places, both inside of the raised beds and in front of the house, around back and in the blueberry bed. Even the blackberry plants that I started from cuttings got planted out back on the hillside. They are much like the Arapaho which I planted near my raised beds. These had red branches and huge berries. They will make fine blackberry jelly next July.



The spot which delights me most is what I see from my kitchen window. The rock wall has been there since 1991 when my friend Bob Huffman began to work here for me. What I see above it is what keeps changing. At one time there was a double trunked tree there. I think it was a tulip poplar as they often have twin trunks. This tree was turned into a very fine feeding place for our two cats. My husband had built a platform around the trunks and the cats could run up inside of it and onto the platform where we kept their bowl. The dogs could not reach them there and could only watch in frustration. I have a picture of my (now 25 years old grandson, Jeffrey) when he was just a toddler watching the cats eat while I held him up to see it happen.



Only a few years ago I could watch a Rosemary plant living happily in a sandy spot at the top of the wall. It had grown into a sturdy shrub and had a stately appearance with branches reaching straight up. I had to remove it to make way for other perennials like the white moon liriope and small crocus. These dragon moon liriope look so white at night when there is only the light from the security bulb on the telephone pole. I look forward to this small hillside spot with the distinctive flat rock being surrounded by orange double day lilies and narcissus, along with the iris and windmill bulbs when they come into bloom. They will like being close to the purple ice plant which cascades over the rock where the Rosemary used to be.



This week-end however my hillside may take on a completely different look as snow is predicted, maybe even as much as an inch. I will still be able to see one newly planted alpine spruce however. It was placed close to the huge rock and is a nice contrast to the rock with moss growing on it. Also the bark from the crape myrtle behind it makes a nice back drop for this new plant. It is the third one I have planted outside, as it is the third one my daughter and her husband have sent to me before Christmas. It was my living Christmas tree with lights and two pretty "fake" birds in it's branches. I hope one day to see a real bird find it's way to this small perky plant.



Looking beyond the rock and crape myrtle, when the leaves are gone from the trees on the hillside, I can see the gravel road making its way up an incline past the grape vines and onto the paved road in front of the vineyard. The grass has turned brown for now and when it has greened up so will the trees be all leafed out and my view will again change. At one time a graceful tulip poplar was reaching high above all the other trees and spreading it's distinctive branches turning downward. It had to give way when it became a threat to the safety of our home. So now in it's place is a red bud tree which has a completely different shape and is no threat except to capture my time as I pause to admire it when it is in full bloom.



All of nature has a plan of its own and a place of its own, as even do I. At this time of life I find so much to please me and interest me and much of it is on the ready each time I raise the blinds and look out of this small kitchen window. My wish for you is that you too have a spot of beauty from your window to give you pleasure.

Clogs and Blogs

Yesterday around 10:00 in the morning I was puttering around in my house getting ready to go upstairs to sew when my portable phone rang. It was the organist from our church. "Are you coming to play bridge?" she said. I was taken off guard as she had said she would call if she found a fourth and I had not heard from her since. So, I went into first gear and by 10:30 I was parking in front of her house which is about 3 miles east of here.

After I returned home I was again puttering around in my kitchen in a pair of mules while I waited for my neighbor to come over to pick up a stamp she needed for a letter. I was doing some routine cleaning in my kitchen and noticed that the plastic can I keep fruit and veggie scraps in needed to be emptied into my compost pile outside. We have had a lot of rain and to get to the compost bin I had to go over a slightly muddy spot. Not wanting to muddy my house mules, I went to the "tater" box where I keep my outside work shoes and I got my favorite bright pink clogs. They are perfect for wearing outdoors when I want to scoot out and back in a hurry.

Let me explain the clogs. They came from my daughter (several years ago ) who likes to keep me current on important things like the new and useful. Also I will explain the "tater" box. It is actually a small stand with a lid which lifts up and etched in the wood are the words, "taters". My good friend of forty years ago brought it to me when she visited me at some point in the 1970's. I keep it by my back door and it is a handy place to keep things for outdoor use, mostly shoes.

These things set my mind to thinking of the many changes taking place in our way of living. While at the bridge table yesterday we heard a musical sound and one of the ladies (another 80 year old transplant from Connecticut) picked up her purse and withdrew a flat electronic item and said "someone is texting me".

I can remember when kids played "telephone" with two cans connected with string. Why we ever thought we could hear with those things from a distance of 40 feet is a mystery to me. It brings up a point as now we pick up a small electronic wireless devise and talk to people from distances unimaginable at the time of our cans and strings.

And how we would have marveled at heelless plastic shoes with holes in them which can be hosed off if they become muddy. Even sophisticated adults are surprised to see me in my bright pink clogs. My neighbor from California came by one day and he looked at my bright pinks and then at his dark green clogs and said "Hmmm". I just laughed as I knew what he was thinking.

So, from clogs to blogs to texting and wireless cell phones, we are living in a different world and Buck Rogers would feel right at home.

Winding Down

Many surprises came my way this Christmas season. It started off with the arrival of a live Christmas tree with accompanying lights and birds for decoration. My daughter has sent three of these to me before and all three were planted out front and are thriving, not growing fast but are healthy and happy where they are planted. They are Alpine Spruce and have a conical shape with small needles and a nice " fragrance".





My next surprise was to go out my entrance and see that my mailbox had been decorated. I do not usually decorate it so I began to wonder who had done this. My neighbor had been seen walking down the road with greenery in her arms so the secret was out and I knew it was our new neighbor from California. I called her and indeed she was the Christmas elf . The call ended with an invitation to her home to have Christmas Eve dinner with her, her husband and visiting daughter. It proved to be a very interesting meal with foods I had not eaten before. They are steeped in Norwegian tradition and I got to see her amazing Santa collection gathered from all over the world. I had expected to be staying at home so that was a fun surprise.





Normally during Christmas season I have only one day with my family but this year we had two days, with a lot of games and laughing and good memory building. The visit I had not expected occurred the day after Christmas when two friends from my early days in Atlanta came by to see me . I had a tea pot which had been her aunt Martha's. My friend had let me take it home in 1978. I had always felt it should be with her as a memory of her aunt so on this day I gave it back to her to take home. I had enjoyed it all this time and at some point the lid had been cracked but it was a precious family treasure all the same.





Now that the visiting is over, things need to get back to normal, an adjustment in thinking has to take place. Some are going back to their jobs, others taking trips planned for during school break.
We get back to a normal routine pretty fast just by responding to the things going on around us, whether it is children, spouses, or every day events. The unwinding takes a few days and probably does not get us back on target until after we say good-bye to the old year and take up the new one. It will not be as easy to write 2010 on checks, etc., as it was to write 09 for 2009.



There will be seed catalogs coming in and income tax reminders and in my case still some bulbs to be planted. The new year will shake down and settle down and my Daphne will be blooming and greeting me with the most heavenly fragrance ever. The red Camellia is already starting to bloom and the new Yuletide sasanqua is settling into the new spot on the west side of my house. Before I know it the 100 daffodils I planted down near the foot bridge will pop up and make a glorious yellow mass to move and sway with the breezes. It all sounds so attractive to me that I am already eager to get into it all and try some new things for the spring and work my way into the summer. I need to plant a lot more cucumbers to use for the bread and butter pickles which has made a lot of friends for me. Christmas will soon be another fading memory but I hope I never forget the fun we had again this year.