Christmas 2008

Christmas 2008

Christmas day was very special as I got to cook Christmas dinner for part of the family for the first time in ages. What a blessing to have Beth and all of her family that was around for the day. Sara is of course doing her duty in the Peace Corps in Macedonia and Ethan and Ann were with her parents in Kentucky. That left Molly and Archie to hold down the fort.

We expected to be picking up Charles and his family at the airport tonight, but at the last minute as they were about to board the plane, it was discovered that Luz Maria and Ignacio's visas were not in order. What a disappointment for all of us. But with some last minute planning it was decided that all, including Peter, who was supposed to come from Indiana would meet here during Peter's spring break in March. It looks like the tree and house decorations will need dusting a few times before March, but they will stay put. I managed to freeze most of the food for their visit. Tom and I will just eat the rest.

Beth, Molly and Archie came over yesterday to clean the house so it would be nice for our Chilean family. Now I have a clean house to look at.

We did have a white Christmas and we actually made it to our church Christmas Eve Program. It was getting home that was scary. The roads were covered in black ice and Tom drove about 5 miles an hour. When we finally did get home, the usual 15 minute trip took nearly an hour. We had two calls from Pastor asking us to call as soon as we got in as they were so worried about the roads. Praise God everyone got home. The Congo church canceled their program, but God was with us.

We have had very cold weather, but Beth, Molly and I walked all the way to our large pine tree beyond the cabin. We have submitted it's statistics to the State of Maine so maybe it will get in the register of large trees.

Ice Storm December 2008

I"m sure you've heard the news about the ice storm to hit New England last Friday night. Actually, our town was spared the worst. We lost power around 3 in the morning Friday night . Our outside generator clicked on and we were happy, momentarily. Then I realized that though the generator was running, I still didn't see my clock, night nights, etc. I nudged Tom and said, we aren't getting any power.

He dutifully got up, found a flashlight (which should have been by our bed, but wasn't) and made his way to the basement to look at the breaker box. Everything looked okay at that end. He knew there was also a breaker on the generator, but in order to get to it, he had to go outside in the freezing rain and that meant getting dressed.

I watched him from the front until he was around the corner, then went to the guest bedroom where I could look out the window. He was still standing. He clicked the switch and didn't think anything happened. I'm relaying info through the winter sealed window, but he doesn't have on his ears. Finally I got the message through that we had power.

He climbed back in bed and we slept snugly knowing the house would stay warm. (That is if you consider my 60 degree setting warm.) We got power around 9 the next morning. We were the lucky ones.

South of Portland had the worst storm they could remember. Over 200,000 people were without power. Tom was called on Saturday to go and relieve Emergency workers who had been working shelters and phones since Friday night. He was picked up at 4 pm by two other emergency workers and they drove to York County. They worked all night answering emergency calls and he got home around 9 Sunday morning. This gave him just enough time to get a nap before our two Cantata performances Sunday afternoon and evening.

Here is a photo of our birch tree by the driveway. He had to cut one tree out of the driveway, but all of these limbs straightened right up the next day.

Cold weather has come

Yes, cold weather has arrived in Maine and I believe this is the coldest we have seen in a December since we have been living here which is now 10 years. We had wind chill of 20 below this morning with a reading of 4 on the thermometer. I just looked out and noticed that it was already 4 degrees. This prompted me to bring a few orchids into the house from the sun porch. I believe tomorrow will be devoted to bringing in most of the warmer loving orchids.

I have finally recovered from my interesting Sunday. After reading over that blog I realized I never identified my new 93 year old friend's instrument. It was a stand up bass, and that was why I was worried about him getting tired. I hope he has as fond a memory of last night as I do.
I don't know where he played in his younger days, but that would be an interesting story to find out. I don't think he can communicate that to me, but I'm sure a relative can.

Pete is in an assisted living apartment in a nursing home. I plan to arrange to go over one day and play with him at the home. According to his sitter, he has stacks of music. I know he doesn't read music, but maybe he did when he was younger. Anyway, we shall see if we can liven up that place one day!!!

Interesting Sunday

Sunday started out like every other Sunday except I woke at 5:00 instead of waiting for the alarm at 7:00. That wasn't good because it was going to be a big day. I didn't know how big it would be!

I helped Tom set up for Communion, practiced with the soloist and played Christmas arrangements on the piano for preludes and then switched to the organ.
The deacon forgot me at the organ, so I only got half of the rite, but not to worry, the Congo church I play for across the street would have communion too, so I would be alright.

After playing for the communion service, I dashed across the street, nibbling a cracker on the way as I was running low on gas. I did a nice arrangement of O Little Town in a Sonatina setting, then did a nice arrangement of Thou Didst Leave Thy Throne, played the hymns, including the candlelighting, which I forgotten the week before and had gone to my seat in the pew too soon and had to be reminded, and finally I did a pepped up arrangement of Come Thou Long Expected Jesus as an offertory. (Are you dizzy yet?)

Tom and I grabbed a bite at the corner store, so I could go back into our church and practice last minute passages for our Cantata, Emmanuel.

We then drove to Paris Hill Baptist for a 1:30 warm up and presentation at 2:00 which went fairly well for a first performance. We have two more next Sunday.

I couldn't wait for that afternon nap because Pastor Bruce had asked me to play at North Paris Church for their annual Christmas singalong. Sometime during my nap, the phone rang, which Tom answered. When I woke up, he said one of the ladies of the church who is taking care of a ninely three year old man wanted him to come and play along with me if it wouldn't bother me. What the heck, it's Christmas. I'm not that good anyway, so maybe he can cover my mistakes.

We got to the church and there was this wonderful, alert looking gentleman smiling at me. "Okay", I thought. "Let's see how it goes." I cranked up a few hymns for us to experiment with and he said, "Do you have anything with a little zip?"

Hmmmmmm. "Okay, lets go. How about the Battle Hymn?" and off we went. All I had to tell him was the key and he was right there with me.

I worried that he might get tired standing there playing away. It seems I was the tired one.
I had planned to do The Little Drummer Boy as a special in the setting of Mozart's Night Music.
I asked Pete, my new ninety year old friend, if he would like to play along. He said he didn't knw it, but by now I wasn't worried. I told him the key and off we went.

Jane, his caretaker, phoned his daughter while we were playing and she said the daughter hung onto the phone crying up a storm!! Did I get a Christmas present last night? You bet I did.
Not only did it bring back memories of playing piano with my Charlie as he was growing up, but I saw the miracles that God performs with aging people. He lets some of them keep the precious gift of music. Pete will not know me the next time he sees me, but Jane tells me to remind him of playing at the Christmas party and he will remember. May I be so fortunate as to retain a little of my ability through the years, though I certainly won't bank on making it to ninety three. I forgot to mention that we played for an hour!!!

The Day after Thanksgiving

The day after Thanksgiving was a great one for Tom and me.

In days of yore, it was always a trip to the Grands house in Kentucky over snowy highways, little kids in the car and lots of family fun during the 12 hour trip from Massachusetts.
We would leave right after school was out and drive all night. One snowy night we were snowed in at a rest stop on the New York turnpike. We made it to Kentucky, but not for Thanksgiving day. It was the day after for that year as it was this year for us.

Yesterday, the real Thanksgiving Day, we cooked for and served thirty nine people at our church, some members and some needy. It was a different kind of family day.
We have learned not to dwell on family times gone past, but to accept and adapt new holiday activities. The activities may not always be the same, but it will be a holiday observed.

Beth was in Ireland, but she made Thanksgiving dinner the Sunday before. Charles was in Mexico, but when he was here in October, we had Thanksgiving dinner at Beth's house again. She is a great entertainer and cook.

Soooo today it was my turn for a new tradition. Grandson Ethan and wife Anne and granddaughter Molly came over for after Thanksgiving soup. I always make turkey/noodle soup out of the carcass bones and since I cooked one of the turkeys for church, I had that available. Then as I was drinking my coffee this morning, I saw a turkey stew being made on my favorite morning channel. I got on their site and whipped up a second soup for lunch along with Cole slaw which I had made for the church dinner, and the usual pecan pie.

I must say, all agreed that it was a great after Thanksgiving dinner for a cold day and one that I may be repeating for hopefully several more years.

I hope that each of you had a great memory for this Thanksgiving. We had much to be thankful for this year as always.

First snow 11-25--08

The first snow November 25, 2008

Well, it has finally happened. We have our first snow. It didn't look too bad this morning and since we have all wheel drive on the Buick, we started out to take care of groceries and some doctor visits. We made it about 2 miles before Tom gave up. Now when he gives up, it is bad!! I'm the one who rolled over a few years back!!

So now we are safely back at home. I could say to our toasty warm home, but we keep the temperature at 60 degrees. I can't really say the house is cozy. Tom puts a portable heater in his office and I turn on the gas logs when I'm in the kitchen. As you can see, the cat stays warm!!

(Later in the day)

The snow turned to rain but not before there was enough out there for the plow truck to come do the driveway. Then we decided to go to Mexico for the groceries and made it there easily enough. On the way home Tom wiped out the road but fortunately he got the car under control before we wiped out the trees on the sides. It got his attention anyway, but God is good and we are once again safe at home.

The manger figures got a real coating of snow, so here are a couple of snow scenes for you southern people.

Forbodings of winter

It looks like this week will be the beginning of cold weather and there are still many things that should be done, many of which won't get done. However, the ones that really matter have been taken care of.

Yesterday while working in my sunroom, I decided the screens had to come off and the windows had to be cleaned so all available sun from our short days could shine on the plants.

I took my elongated handle squeegie and a pail of hot sudsy water

and proceeded to knock off the dust.The streaks that I left may disappear with the next rain, but at least it looks cleaner. Taking the screens off was a big help as well.

Tom tied the deck table and chairs to the railing as we get awesome winds from the north which are strong enough to send heavy chairs moving into the glass doors. The blue tarp covers the snowmobile in readiness for that first snowfall. Last year the snow came so fast and deep that Tom only bogged down when he tried to get the thing moving and only succeeded in burying it in snow which is where it stayed until spring. This year we hope to fare better.

Our apple tree out front has shed all of the leaves leaving a few bright red apples for the deer to eat. However, they don't seem to be hungry. This is also evidenced by the tracks in my daylily bed, but no missing foliage, as yet. They also didn't cross over the bridge!!
Another sign that winter is approaching comes from the rhododemdrum leaves. They shrivel up when the temperature drops below 35 degrees in an effort to prevent moisture loss from the leaves. Isn't our wonderful creation awesome? And some say there is no divine creator!!

Flooded river

The constant rain all week has raised the water level in our Nezinscot River coupled with the fact that the beaver dam is still holding. However as you will see, the water has breached the entire dam. Look in the background and you will get a good view of the lodge. The lodge is safe as it is out of the main flow.

Our favorite spot called Poet's point is upstream of the dam and thus is slightly flooded. The log that I usually sit on to watch rapids rush over rocks is well under water.

New Camera

Son Charles gave me a Nikon D40 for my birthday and I've been trying it out on anything and everything that would stand still. I haven't mastered the action pictures yet. I'll have to watch the video a few hundred times before that.

We tried the camera first at Beth's house as soon as I got it. I was a bit intimated with all the gadgets. She posed in front of her warm stove with blooming cactus in hand. She's into flowers as well as her mother and has quite a collection already.











Beth had to try the camera next and she had me sit at her piano. The piano is my former spinet which we bought soon after she was born in Chattanooga. She wanted it after I got my baby grand and so now it lives in her house. She learned to play on it and felt it was part of the family.

When we got home the full moon presented another chance to snap a different shot as it looked so pretty perched above the clouds.

After this group of photos, it rained all week, so I was stuck with indoor pictures. Misty cat proved to be an accommodating model as she sat around or warmed herself by our gas log fire.

The day after

Now that the election is over, the TV anchors will have to try something new to talk about, but I will basically stick to my woods.

We started election day by going to Auburn to meet with the Sun Journal writers. Tom and I have been hired by the Emergency Management Director for Oxford County to do a 12 page insert in the paper next November, (yes, you heard me correctly) on Being Prepared. Since we have a year to put this together, we are not under any undue pressure, but we want to do a good job and will start by getting information on the 36 towns in Oxford County and what they have for prepardness

Following this hour plus meeting, Tom had his back therapy, then we went by to vote.

After putting a chicken in to bake for supper, we drove to the western part of the property in the 'Mule'. I had not been on this trail for a long time, though Tom had walked behind his helper back in August to clear the trail.

We stopped at a few river view points until Tom decided that a tree stump looked like a pretty good chair. I went on to explore more of the river. "If you get in trouble, yell," he says from his stump. Yeh, like that would do me any good. He didn't even have his ears in!!

Anyway, I got to the river view trail that is my favorite without any bear encounter. I wasnt' worried about the moose and hoped I would see him, but didn't. I took this nice photo. I love this tree.

Even though our property is posted, we wear our bright orange.

The walk was good exercise and prepared us for a nice nap on our return. I took this photo of my 'Christmas', Halloween or whatever cactus when I came back into the sunroom. It is one I brought with me from Chattanoogo ten years ago when it was small.

Bear signs

Tom and I walked around the woods a bit today. It was his first time in weeks to venture down to the river. He found this tree in the photo that has recently been gorged out while 'someone' searched for bugs to eat.

Now we have never actually seen a bear. We have seen signs of scat and the neighbors have seen the bear himself. He attacked their bird feeders all summer.

We can only guess the size of this one from the height of the top scratches on the tree. They are easily 8 feet high. Now it is Halloween today, but when Tom says it looks like bear, that's good enough to keep me out of the woods by myself!!!

We had a flake or two of snow on Wednesday, so today I got the daffodils in the ground and finished clipping the last of the phlox stalks. We can almost say to old man winter, "Bring it on."

The wetlands are filled with red berry bushes. I took this photo at the river today. I really need to look up the name, but my identification books are in the other room and I just can't remember what they are. I'll just say that they dress up the woods which are really baren of colorful leaves.

We had a heavy rain recently, but the beaver dam is still holding water two feet higher on the upstream of the river. Just wanted you to know that the bear didn't displace the beaver watch.

Only in Maine

Well, it started out as an invitation to go to a concert tonight with our pastor and his wife. We were picked up at 5:15 and our journey began. We were basically being kidnapped as we didn't know where we were going or who we were going to hear.

We traveled through the towns of Peru, Dixfield and into Carthage. By now it was beginning to be dusk and I began to get a little uneasy when I realized that our kidnappers had only been to this "place" once before. They told us we were going to the Skye Theater. Well, that told us nothing other than it might be up high, but then again, you really have to trust your pastor.

Pastor decided that he had the correct turn after passing on a couple of others and we quickly left a nice highway, Route 2, for a dirt path wide enough for a car. Nice log houses along the way led us to believe we were still in civilization.

After several more side roads that were little more than trails, we arrived at the top of a mountain to a large building under construction. Pastor backed into a spot in the parking lot, (I use the term loosly) and I hopped out to take this picture of the theater. (I'm still not in a complete trusting mode.)

We were early, but it was a sold out crowd and we had to come early as we wanted seats together. We heard fiddles in the outer rooms where people are invited to come and jam with the guest artists before the concert begins.

Finally it was time to enter the building. The bottom floor was filled with construction material, but when we went upstairs, the stairway walls were filled with branches and vines lighted with tiny white lights. What a nice feeling! Maybe this wasn't going to be a disaster after all.

The room was filled with 115 plastic chairs. (We had been warned to bring cushions) and those chairs filled up quickly. How in the world did so many people know about this place and not only know about it, but were able to find it??

When the performers, Evergreen, walked onto the tiny stage, magic began. There was one lady who played stand up bass, guitar, mandalin and autoharp, her husband who got more out of a harmonica than I though possible, a guitar player and a school teacher who was the winner of this year's Maine blue grass banjo playing.

Not only could he play a mean banjo, but also the accordian. He had a wonderful voice that was just pleasant and restful. They all had nice voices and unlike most bluegrass music, you could hear most of the lyrics. I'm not a true bluegrass fan, because the real stuff all sounds alike to me. However I am reminded of people who walk into my daylily gardens and can't tell the difference between all the hybrid yellow ones, or red ones or whatever. You get the drift, I'm sure.

You get the idea that the evening was a wonderful surprise. We were not taken off to some faraway mountain for a small concert. These people were pros. In fact, if you google the group, Evergreen band, you can find out all about them.

The theater gives all ticket sales to the performers, many of which do Scottish and Irish concerts and many come from the Cape Breton area.

I rest now from our big adventure. You see, we do have other things to do that watch beavers in our woods!!

Clarification

Beth gave me information on Katahdin which she had already told me, but I wasn't near a paper and pen, so the gray computer in my head didn't save. Actually I was in the car looking at the mountain on the way home from Caribou. Anyway, I think I spelled Katahdin wrong in the last blog, so will correct that.

Katahdin is a large mountain with three peaks, Baxter, Hamlin and Pamola. Baxter and Hamlin Peaks qualify as 4,000 footers because there is a 200 foot drop in elevation between them but they are on the sam massif-Katahdin. Now I think the record is straight.

I'm doing blogs today because I am sore from a lot of exercise yesterday. Beth came over with camera in hand and we headed to the river. I drove the 'mule' to the river, but we took off on foot to investigate the beaver activity. We walked along the river through the rough, no trail there, until we determined that the high water is all due to the large dam near the mine. We thought there may be another one, but there was no other

Then we took a beaver trail and found a darling little lodge. Their trail was as good or better than any of ours. Beth walked upstream to determine there were no other dams that she could see.

We walked up from the river to see where the little critters have clear cut the land.

I guess my adventures seem pretty boring to most people, but we love the land and having some animal activty to follow just adds a little more interest as we see how the river changes with the efforts of these little busy beavers.

Tamarack, Eastern Larch, Hackmatack Trees

Something that was new to us southerners was to see a conifer tree shed it's needles in the fall after the needles turned yellow. The trees go by several names such as tamarack, eastern larch, hackmatack and even eastern juniper, though they are not a true juniper.

Anyway, our woods are full of these yellow conifers at the moment. The proper name is actually Larix laricina. Now you know more than you wanted to know, I'm sure, but they are unique to us.

The wood is used for planking, timbers, ties, poles, sign post, pilings and pulp, being heavy and strong.

Tom and I went to Caribou which is at the top of Maine this week to attend the Maine American Baptist Annual Conference where he is on the Board and was a delegate. On the way the predominant tree, it seemed was the tamarack. They stood out so vividly with their shining yellow color among the firs along the highway. It was a six hour drive so we saw lots of trees and nothing else except potato fields for miles and miles.

We also had wonderful views of Mt. Katadin, the highest mountain in Maine. A recent snow had made the view very interesting, though the range was not completely snow covered. Daughter Beth says there are actually two mountains in the range with 4,000 foot elevation separated by a small valley between. She should know having climbed them! I forgot the camera, so no image.

Tom and I visited the beaver dam again today. The little critters have actually made our river almost into a large pond. There is still current but my favorite spot at Poet's Point is nearly still water.

Rain last night caused more to flow over the dam but the structure seems strong. The water level has about a two to three foot change at the dam.

Our Family from Chili

We have been doing a lot of touring as we introduced our new daughter-in-law and her son to rural Maine which is a long way from Chili.
Luz Maria and Nacho had never been to the states so everything was new to them. They were delighted with the beautiful autumn we had and spent lots of time just looking at leaves and taking photos.
One nice trip was to the Pemaquid lighthouse. The water was calm as glass which is very unusual. We usually have waves lapping up over the rocks. However, it made for good tidal pool searching. Luz Maria is a lone figure as she stands on the rocks overlooking the Atlantic.

Pemaquid is one of the long fingers that reach down from land into the ocean and has a park, museum and tours of the working lighthouse.

Safe Haven for Beavers

The poor little beavers work their flat tails to the bone making dams and houses only to have them washed away in the mighty Nezinscot River. Well, some of them got smart and decided to move into an area that Tom calls his pond. It really is a healthy bog that has water most of the time. Yesterday we were tooting around in our Kawasaki Mule and I braved the wilderness to explore what the beavers were doing in that area. Tom sat in the Mule nursing his hurt back until I came back with glowing reports of the dam's success. Not only have they dammed up the water to make a real lake, but it makes the path to the northeast part of our property accessable without treading water.

Tom couldn't resist and followed me down the path to the new dam. Hopefully I can get my picture to go where I want it to go. Otherwise, you'll just have to look at it where ever it ends up on the page.

Well, thanks to my sweet husband the picture got where I wanted it. Now I want to put in a picture of the cabin. Let's see how that goes.

How about that? I guess the sky's the limit now.

Enjoy

More Fall Foliage

The hurricane brought rain but little else. Most of the trees kept their pretty leaves because there was little or no rain. This picture was such an awesome sight, that I had to take it from several directions. Tom is very good about backing up, stopping, backing up one more time or let's get a picture from the opposite direction. I saw this tree on Friday, but had no camera with me. We went back on Friday morning to get it and more. The stone pillar on the right is an entrance marker to someone's camp on Pleasant Pond.

The other picture is our own Labrador Pond. This pond is only a mile from the house and each time we pass, there is a more beautiful view.

As you can see from the hills in the pond picture, the leaves are not all turned by any means. The hills will get more colorful every day, so stay tuned for more.

Fall is Here

Trying to drive and look at the same time is almost impossible. Tom and I drove out this morning before the rain came and took some awesome pictures.

I'm afraid you will be treated or otherwise to lots of this kind of picture over the next few weeks.

We have never seen the reds so brilliant and so early. Someone said that the sweeter the maple trees were, the more brilliant the red color. Whatever the reason, it is spring all over again with each leaf being a beautiful flower.

I spent considerable time cleaning up the cabin today, so our family who will be visiting from Chili in a week can enjoy a cup of hot chocolate and toast some marshmellows over the campfire. I'm standing on the deck. Husband missed out on the cleaning. I don't know how long he is going to milk this cow!!

After taking the morning pictures, we went to town (Auburn is the closest town thirty miles away) to do some errands. I didn't take a camera as it was raining. Big MISTAKE!!! The colors were so intense even in the rain that I could hardly drive, that means "stay on the road."

The next picture I put on the blog, whereever it ends up, will show just a limb of my favorite leaves of the fall. Each leaf is a collage of different colors and I think they are very special.

That's all for this time.

Dump Shopping

The nicest thing about going to the dump is visiting the Swap Shop where numerous items are attractively displayed for free shopping. You don't often see me sitting and reading anymore.

In September of 2007 the town gave us the small orange container in which to put a Swap Shop. Yours truly never realized what she was getting into when she offered to set up a committee to make a place where people could bring their good disposable items instead of dumping them in the waste stream which costs us taxpayers money.

The original container was the orange one you see on the right. We started out with nothing but two tables inside which husband had made from old doors.

It didn't take long for people to realize what was happening and soon we were overrun with books, clothing, dishes, small appliances and such.

A resident saw the need for bookshelves and literally tore some old wooden ones out of his basement and brought them into the shop.

The gentleman pictured outside the container offered to get donated materials and make shelves. The rest of equiping the shop is history.

This spring the forty foot green container was added to our fleet and it is now filled with furniture, clothing and most anything you could imagine.

It didn't take long for people to see this was a good thing for the community and volunteers

stepped forward. Some claim a certain time to come every week and some are on a call list. Others sign up on a calendar in the shop.

These volunteers spend endless hours sorting clothing into boxes labeled with the proper sizes of clothing displayed on our shelves. Keeping this constant flood of donations sorted is sometimes overwhelming and we do have to toss things that should have gone into the waste stream to start with. However, most people are good about bringing good used items.

I know several people who have outfitted their camps with dishes, furniture and what not. I also see regular people coming to get clothing for themselves or their grandchildren.

Books come and go and we have an excellent library of adult and children's books. I'm amazed how fast cooking books fly out of the shop.

On Saturday, I saw a set of golf clubs enter the shop and go with the next customer. It's fun to see something started to get unloaded and someone else say, "Just load that on my truck."

Not only is the shop getting tons of items out of the waste stream, but people are being helped. I hear people say they tell their neighbors to vist the dump Swallmarts.

Incidently, we moved two and a half tons of items out of the shop in August. We average a ton a month, summer or winter.

Now if you think you need something ELSE to do in retirement, organize a Swap Shop.

Ocean Botanical Gardens

After a heavy frost in the morning, a clear blue sky emerged and we took off for Boothbay to visit the Ocean Botanical Gardens for the second time.
Our friends from Massachusetts were visiting and we wanted them to see the gardens.
Tom, still unable to walk, stayed in the visitor center and napped on a couch while we took the shuttle to the Rhododendrum gardens pictured with the waterfall and also our friends reflected in the pool.

I can't wait until spring when the plants are all in bloom. We walked through these gardens and then down to the ocean trail. Along the way we passed through a wet land where several species of ferns were growing in an experimental garden. They have been sent by various growers to see how the different species react to a Maine winter. The nice part about these gardens is that everything is labeled.

The fern garden led to the ocean where we walked along a quarter of a mile ocean side trail back to the center. The trail is dotted with sculptures and a fairy land garden where children are allowed to use sticks in the area to build their own little fairy houses.

This garden is a must for all of our visitors. Keep that in mind for your next visit.

Signs of Autumn

My hydranga bush has turned a lovely pink from it's normal snow white. This is a sure sign of a seasonal change and one that's sure to bring spectacular viewing of brillant colors before the final dressing of white again, snow that it.

The geese shown flying south give us another clue that fall is on it's way, but one of my favorite scenes is to see the apple trees heavily laden with their red fruit.

This picture shows what has fallen on the ground in our back yard. The interesting thing here is that the deer haven't been to eat the apples. We hear that last year was hard for deer survival and I believe that must be true. We have seen very little wild life this year.

Finished gardens

You may be delighted to know that I will not be sending any, or maybe not many, more pictures of the new garden. It has been planted.

Friday, when I was digging the daylilies out of the seedling bed to move them to the new garden, my neighbor Trudy came by walking her little dog. She walked right over and said, "Mary, you could use some help." She tied up the dog to a nearby shrub and grabbed the shovel. She could dig faster than I could load them into the mule.

After they were all loaded, she said she was taking the dog home but would be right back. Before I could drive the mule over to the waiting beds, she was back with her shovel. In no time we had all the plants in the ground and watered before the rain came.

That afternoon the truckload of mulch arrived and I called my trusty helper Matthew to come on Saturday to move mulch. You see the fruit of his labors before your very eyes.

Planting Has Begun

Today was a very exciting day for me. The seedlings which I grew from seeds over winter of 2006-7 were planted into a seedling bed in the spring of 2007. Most of them bloomed this year and gave us quite a show of excellent new varities.

The purpose of building the beds was to move these seedlings into a larger show bed and have their old bed for next year's seedlings. The water feature was strictly an after thought.
But the result is quite impressive.

I had another helper, Matthew, move the 3 yards of mixed loam into the beds for the planting. He drove the mule down to our sand pit to get the sand for the walkway. We will cover the sand with mulch. The mulch arrives tomorrow. That means I will have to call on one of my helpers to put the mulch on the walkways and I will mulch the plants.

I moved all the daylilies which I had numbered as they bloomed. I photographed them and wrote descriptions in my record book. Tom, who still can't stand to walk because of his back, read me descriptions of the plants from a shady seat. I tried not to have two colors together. I will finish moving the others tomorrow. These will fill the upper bed.

If you notice a rock in the lower bed it is because I couldn't plant there. We had another large rock that couldn't be moved so I decided we would just have a rock feature in the bed.

What to do with the pile of rocks that were taken out of the beds is the next puzzle. The solution may come next spring.

Nothing is ever easy Part 2

My helper Rodney was just going to till up this nice slope so we could line out some beds for my daylily seedlings. Shouldn't be too much trouble and only take a half hour or so??

Two days later, he is still finding bolders in this small area to dig out and around. The rock in the front left is too large for even Rodney to move so we will make it a feature in the top bed.

The bottom bed is ready for the loam, but I have to wait on my helpers as Tom is still barely walking due to his back.

Jewel of the night

Once a year at exactly 10:00 p.m if you are lucky, you get to view a miracle which only God can create in the form of the most beautiful and fragrant flower in the world as I know it. The night blooming cereus is a wonderful creation, but it only last for four hours in the middle of the night. By morning, it is gone forever.

This year, sister and brother in law from Dallas were visiting. As we played cards someone went out to the sunroom to check progress on the flower every 15 minutes or so. I have learned to read the signs 'pretty well' having planned parties in years gone by around the opening of the flower, only to find I was one day too early.

You never know if you missed the night or if the night is tonight. We were lucky this year. I only had one blossom, but what a beauty it was. If you've never had the opportunity to see such a creation, either go buy a plant or find someone who has one and develop a friendship.