Rhodo

This rhododendron plant is at the front stoop. I was struck today by how many different stages of "blooming" were present on the single plant.

 

 

 

 

Pears

 

This pear tree has never done all that much. It makes pretty flowers and produces lots of really small fruit. I think over the years it got too tall. It was full of broken limbs. We finally decided over winter that we would pull it down and start a new tree. I mentioned this to Eli on Saturday in passing, and later that same day he took off a representative sample of small limbs. Today it was ropes and ladders galore, as he and Briggs tore into the project in a big way. Eli made sure they were safe; Briggs made sure they got a lot done. I have encouraged them to work from the top of the tree down, taking off manageable pieces. That seems to have worked well. Because of the pandemic, the town is not picking up debris like they usually do, so that part of the project will have to wait. But the boys will probably have the whole thing down tomorrow. Briggs has been getting frustrated with the chainsaw's malfunctions (chain slipping off the bar). I explained that it was a cheapo device 30 years ago, and that he shouldn't expect to much from it. It's probably done more in 24 hours than it has in the past 24 years! We'll have to figure out how to deal with the stump. But the new tree is ready and waiting.

Play structure, revisited

Not much has been happening with the play structure for quite some time. Every now and then I would spot Calvin upon it. But it remains unfinished, with weeds overtaking the sand box area. But the past couple of weeks have seen some renewed energy surrounding it. I have kept out of the way, but noted as Calvin has used tools and materials out there. I haven't kept much track of what he was doing, just seeing that he has been busy. One night last week he had things to such a point that he declared he was ready to spend the night outside on the structure, in a hammock borrowed from Eli. He tried, but lasted only until about midnight. He reported that the wind was very strong (which it was) and that made sleeping impossible. These are some pictures of the "finished" project, minus a hammock.
 

Redbud

A few years ago I got us a redbud tree for our anniversary. We planted it near Kerlee Heights Road on the bank above the drainage ditch. There were some other mature trees around. The redbud didn't do very well. Most noticeably it leaned toward the street. It took forever for me to figure out what was going on. I finally realized it didn't really like the location. But I never got around to moving it. Finally a couple of years ago it died. Last year about this time I got another redbud, and we put it in the same spot. Almost immediately it started leaning. Over winter I decided that I would move it in order for it to have a chance to thrive. I did that right before things began to warm up. I moved it further down the bank, toward the apple trees, near the Japanese maple, but not under anything else. It seems to be doing well. I used stakes and guide wires to help it straighten; those seem to be working.

March and April 2020

 

It's hard to believe it's been more than a year since my last post. And hard to believe I'll break the dry spell with this!

Covid-19 is all about. The boys have been out of school for a couple of weeks, with at least a couple more to go. They have been good about keeping themselves occupied. Schoolwork via remote hookup has been part of that. A couple of days ago I remembered that I had some spare fence posts lying around to work on the fence between us and the Griffiths. I replaced a couple a few years ago. I rented a digger then, which was kind of pricey. However, Briggs has gotten to the point he could easily dig the holes with a manual post hole digger, so I set him up for a trial run. Dottie Allen was out there almost immediately checking in on everything! She said she could not remember the posts ever having been changed in the 35+ years she's lived in her house. The first one kind of leaned, mostly due to the way the fence was placed. His second one was very nicely done. He did a couple more the next day. The hardest part is removing the nails holding the fence material to the old posts. He's used a couple of different tools. On one of the holes we got a little ahead of ourselves when backfilling the new post. We managed to shovel/rake a cheap flathead screwdriver into the hole along with the dirt. Neither of us was interested in re-digging to get it. Archeologists in ages to come will spends hours wondering "why."

I think the immediacy of Facebook has sapped my interest in writing in the blog format. Every now and then though I get an urge to write up something. Of late it's felt like too much hassle to use this form, but in the age of corona-virus in 2020, I have the time.

Waterfalls December 2018

I think I saw a post on Facebook about waterfalls along US 64 in Macon County. There were four in a row between Franklin and Highlands. I thought they would be a good expedition for us. Despite iffy weather we set out Sunday afternoon. We made a grand loop from Asheville to Franklin, down to Highlands, then across to Cashiers, Brevard and back home. It was about 5 hours all together.

We came to Cullasaja Falls first. It was tempting to try to make the descent to the water, but it was very steep and wet. We aborted after making it about 1/3 the way down.

 

Bust Your Butt Falls was very full. Nobody was interested in trying to get in the water here.

The path behind Dry Falls was closed "for falling rock danger" and indeed there was a lot of water rushing past making one wonder if parts of the overhang might break off.

Bridal Veil Falls was last. I think I was here as a child. The driveway behind the falls is closed but we could walk back there.

Beach 2017

For the first time in several years we made it to the beach this summer! One of Libby's relatives let us have their condo for several days. Briggs asked if we could get up early one morning and go watch the sun rise. He was ready this morning. It was cloudy, but he still got a pretty nice video. He shot for about an hour. We finally decided the sun wasn't going to poke through the clouds so we left.

 

The South Carolina coast is getting some beach renourishment this summer after Hurricane Matthew last year. The equipment in the background is part of that.

Backyard camping

 

The weather the past few days has been glorious, and quite unlike typical July-August weather. Low temps and low humidity have made for a delightful few days. Calvin often asks about camping during summer, which is tricky especially since a good combination of available time and agreeable weather is hard to come by. So I seized this opportunity: I asked Calvin if he would like to set up the tent in the yard, and he took me up on it. We set up the tent Sunday evening, and Calvin slept outside by himself. He said it was a little chilly Monday morning, but otherwise just fine. Monday we invited a friend, Tyler, over for Monday night. I decided to go for the whole camping experience by doing dinner over the fire pit. The boys had a blast. Tyler and Calvin tried to sleep in the tent but Tyler was too distracted by critter noises, and they finally came inside about midnight. I suggested to Calvin on Tuesday that it might be time to bring down the tent, and he asked for a third night. He stayed outside by himself again last night!After supper Monday catching marshmallows in the air got to be the big thing with Tyler and Briggs. They actually caught a few! We also learned that Tyler prefers gooey bits of carbon on his s'mores.

Ball, and more ball

It's been a couple of years since I took Briggs to watch the Braves play in Atlanta, and that was at the old stadium. I decided we should go again this year, with Calvin and see the new digs. We went to a day game on a Wednesday a couple of weeks ago. The trip down was a piece of cake. The trip back took forever. We were leaving at evening rush, and night-time construction held us up in SC. The game was fine, though Atlanta lost against the Cubs. The boys didn't really mind since they really didn't love either team. We spent some time roaming the stadium. On the way back we stopped for supper in Clemson, and took a drive through the university.

 

Early in the season, friends took Calvin to a Tourists' game. Somehow he got a coupon for a free package of 4 GA tickets for later in the season. We cashed those in this weekend. The weather was glorious, which is the only way I would have consented to a daytime game in the middle of summer. The Tourists lost, but the boys had a great time. One of the perks of day games is that children can run the bases after the game. Briggs and Calvin also stood in line to get autographs afterward. We used only 3 of our 4 tickets, so I gave one away to a guy in line with us. He couldn't stand it, and slipped me a few bucks as we walked in. I bought Calvin a mini-bat. Briggs snagged a fistful of balls during the game. Those were the items they got signed.

 

Late-winter 2017

It was a fairly mild winter, so the apple trees were looking pretty good as they budded. There was no late frost, so they were looking good for October apples. At some point Briggs got a notion to bake a cake, so he did. It came out fine. I was reminded of the time Eli got a similar idea. Without Eli at home, food consumption is different but things still manage to disappear regularly. I came home one afternoon to a flurry of activity in the back yard. A hawk had gotten a critter and was trying to finish it off. Mostly flying leaves and feathers, but I was cool if a bit gruesome.

Birthdays and sports in winter 2017

Here are a few pictures from winter-time birthdays and sports. It's a fun season of the year.