Mountain Mama's Point Of View

  My strawberry plants are blooming. They hovered between dying and surviving since I put them in the ground. I decided to move them to a sunnier location since the carport cast a shadow over them and now they are blooming. Only 4 plants survived, so if I get any berries, it will be just a handful. A baby gourd!!! Two years in a row I planted gourds and they produced a crazy amount of gourds. Since then, no matter where or how I planted them, they just withered and the vines turned brown. I planted these without any expectation next to the lattice. The soil there is silty with clay and I didn't really expect then to even come up. The vines are covering the lattice and there were 3 tiny gourds this morning. After I said hello to the baby gourds, I went behind the house to pull some weeds creeping into my mulched in flower bed that faces the ravine. Nobody sees it but me, but I am important! I was trying to stay close to the house while HeWho was still sleeping. 65 degrees had me out

  I woke at 6:30 and started the day. A quick cup of coffee to drink while I sorted pills for the next two weeks, then I showered and dressed before I woke the man who would be denied food and drink. I fed and watered the animals while he dressed, then we headed out for the hospital in Atlanta. Siri assured us that it should only take a couple of hours, but we left early just in case. HeWho is never without a drink close by (used to be Diet Coke before the nurse practitioner confirmed that his wife was right about the sodium content). He normally has flavored water or ice tea to sip on all day. He was a little irritable. We drove the route that took us through Helen from Hiawassee. The road through the mountains is treacherous with only two lanes and crazy curves at 20 mph. We encountered road repair twice and had to wait. The switch backs and the steep drop on the side of the road makes me nervous. When we went this way in the big motorhome, we could smell the brakes burning!! We made

  Rain coming down in buckets and predicted to rain like this all day long. All the dirt I hacked off the side of the mountain to cover the drain pipe is now making its way through the yard. Clay, I should say. So, I was sitting here sipping coffee and watching Netflix when the power went off. No problem I say to myself, I have some chores to attend to anyway. I pull the dog towels out of the washer, having put them in last night before I went to bed. Normally, I hang them outside to dry. But, it is raining. So, myself thinks I should just toss them in the dryer ... but can't do that, it requires electricity. No worries, I take them onto the porch and drape them over the outdoor chairs. I know they won't dry, but they won't sour, either. In case you may be wondering hat "dog towels" are; they are the towels used when bathing the dogs. I wash them separately and add a good dose of bleach to them and they are always a bit hairy, too. The mopping did not require any

  I stood here watching the bees for the longest time as they gathered pollen from my blanket flowers. It was overcast and a nice breeze drifted through the trees. I do enjoy my alone time in the morning. despite HeWho telling me I could never go "up there" alone again. Just because I lost my balance and planted my face on that log! I was weeding in the shade where my caladium bulbs have come to life dramatically. I saw some hornets buzzing around close to the ground and decided to back off. One brave hornet decided to try his luck and was mutilated for his efforts! He kind of stung my inner arm, but I knocked him off before he could inject a whole load of his poison. Just a little sting. It was nothing compared to the attack before. So, I stood contemplating the bumble bees on the blanket flowers. They never bother me as I work around the gardens. Later this afternoon, as evening is approaching, the butterflies will be out in full force. Last week I saw a hole in the ground

  You might recall me being disconcerted (complaining) about my parking space not being under shelter. HeWho likes to think himself to be the solver of problems immediately put one of those cheap tops you might put up as a temporary shelter. The first rain (the next day) took it down. The legs being those spindly cheap aluminum ones. His wife had assured him that this would happen, but she is not one to say "I told you so". (snicker) He purchased another one straight away, it is supposed to be stronger. This was months ago and it lingers outside, still in the box. I am used to this. His solutions are bought, then never applied. Actually, this one is my fault. We have this nice big carport for the RV and the truck. This thing he bought looks like a storage tent. I don't like the looks of it and like the carport it will be one of the first things in sight when you come down my drive. It is hard to turn around to go up the drive, requiring backing out or in. The drive is ste

  No pictures today of my latest adventure. It does involve canine calamities, so if you don't care for dogs, you might not want to read. Let me preface this by saying that my dogs go to the vet with regularity, are treated monthly with flea, tick, larvae prevention and bathed at least once a month. They are petted and loved and checked frequently for anything out of the ordinary. I never see flea dirt on my babies and I look specifically for it, as well as bumps that might indicate a tick. Our yard is treated with granules that kill fleas, ticks, and mosquitoes. Our entire yard, including the area around the She Shed. As I have said, I wait for cooler temps and work outside in the evening hours. I get mosquito bites from time to time, like the rest of the world. For the past couple of weeks my legs have been itching incessantly. I can see red marks that I assumed were mosquito bites. Yesterday, as I was sitting on my couch in my usual spot, a flea jumped on my cheek. I felt it cra