Joys of Gardening...

Currently, this area that we live in is experiencing a drought (along with many others across the country). Our grass is pretty brown and hurts to walk across barefoot. We had been hosing our garden down but recently we purchased a couple of soaker hoses.

Wow! What a difference it makes. Our garden seems to be getting bigger every time we check on it. Our bell peppers are growing like crazy. I saw a mini bell pepper (the size of a thumb nail) and then next day when I checked, it was the size of a child's fist...now I am looking forward to the day they turn red! We have so many tomatoes that if they all survive until they are ripe, we are going to be hoping that all of our neighbors love tomatoes as much as we do!

Yesterday, in our perusal of the garden to see what new has popped up...we found that a zuchini was growing. It is tiny right now, but I am really looking forward to having zuchini (from our garden) for our stir-frys and for zuchini bread. We have four plants, do you think we'll have enough zuchini?

At the moment, our biggest fear is that we are going to wake up one morning or come home from work to find our garden trampled. There is a cow next to us that has figured out how to get out of her electric fence. It is pretty interesting to watch her (a cow) slide one of her front hooves between the wire of the fence, then slip her head under, then the next front paw and then the two back legs!

We have been enjoying our garden, if you couldn't tell. As all people know who have grown anything, it is pretty satisfying to plant something and then eat it later!

Shindig on the Green

We went down to the Martin Luther King Jr park in Asheville to listen to some local bluegrass music. It was sweet...they allowed us to bring our dog and a picnic if we wanted plus it was free! What a great date night. It was a pretty nice setup...off to the front were actual bands playing and then you could walk around the perimeter of the park there were groups of 3 to 7 people jamming together underneath tents. Some of the guys looked like they might have been the originators of the bluegrass movement...but they probably just picked it up from their parents.

 

At the Shindig on the Green, Maddy was a friend maker, lots of little kids and even adults wanted to come and pet her. It was awesome that everyone was so friendly and that they even allowed dogs to come hang out. This vet was enjoying the show. If you can, check out his pack on the back of his rig.

Our walk this week consisted of going up the Parkway to Craggy Gardens and then walking down to Douglas Falls. It was a wonderful hike, if a bit on the humid side, but we hardly saw anyone. We were able to eat our lunch at the falls in solitude. Along the way we saw lots of mushrooms and a different type of rhododendron in bloom.

 

Madera had a grand old time, she was much better behaved than last weekend, when we attempted to go for a bike ride, but she jumped on the first person she saw. We are trying to nix that bad trait of hers, so we turned around and went back to the truck. On this hike she was more distracted by the stuff around, so she didn't jump on the backpackers and hikers we saw until the very end. We keep hearing that 3 is the magic age when dogs settle down...only 17 months to go...if the vet who guessed Maddy's age is correct.

Walk in the Rhododendron - Roan Mountain, TN

Mat had heard from a co-worker that the rhododendron was suppose to be a big thing out at Roan Mountain in Tennessee. So we decided to go check it out. After a couple hours of driving in the car, we arrived. There was hardly any parking at the trailhead, it was so popular, but we got a spot as someone pulled out. It was a beautiful sunny day to be out for a ridge walk. We definitely hit the catawba rhododendron at peak blooming time and the orange of the flaming azalea was cool to see all mixed into the view.

Not only was this hike very beautiful, but Maddy was a perfect trail dog, even with all the people. She didn't jump on anyone and she listened to us when we called her. One of our better hiking days with our dog!

This flower is Gray's Lily which would be listed as Threatened/Endangered if the Fish & Wildlife Service were allowed to add any more species to the Threatened/Endangered list. Roan Mtn is one of the few places to catch a glimpse of this flower.

Look how tall the rhododendron is?  As you can tell I am having a ball!

grocery shopping in the south

I needed a few things at the grocery store, so on my way home I stopped at the large local grocery store near my work. I went around the store picking up the necessary items and went to check out at the self-checkout aisle. After realizing that I had too many produce items which annoy the checker, because the machine pauses and I have to stare at the checker until they realize they need to do something, I went to a regular checkout.

Just as it was my turn to get my groceries rang up, the security beeper goes off. (You know the one that goes off and it usually is someone's cell phone making it go off.) Well, one of the managers went out to see what it was and as my checker is starting to scan my groceries I happen to glance out the window and see the manager yelling at someone and he is throwing his juice bottle at the customer/s. The customer didn't do what the manager asked, instead they hopped in their car and started reversing out to drive away. Meanwhile, in the store my checker mentions to another manager who happened to be walking by the checkstands, but hadn't looked out the window, that he might want to check on this guy. So as he's running out the front of the store as backup, the first manager has pulled out a KNIFE...yes, a knife and has punctured not just one but two of the tires as the car is trying to leave. Well, as the second manager is running out to help he pulls out his knife and before the car can get away, a third tire is punctured. This doesn't seem to affect the car, because it drives off out of the parking lot. And that is that. (I can't imagine that there is anything worth stealing from a grocery store that is worth more money than the three tires that they are going to have to replace!)

My checker resumed checking my groceries and after paying her, I left the store. I have learned a very good lesson here, they don't call the police on shoplifters...and store managers carry knives out here..so I won't ever want to get into a disagreement with one of them on how the price really was 99 cents not $2.99.