Settling In

Two weeks ago today our daughter and her family began the process of moving their worldly goods from our garage to their newly purchased home a mere country mile along the road.

Matt and Devin have ferried furniture and boxes [oh, the boxes and bins!] carefully by the pickup load.

The house was not left as clean as it should have been, so Gina has spent exhausting hours scrubbing every cupboard and surface, scouring the bathtub/shower/sinks and the fridge  before unpacking.

M. gives up at a sensible hour and finds a place to sleep, while G. and D.--the confirmed night owls--shove furniture, paw through boxes, and contemplate alternate arrangements into the wee hours.

G. has a great flair for decorating.  Each time we stop by I am called to witness a cunning nook of furnishings and accessories--only to find by the next visit that it has been changed!

The cottage sits well back from the road in the deep shade of maples.  Walnut and chestnut trees rim the back yard.  The former owner did some rather formal landscaping around the house: hollies; knock-out roses, juniper, ornamental grasses and daylilies. G. is torn between the neccesity of settling the house and spending time weeding in the plantings and considering where she will set out her hoarded perennials.

The lilies in the landscaped areas include the common orange daylily which the former owner transplanted from a huge spread of them just along the road; I recognize Stella d'Oro and a lovely citron-shaded one which I beleive is Hyperion.

This charmer opened this week--the double trinity of petals is distinctive

and the "monkey face" makes us smile.

The south-facing covered porch is perhaps G.'s favorite spot--a real selling point when they viewed the home.

She has arranged "the wicker" so happily acquired at a yard sale; potted plants are placed to advantage.

The lineup of perennials at the edge of the porch are awaiting the planned garden spot. Preparing that is on Matt's list!

Viewing the porch from the side toward the back yard.

You can see the Hyperion lilies at the left edge of the photo.

Jinka, the idiosyncratic white cat, peers over her shoulder, ever alert to the possibility of T-Baby charging from the shrubbery.

G. didn't feel quite ready for a full house tour, but the kitchen is cleaned, sorted, and in working order.

As you can see, it is a galley arrangement.  The oak cabinetry was made by a local craftsman and is well done. G. prefers white painted cabinets and woodwork so the predominance of dark-stained oak in this house is taking some mental adjustment.  When feeling stressed and cross through-out the moving process she threatens to buy gallons of white gloss paint and slather it over the oak.

None of us are taking the threat seriously!

The little window tucked at the end of the counter looks out to the north.  Eventually the proposed flower garden will be situated in a splash of sunlight and will be visible through this window.

Tarbaby the Cat has decided that he likes to parade the length of the countertop and station himself at the window to watch "birdies."

[G. declares that he NEVER walked on counters until he peeked in the windows during his two month stay with us and saw our resident felines making free with counters and table-tops. A likely tale!]

It was overcast yesterday when I took these hasty photos of the dining room so this corner doesn't show to good advantage. G. collects vintage trunks, two of which are stacked in front of the window. Her 'Wardian case' holds potted gerbera daisies.

A close up of the window arrangement with a bamboo stand to the right.

M. purchased this sturdy oak hutch several years ago at an auction in Lander, WY. G. wasn't sure she liked it then, but is pleased to find that it matches the oak cabinetry of this house and is a fine gathering spot for

some of her cherished vintage pantryware and linens.

I think she has a flair for eye-catching arrangements--surely worthy of any glossy decorating magazine!

The King and Queen of Yard Sales

Ninah nestles in a warm blanket on the wicker loveseat.

G. and M. are avid fans of lawn sales.

While the pickings at such events in Wyoming are rather discouraging, they have definitely landed in

a part of the country that "does" yard sales, flea markets, and auctions.

G. has been coveting wicker porch furniture

[in fact we have heard about it until we can all recite her litany!]

They have found that the best time to hit the sales is early [as in before 8 a.m.] making the rounds of advertised sales after dropping D. at the high school.

They have each developed an "eye" for good stuff.

Recent hauls have included some framed prints which M. has compared online; G. has another

"Scotch plaid" cooler to add to her collection.

They acquired a wicker loveseat about two weeks ago, in need of a going over with a wire brush and several coats of spray paint.

Still. G. lamented that it wasn't a full "set".

Today was the bonanza: a 5 piece set in mint condition, including handsome cushions and pillows.

J. backed our car out of the carport so that the furniture can take pride of place there until it moves shortly to

live on the south-facing porch of M and G's new home down the road.

T-baby has laid vociferous claim to one of the chairs.

My chair!

The fresh radishes just happen to be in the photo--so that M and G can share their

pleasure in Kentucky living!

We are encouraging them to rent a stall at the Peddler's Mall in C'ville.

With G's flair for staging and presenting, and their combined growing interest in collectables,

wouldn't it make for a fun side-line?

[I anticipate that this post will be of interest to Shanon at Vintage Sparkle Chic---Shan, you'll have to come visit and rent a U-Haul!]

A Puddling of Swallowtails

Grandson Devin and I have been wading in the bend of Big Creek which lies across the road from our lower meadow. Devin had gotten mud to his knees while investigating footprints in the ditch; I created a blister on one ankle by stomping about in rubber boots with no socks. He slogged and I limped to the bottom of the pasture, where beyond the asphalt road the cool waters of the creek beckoned.

We eased off our boots and left them on the shaley slope leading into sun-dappled water, stirring up clouds of swallowtail butterflies which swirled ahead, just out of good camera range.

I was delighted to find several clumps of the butterflies resting in the shade.

A look at the wikipedia entry for Eastern Tiger Swallowtail promises a wealth of information.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_tiger_swallowtail

 

The water of the creek was cool--not cold.  It felt soothing to my chaffed ankle.

The creek bed was slippery--with interesting cracks and fissures.  Small pebbles had settled into these grooves in the rocky bed.  D. poked at crawdads who slid under the lip of rock.

Males participate in a behavior called puddling, in which they congregate on mud, damp gravel, or puddles. They extract sodium ions and amino acids from these sources which aid in reproduction.[13][19] Males that puddle are typically fresh, and puddle only for their first couple of days. Females will occasionally puddle, but do not form congregations.[19]

From wikipedia

If I have read the information correctly it would seem that the black swallowtail is a color morph of the tiger female.

Some of the butterflies in the "puddles" had the blue markings of the female, so perhaps we witnessed some unusual behavior.

Impossible to get a photo where at least one butterfly wasn't fluttering and causing a blur.

I have never witnessed this behavior of the butterflies before and feel blessed to have seen them today.

The one in the foreground has the markings of a male.

This photo was taken as we approached the creek along the bank.

Although only two butterflies are easily seen here, they were rising up in clouds.

D. and I left the creek reluctantly, boots dangling from our hands, and padded up the warm stretch of macadam road to the driveway and along the grassy verge to the house.

All Serene

I beleive the wind and rain abated soon after midnight.  I wasn't conscious of hearing either whenever I roused slightly during the night.  Morning dawned beautifully clear and sunny and I was up early.

It was cool, a good time to make a fire in the fireplace to take away the sense of chill and damp.

M. did some online research today re the frequency of tornados which have actually touched down in Adair County---only 15 recorded since 1933.

This should be reassuring news for daughter G.

We appreciate the inquiries for our safety.

M. and G. announced they had a very restful night in their make-shift beds in the basement family room--it is very quiet down there, and of course dark.

G. woke to see Teasel peering down at her from the staircase above.  [G. and Teasel are finding their way into a relationshp--wary on Teasel's part as she has not in the past liked G.]

J. is battling the head cold which I enjoyed last week, so he slept in this morning.

G. and I took the car and headed to the Catholic Charity shop which opens early and closes at noon.

We had a good rummage which produced among other things, 2 pair of dressy trousers for G.--tags still on, brands that are very pricey when purchased in a department store.

The County Library is along the street from the charity shop, so I took G. there to get a library card.

I'm less than impressed with the library selection of books, but they do have inter-library loan service.

Our next stop was at a local furniture store.  We looked at the pretties, but agreed that we are both happier with "found furniture" for the most part--treasures which can be refinished and repurposed.

Our last stop before getting the inevitable groceries at Wal Mart was at the

recently opened Good Will Store.

I found a dainty blouse made with all the tucks, tiny ruffles of lace and inserts such as I used to make for myself and for G. and her cousins back when the Gunne Sax label was all the rage.

We came home to find that J. and M. had given up on us and gone out for a buffet lunch.

The weather was so wonderful that we quickly ate leftover chicken/vegetable soup, stripped all the beds and pegged linens out to billow in the wind.

During this wet spring we're glad for J.'s garden plan of leaving strips of mown grass between the planting rows.  Although the soil is wet, we can scrape out a trench with the hoe and tuck in seeds.  I planted 1/2 # of green beans late this afternoon and J. put in a short row of sweet corn.

The cucumber and melon seeds are up, as well as the Swiss chard we planted last week.

Many of my tomato plants are out-growing the head room in the cold frame.  We're hoping that by late tomorrow it might be dry enough to set them out.  I have smaller seedlings waiting their turn for the cold frame.

J. took me round to see that he had staked up a Double Knock-Out rose which had been leaning and staked and tied up the two huge pink peonies.

I grieve when these lovely seasonal flowers get hit by rain at blossom time.

A peaceful bucolic scene--the view down Big Creek valley late this afternoon.

Rain-battered but still lovely--rosa rugosa Blanc Double de Coubert.

Rosa rugosa Hansa.

This clump of aquilegia is just coming into bloom.

We made a trip to South Fork on Tuesday, to introduce M. and G. to the cluster of Mennonite shops in the area.  I bought this dianthus at the greenhouse there--it is called Strawberry Parfait.

Speaking of strawberries: M. called us just before supper to look out the window at grandson D. who was carefully inspecting the progress of J.'s ripening berries!

Stormy Green Twilight

It has rained intermittantly for the past 24 hours.

[As if we needed more rain!]

There have been frequent tornado watches this spring for several Kentucky  counties including the one where we live.   We've been told that it is rare for a tornado to touch down in this area, although "straight-line winds" can do damage.

Twilight tonight was painted in the strange eerie green hues that attend stormy weather.

I used several different camera settings for the following photos--none of them quite capture the reality of the rapidly shifting light and clouds.

The skyline looking south down Big Creek Valley.

The last rays of daylight struck up a shimmery haze.

Note the puddles in the grassy area of the back yard.

A wider "landscape" shot of the valley.

Rain-battered flowers hold their colors in the green dusk.

A final photo of the Big Creek Valley taken just as the rain broke again.

Daughter G. who is a decidedly dramatic personality, has been anxious about the possibility of a tornado

sweeping in and, as she puts it, "hurling a telephone pole through the front window of the motor home."

She, M. and their 2 dogs and 3 cats have been domiciled in the big motorhome which is parked just outside under the maple trees.

G. insists that the nightly wind and rain are buffeting the motorhome and keeping her awake with fears that she will be blown away to kingdom come~!

J. follows the progress of storms with an on-line doppler site, really monitors it during severe storms.

Rather than reassuring G. that all is likely to be safe, he has this evening been teasing her.

This has resulted in her moving the 3 cats into the spare bedroom to sleep with grandson D.

They have been keeping me company as I type.

G. has made herself a cozy space in the basement family room which she considers to be a safe refuge.

She has piled the daybed with a duvet, one of my woolen blankets, extra pillows.

She brought in her small radio and tuned it to a low-key all night station.

Her books are stacked invitingly by the rocking chair and the lamp is turned on.

Oh yes, since their mattresses and box springs have been stored in the family room she has laid down a mattress for M. and provided him with a quilt and two pillows.

J. is now teasing her that if the wind blows tonight we shall all move downstairs and sleep with her.

I daresay we could take down the kettle and make midnight tea!

I am not a person who enjoys storms.

In the year and a month that we have lived here there have been some torrential rains,

some wind, a very brief hail storm or two.

Each place we have lived--Vermont, Wyoming, and now Kentucky--has its own climate issues, spells of weather that call for a bit of planning ahead, dealing with whatever the elements bring us.

When we read of natural disasters in other places there is always the guilt-tinged relief that our own homes are spared. 

Tonight I can be thankful that the roof doesn't leak, the basement drain is unstopped

and we have room for everyone to sleep comfortably in this little house.

Domestic Activity

J. has been fretting for a week that he wanted a lemon meringue pie.

Actually, he has announced this need for the pie at several very inopportune times--such as 8 in the evening, when I wasn't about to launch a pastry marathon.

This noon J. decided he needed to go to Lowes to buy a new head for the strimmer.  M. G. and D. went along as part of getting acquainted with their new territory.

It seemed a good time for me to catch up on domestic chores.

A load of laundry was pegged out to flap dry under bright blue skies.

I produced the lemon pie and two fruit pies which went into the deep freeze.

I also made 4 plump loaves of oatmeal/molasses bread.

When the tribe returned from Campbellsville I was presented with a lovely Easter lily.

I should have taken a photo in daylight.

Grandson D. thought he could get a better image of the plant by setting it on the floor.

He was immediately mobbed by the cats, who wanted to see what he was doing.

Here Teasel investigates the lily.

After two days of intermittantly heavy rains the garden is--again--too wet for either planting or weeding.

We all pitched into yard work late this afternoon.

J. buzzed about with his rejuvenated trimmer; D. roared around on the riding lawn mower. M. dug out some over-grown clumps of something I think might be liriope---variagated thin foliage that turned brown in winter--no flowers.  G. raked dead leaves and debris along the front porch, while I pulled out Virginia creeper, lengths of poison ivy and handfulls of weeds.

J. took the clippers to the box hedge, somewhat hampered by the presence of Willis the Cat.

D. brought out the push-mower and ran it along the edges of the perennial beds.

Willis was very interested in all that we were doing. As I turned over dirt along the edge of the porch I uncovered a series of mole tunnels.  Willis pounced on them, running his stripey "arm"down the openings.

G.'s neurotic and elderly chihuahua chased Willis.

T-baby, the Maine Coon Cat tackled Ginger Pisser [the feral tom] as he approached the cat dish in the car port.  The war song of disgruntled cats filled the air. The dogs barked.

G. rushed to save her darling T-baby.

Mixie [the chihuahua] chased Ginger into the woodpile.

Accompanied by this melee of animals, we worked on until nearly dark.

The ever-helpful Willis

We hope for a sunny dry day tomorrow as the asparagus roots still have not been interred

in their prepared trench.

A Taste of Success

Grandson D. checks his cellphone as he emerges from the cab of the truck meant to be his own.

While yesterday's initial search for a suitable home in KY was discouraging for our recently arrived family, today was brighter.

M. located this truck for sale cia the internet.

He and D. went with J. to look it over after dropping off the empty U-Haul in town.

Daughter G. and I enjoyed a quiet few hours sitting in the sun, watching the cats and her dogs.

The men were quite full of themselves when they returned with the pickup which will serve as the  family vehicle for now and will later be for D.'s use.

[Neither of M. and G.'s middle-aged  vehicles had A/C--a requirement in a climate where summer can begin in April---so they were not moved across the country.]

I've always adored Chevy  pick-ups--I've given warning that if the keys are left in the ignition, I may just drive off to town!

Arrivals

Our daughter, son-in-law and grandson rolled in from Wyoming at about midnight on Monday--make that the very wee hours of Tuesday morning.  A wrong turn delayed them for a bit, then they lost cell phone coverage.  They pulled into the local Wal Mart and went into the electronics dept hoping to sort the phones.  The man in charge there assured them that he "growed up in Gradyville" and would be going off work shortly and could lead them to our turn-off.

We were pacing the floor, wondering what had happened, so got in our car and drove up the road just in time to meet M. carefully maneuvering the rental truck onto the narrow winding road.

After greetings and hearing the short version of their trip we all very belatedly went to bed!

It was pouring rain all evening and still misty and dank in the morning.  By noon there were welcoming sunny skies, a chance to admire the flowering trees and shrubs.

Daughter G. bundled in her Dad's jacket bringing her Maine Coon Cat in to be reacquainted with us.

The rental truck has to be turned into the local U-Haul depot today.

The decision was made to store belongings here and there in our various barns rather than

 in a storage unit in town.

Worldly goods being removed from the truck.

Daughter is very attached to that faded pink bathrobe--I think its the equivalent of a "Linus blanket."

As they say in the South, "Lawd, have mercy!"

Our garage is filling up.

I am definitely in "flash back" mode--this reminds me of way too many moves

in the past decade.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could really cull our belongings and "travel light?"

M. and G. are delighted with the Kentucky countryside--all the greeness,

the songs of the mockingbirds each morning and

the "peepers" singing from the creek every evening.

They just need to find a house--a daunting prospect.

Grandson D. is [I think] a bit stunned--and maybe not too anxious to be introduced as the new kid at the local high school!

We predict that before his first week there is out the cheerleaders will be competing for his attention.

Happy Birthday to Our Daughter

Our daughter, Gina Beth, was born on January 17, 1966.

She missed by a few hours being a birthday present for her Dad.

Just as well--we spent that evening traveling from Vermont to Maine.  I had a few hours rest between reaching our home in Maine and leaving for the hospital.

School photo, Union Springs Academy.

Gina is the only one of the grandchildren to have her "Poppa Whitehurst's" hazel eyes.

I cropped this from a larger group photo, probably taken by my sister-in-law at a family gathering.

Gina loves colorful clothes and "baubles."

Gina with her cat, T-baby--taken against the flaming backdrop of a Wyoming sunset--enhanced by the glow of a mountain forest fire.

Photo by my son-in-law.

Gina loves her pets dearly, but she shows her affection in strange ways.

What's a cat to do when togged up in a baby dress--pink, of all things!

Gina and her omni-present cat.

[Tarbaby, aka Bubby]

A rare moment of gardening, with Mixie, the dog she smuggled home from Mexico.



Father and daughter showing the family resemblance.

They were singing;

Oh Lord it's hard to be humble

when you're perfect in every way.

I can't wait to look in the mirror

cause I get better looking each day.

Happy Birthday, Dear Gina!