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.

A Hungry Visitor

Several weeks ago I was sewing downstairs late one evening when J. appeared on the staircase beckoning--and at the same time shushing me.

"Come see what's on the porch," he whispered.

It was an opposum, calmly eating kibble from the cat's dish.

Although I tried to take a photo, all I produced was a streaky glare through the [dirty] glass door.  When I cautiously opened the door the possum toddled away.

The possum who dined here on Saturday evening was more obliging.

Sadie and Sally skittered about the carport, not at all dismayed by the possom's presence.

I suspect that one or more of them have been regular visitors.

J. creaked the door open an inch at a time and I managed to reach through and point the camera.

Not spectacular photos but they serve to record the event.

White Clematis

On Thursday afternoon the buds of the white clematis were plump but still tightly closed.

I didn't think to go out around the end of the carport yesterday and look at them.

The warm days over the weekend brought them into full bloom.

I am pleased with this photo. The pair of green-tinged blossoms are on a bit of the vine that needs to be coaxed closer to the chicken-wire support and trained to climb.

One [more] of the things that didn't get done while spring was still in its infancy.

This flower, nearer the top of the support is heavy with rain drops.

The sky was menacing when I took the first photos and a cloudburst drove me indoors to hastily shut open windows and sop up rain that instantly pooled on windowsills.

The storm passed in about 15 minutes and I squelched out to see how the clematis fared.

I used the  macro setting for this shot--the detail of the raindrops pleases me.

The Quirkiness of April Weather

This dooryard view was taken  Saturday morning and published in the photo section of our local online magazine.

It was a day of fiercely blue skies, the sun's warmth countered by brisk winds.

After lunch I pulled a chair into the most sheltered corner of the porch/carport and sat dreaming with a book of English cottage gardens open on my lap. When the breeze ruffled the pages I simply let my eyes roam over green grass, delicate new leaves and the sun-shimmered view of the Big Creek Valley.

I was outside on Sunday morning in time to hear the hoofbeats of one of the Amish horses pulling a family carriage along the road to meeting.  Pebbles gets very excited whenever a buggy goes by, trumpeting to the passing horse and dashing around her pasture.

This brilliant male cardinal was singing boisterously at the top of a dooryard maple.

The day was a "weather-breeder"--gusty winds that snapped the wash on the line, cloud shadows rushing overhead.  The cats were in a frenzy all day, dashing in and out of the open sliding door, zipping around their fenced play yard, swatting at each other, bristling at things the humans can't see.

I busied myself in the garage potting on tomato seedlings while J. contrived a cold frame from some salvaged windows.  Willis was most helpful and continually under foot. He dispatched a sizable grey rat which he left in the flower bed along-side the garage.  I scooped it up using a bit of paper towel in my gloved hand, and cremated it in the fireplace.

The cold frame taking shape.  The glass is so heavy it may have to be J. who will open it each morning.

Storm watch was posted warning of high winds, localized hail and thunderstorms.

By Sunday evening the light had that strange green tinge which prophecies storm.

I got more weeding done in the main perennial strip.  There are bare spots where plants failed last summer to flourish.  Several of them, delphiniums, Lady's mantle, digitalis--apparently don't like as much heat and humidity as last season provided. My new book on southern gardening will be a help as I decide what to plant---though so much of gardening anywhere is experimental.

Who would think that a space 6 x 10 ft could have so much dirt to be removed before the landscape fabric can be put down.

I got this much done in the evening twilight, hobbled indoors and declared my intention to hire Joseph to help me finish--when we've dried out again from today's heavy rain.

The brooding evening sky.  There were three jet trails--this one overhead and two along the western horizon.

I moved all the catnip plants in the rectangle of garden I'm re-working.

Unwilling to throw out the fresh green tops, I collected them in a basket which has been of great interest to several of the cats.  Here Mrs. Beasley reclines in a drugged state.

Monday morning before the rain and wind came on.

The air was humid and heavy, the birds were hiding, all was an expectant hush.

The tomato plants safely in the cold frame along with two big pots planted to muskmelon.

The leaden skies couldn't dull the beauty of the crab apple and the redbud.

When the rain and wind broke in mid-afternoon our world turned dark as dusk.

Branches thrashed, rain pummeled.

I sat by the east window with a book and two cats on my lap.

In little more than half an hour the fury had passed.

Catnip High

The catnip which I sowed liberally last spring has burgeoned into several 'plantations.'

Teasel begs me to bring her a sprig each time I go out.

"No, I'm NOT cross-eyed--I'm looking carefully at my paw."

"It's MY CATNIP and I don't wish to share!"

"Something about this stuff makes me sleepy!"