New growth

There is the basil, and a marigold plant which I purchased at Painters nursery.  I've added some seeds to the soil a week or so ago.

Zinnias are coming along.  I know I have to cut a few out, because they all sprouted in one place.  That's thanks to the guy who used a power blower on the porch after mowing the grass, and blew most of my seeds to the grass.  But some were under the dirt and have sprouted.

Sound through the vale

Whether in an afternoon, or lonely sounding through the night, our moaning wail from the train is usually evident to most of us in Black Mountain.

And most of us feel that it means we're home.  When I first moved here it would make me smile, thinking of commerce traveling along the rails still.

At times it makes me so sad, thinking of the coal coming out of the mountains going to feed the power plant which relies upon it, so everyone can use electricity.

  We think we're using a clean source of power.

Like the diesel engines pulling the train that warns of its coming at each cross road.  Long toot, two short ones.  I think.

How many times a day does it pass?  How many times going east?  How many times going west?  I have no idea.  But I hear the sound echo off the humid mountains. 

New members

I won't proselytize about my church, The Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Swannanoa Valley, here in Black Mountain, NC.

We have a web page which you're welcome to come look at to learn more about us. 

Last Sunday we welcomed new members.  It was a lovely gathering, and we enjoyed ourselves.  Just wanted to share that with you.

Lakeview Pool

Sure there's the lake year round.  And you can walk around it, around and around.

But only when school's out is the pool open. And this is the first week after school is out.  Finally.

Last night Park Rhythms started...a 2 hour free concert on the green looking over the lake.  Every Thursday evening during the summer.  It was cool and beautiful...and a couple of nice vendors sold food also.  You do have to get there early to park for the 7 pm concert.

Pansies

A simple flower which offers early spring (and some winter) color.  It's just about done with blooming for this year.  A friend said she dug hers out and put them in pots.  What a great idea.  Now just to find 4 pots at this time of year...in this potter's house. 

Bucket Truck and weeds

Sitting on my front porch the other day...there's a bucket truck outside across the street!

Up he goes, cuts out a few branches (not clear from my view point)

And down he comes again - took maybe 4-5 minutes. 

Here's my vantage point from which I watched him...sorry about the overgrown iris, Susan dug out half of them, then put mulch down (where grass is intruding) and the rest didn't get divided this year, so they didn't bloom.  I've been trimming back the mint which wants to take over the right side of the steps...and left the potted geraniums to the left.

Since I haven't been able to divide the bulbs myself, I've been able to bend over just to weed the pansies around the birdbath.

This arrangement didn't work with the hot sun on the potted plants.

Quote for the day:

If you have built castles in the air your work need not be lost. That is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.  Henry David Thoreau

The rennovation in the neighborhood

Woke up a few mornings ago to the thwap thwap of a nail gun.  There may have been a crew, but by the morning I caught the camera and the man at the same time, the job was almost done.

Burnsville Chapter 7

What's that I spy, behind the chamber of commerce (aka old filling station) building?

Up on the hill is an antebellum home.

Th McElroy House is on my list of places to go see...just think about how it probably has authentic furniture as well as stories.  But we had to be on our way on that day, so there is definitely more to see in Burnsville, NC.

The 3,000-square-foot (280 m²) house was built by John Wesley McElroy as a mansion for his wife, Catherine in the 1840s. McElroy was a local businessman and lawyer, and a brigadier general in the Confederate Army. During the war, the house was used as a hospital and the headquarters for the home guard. In 1889 the house was purchased by William Moore, a state senator and former captain in the Union Army. Moore's family lived in the house until 1917 and it became the first Post Office in Burnsville. During the 1970s the house was abandoned and fell into disrepair.   It is now on the National Register of Historic Places. 

The house was purchased in 1987 by the Yancey History Association. The Association restored the building, which was opened as the Rush Wray Museum of Yancey County History in 2003. The museum houses period furniture and exhibits on local history.

More sites in Burnsville, NC

A mural on the wall in the antique store...quite impressive.

Quote for today:

We must slow down to a human tempo and we’ll begin to have time to listen.   Thomas Merton

 

Garden Tour (one)

I promise not to post more than 4 flowers in one post.
And I will spread them out throughout the year.  There's nothing more pleasant than a bloom in February from June, is there?

Our Saturday morning part of the Art in Bloom tour here in Black Mountain had fantastic weather.  I was a volunteer with Carol at Susan's home.  Here are the first 4 photos of our lovely experience.

The umbrella was for shade (much appreciated) as volunteers checked tickets and spoke with visitors

The tour works by people purchasing tickets at the Center for the Arts, then receiving a map showing where each garden is.  When people come to visit the garden, they must show their tickets.  We had to send a couple of people to the BMCA to purchase tickets.  The map was not provided for us volunteers, but we did see that the gardens were spread all over the area.

The Garden Tour also provides access to the gallery exhibit at BMCA where local florists and decorators display an arrangement based upon a piece of art, donated for the purpose of the exhibit.

I think Susan does a great job of combining her pets and gardening, with the fence around the dog's part of the yard.

Our hostess, Susan, who gave a preliminary tour to the vols.  Much of her beautiful garden is behind her house by the guest house.

And a final note is that the garden tour includes a discount towards lunch in some area restaurants (I also didn't hear which ones, sorry).

OK here's one picture of just a flower!

A butterfly weed flower

Burnsville day trip (Chapter 6)

As it was a gorgeous day, we decided to eat on the patio at the Garden Deli.  Actually the entrance to the inside restaurant is between the 2 patios.

 We ate under a solid roof, but open to the sunshine and greenery.

Al fresca has comfort and easy eating here...

 The other side of the entrance walkway has a patio built around a tree, with greenery above as well.

Very reasonable delicious food, including a vegetarian dish.  We could reach right out and touch the tree.

Quote for today:

"Love is like a virus. It can happen to anybody at any time."

~Maya Angelou,  April 4, 1928 – May 28, 2014