Progress

My focus these past few days has been to remove all the pine straw to the right of the raised bed, remove the cardboard underneath, dig out all the weed/grass roots and sod, then replace the cardboard and top it all off with a thick layer of pine bark mulch.

Here's what it looks like right now, after an hour or so on Sunday and about three hours today.  Only half done! By the way, my cardboard experiment was definitely not a total flop.  The only thing living under the cardboard is the Bermuda or crab grass, whichever it is. All the other stuff, including clover, is long gone and rotted away.  And, the roots of the grass seem weaker .  These areas are much easier to clean out than the areas that have had no cardboard.  Hindsight tells me that I should have put the pine bark down in the first place, instead of the pine straw, but I thought it would be too expensive and I'd need to buy in bulk and have it delivered.  Wrong on both counts.  I doubt that it would have cost much more than the pine straw, and since I can buy it in bags at HD, it comes home in the car.  Not all at once, but that's OK.

I've done my bit for today and am now crunching on some freshly-roasted peanuts (from my own oven).  Then, it's time to chill, rest the old body.

Exploring the North Georgia Mountains

The Appalachian Trail headed north from Three Forks.  These two are probably thru-hikers, headed to Mt. Katahdin, Maine.  It's the time of year when hundreds of good souls begin the 2000+ mile trek, and only a fraction actually make it all the way.  I didn't catch up with them to ask, but it's a lot of gear for an overnight hike. They have the look of thru-hikers, and I saw and spoke with many of them back when.  I used to make a point of working on my trail section in April, just to meet and talk to them.  At this point, all of four miles, they are all still gung-ho and excited, haven't had a chance to burn out or give up.

As  you can see, I opted to drive up to the mountains today, instead of tomorrow.  In fact, I drove for a total of about 7 hours, with only two stops -- one for gas and a bathroom, the other here at Three Forks for a few minutes.  I started out walking on the Trail headed for Longs Creek Falls, about a mile in, then I realized what time it was (3pm) and knew I didn't have time.  Aside from that, the place was like a parking lot/playground!  I've never seen so many cars parked at that place, or so many people just walking to or from that direction.  I had a sad sense that I'd find a crowd splashing at the Falls, and I just couldn't face that.  It's a lovely spot, a highlight of this section, but doesn't deserve to be a tourist hangout.

First of all, I couldn't believe people would drive into the wilderness just to reach this spot.  It's not exactly on the beaten path.  It's 20 miles from the nearest highway, and 5 of those miles are over FS Road 58, which is mostly good, but has a lot of potholes and numerous rough spots.  Lots of people in Lexus SUVs and the like, and even a Hummer.  Horrible!  When I was driving out, two very chi-chi women with a couple of kids strapped into the back seat of their Lexus SUV stopped me and asked if I knew where Longs Creek Falls was.  Good grief.  I told her, including the fact that they'd have to walk a mile on the trail to reach it, but that didn't seem to daunt them.  Where do these people come from, and what has happened here in the last 14  years?  If I sound upset, it's because I am.  Not seriously so, but very disappointed.

Still, it was a lovely trip and I was surprised how it all came back to me, how familiar so many of the roads and towns I passed through were.  I timed the trip at various points, to help me gauge driving up to meet people for a hike.  The trip home from Three Forks took almost exactly 3 hours, which isn't bad when you consider the first 45 minutes is on a dirt road moving slowly.  I started way too late in the morning, after I'd walked to the hardware store then walked to the library.  I know better, but it was rather impulsive and I didn't want to wait until tomorrow.

OK. Enough editorializing.  Bring on the photos.

This is Noontootla Creek, which parallels FS Road 58 for its entire length through here.  It has always been one of my favorite places, and it's not hard to see why.  It's a beautiful little creek that tumbles over rocks and cascades as it winds its way through the forest.  For you people in Oregon, we have Rhodies here, too -- the mountains are thick with them.

This is the Three Forks AT crossing, looking towards Springer Mountain (the starting point of the AT).  

Noontootla Creek from the footbridge.

And, from the other side of the bridge.

That's all the AT photos for the day -- I wasn't here very long, but I'm really glad I went.  Great to see it again, although the crowds still rankle.

A sign off Roy Road/Doublehead Gap Road that takes me to the FS road.  This is FS Road 42, which doesn't really go to Springer Mountain, but goes to the first AT road crossing where one can hike up the trail for about a mile and reach Springer.

The scenery along this access road was spectacular.  Spring has not sprung so much up here yet -- further north, higher elevations.  But the sun was glinting off everything and there were many pastoral scenes such as this, and even better, as I drove.

As I neared the main highway that cuts across the bottom of the Chattahoochee National Forest, I decided to go in search of this church, Wesley Chapel United Methodist Church.  I've driven past Wesley Chapel Road countless times in years past without ever driving up here or ever having any sense that any of my personal history would reside here.  I learned several years ago in Oregon, during my genealogy research, that some of my ancestors founded this church.  I cruised the small cemetery, found lots of Waters but none that I could identify.  My second great-grandmother, Sarah Waters, was born in this area in 1831 but moved away after she was married.  

Her father's name was Moses, but he was born in the 1700's.  This isn't one of his sons, but probably a nephew, and thus Sarah's cousin.  I was surprised that most of the gravestones had death dates in the early 1900s, because the church was there long before then and surely some of the elders died and were buried here, as well as the 'younger' generation.  Anyway, it was good to find it.  Going strictly on memory, which is always dangerous, I believe this particular Moses was one of the founders of the church.

Now, I'm pooped -- a lot of driving for one day, even though the mileage wasn't nearly as much as the days I spent driving across the country.  I've had some dinner and am now ready to hit the comfy chair and watch some movie.

Biking and Gardening

This morning I thought I'd explore the Silver Comet Trail to the east, but it was a short-lived effort!  The trail map I have states clearly that this direction is hilly, but I wasn't sure just how quickly I'd find hills or how steep they'd be.  The answer to those questions is:  soon, and steep.

This is as far as I got -- about 2 miles from the depot.  I didn't even bother to continue to the top of this hill -- wanted a photo of the sign and saw no point in struggling up a few feet more.

This is from the same spot, headed back to town.  Now, this hill wouldn't have bothered me at all in past years, when I was more in condition for hills, but it was a struggle today.  It also wasn't the first hill I'd encountered, just the steepest.  I also wasn't interested in coasting down the other side because -- yep, I'd just have to come back up.  Not today, thanks.  I'm thinking I may confine my cycling to the westerly section of the trail.

After I got back into town and up another hill, I was struggling again and downshifted -- only to have my bike pull its famous trick of losing the chain when I try to make that particular shift when there's pressure on it.  Hasn't happened for awhile, so I'd forgotten about that habit.  I barely saved myself from a fall onto the concrete, since both feet were in the toe clips and all forward motion stopped.  Having fallen more than once because of toe clips (when I first started using them I'd forget about them, and try to put my foot down to catch the bike when I'd stop) my body has developed rather a reflex action that remembers before my brain thinks about it.

So, it was a short-lived ride of about 40 minutes, but that was enough for today.  It's been a tough week and my energy is still low -- I just needed to get out on the bike because not much else cheers me up quite so well.  We have rain coming in soon anyway, so I hadn't planned a lengthy ride.

Early this morning I went outside and moved the herb garden.  I've been thinking about it for a couple of days, did a little research, and realized that it was just too close to the nearest blueberry bush.  It needs to be about four feet away, and it was barely more than two.  That would be fine for right now, but in a year or two when the rosemary and blueberries get bigger, it just wouldn't work.  I put the glass dish out a couple of days ago but haven't seen a bird in it yet!

Previously, this little grouping occupied the upper right corner of this plot.  I'm not in love with the new location, but hey, they're perennials and can be moved again at a later date if I find something I like better.  I sowed chamomile seeds in all the bare spots here, while I was at it.  May be a tad too early, but I'll take my chances.  It's only seed, after all.

After I finished the move, of course, I thought that the previously dug circle in the upper left corner above would be the perfect place -- just the right size and shape plus the birds would probably be happier further from the house.  But then, I'd have to rethink the entire herb garden and I don't want to do that right now.  It needs to be close to the back door, anyway, so I can go out and snip what I want easily.  There will be lots more here, eventually.

As an afterthought, something really interesting is going on in that I'm getting visitors from all over the world to this page of this blog.  They are mostly coming from Google Photos, but I don't know which of the three photos is catching their attention.  I get two or three per day looking at this page.  Tis a curiosity!

So for the rest of the day?  No plans -- I expect some reading is in order.

A Better Day

When you look at this it's easy to believe spring really has sprung.  And with the sun shining most of the time today and the air warming up, life is good.  This is one of my blueberry plants -- the largest and seemingly earliest one.  All three are budding, the others show some leafing out, but this one seems more ready to burst.

The spinach has perked up, too.  Survived the cold and rain quite nicely, probably even enjoyed both.  No large harvest in the offing here,  but there should at least be some satisfaction involved.

See how stunted the seedlings are?  Basil in the foreground, peppers and parsley towards the rear.

Lavender, sitting on the front porch awaiting planting outside. Not sure where this one's going, yet.

The eggplant and peppers recovered nicely from their fainting spells yesterday.

Remember this guy?  The little redwood I harvested in California that traveled across country with me? When I left Brookings he was sporting a couple of tiny roots, in his water habitat.  For the journey I put him back in the bag of forest humus, as above, and I think that set him back a bit, but never fear.

Having been back in water since I've been here, he's now sporting several (at least 3) tiny roots about 1/2 inch long, so I thought it was time he went outside where the cool, moist air is probably much more to his liking, and back into his native forest humus.

I guess what brought this decision was partly the roots,  but equally the two tiny green buds that are sprouting along it's stalk (trunk?).  I take that to mean that he's happy, despite having lost a couple of lower branches.  Perhaps I should have left well enough alone, but redwoods prefer cool, fresh, moist air and while the summer won't be cool, the pantry isn't going to be cool for much longer and it's anything but moist.  He's on my back porch where he'll get a bit of morning light, then have shade the rest of the day. Sufficient humidity won't  be a problem here!

I have a small case of 'the shoulds'.  I 'should' go out this afternoon and do something -- some digging, perhaps finish up the work I began on Saturday, or start laying out the herb garden or the monarch garden, but I'm feeling pretty darned lazy, not all that sure I want to do any of it.  We shall see.

The Silver Comet Trail -- Part Deux

I knew there was a training camp here for wheelchair athletes, because there are signs at the city limits, but that's all I know about it.  No clue where it is.  Today out riding on the Silver Comet Trail, these guys passed me in a flash.  I'm amazed that this photo worked -- I had to stop and use the zoom and they were moving fast. Sometimes, I actually like this camera.

I was stopped to take a photo when I first heard them behind me and looked around. All I saw was one bike that looked like it was towing a bike trailer, but I definitely heard a human voice.  Great, I thought.  Here I am out in the boonies and some local looney carrying all his possessions in a trailer, talking to himself and probably high on something, comes along.  I guess I spent too much time in Eugene, because that situation is far less likely here. At any rate, I started pedaling not sure what was coming behind me but aware that it was making a strange noise, then these two friendly fellows flew past, said 'good morning' and clattered away.  The noise came from the wheelchair.  I admit to being rather stunned and surprised and awestruck.  The two were so close together and so perfectly aligned I thought at first that the bike was towing the wheelchair, but later I saw that wasn't the case -- merely setting the pace.  They turned off on a county road just past here and I continued on the trail and wouldn't you know, we met up at the same intersection on our return trips?  Once more, they pulled away from me quickly enough and disappeared.  Really cool!

As you can see, it's an extremely beautiful day here, finally.  Things are greening up a bit, but barely.  I think a few warm, sunny days will take care of that, however, as the trees are bursting with buds.  I had thoughts of going east on the Trail, to see what that was like, but in the end I just wanted to ride as hard as I could for as long as I could, so I opted to go west once again, but further.

This is where I turned around today -- Milepost 58.73, just a couple of miles from the Alabama state line and the Chief Ladiga Trail.  That's 6.91 miles from the Cedartown RR station, where I began, giving me a total of 13.82 trail miles for the day plus another mile or so to/from home.  Not bad for an old lady who hasn't ridden for a year or more.  Took me exactly two hours, which is on the slow side even for me, but hey, refer to the previous sentence!  I'll get there. Anyway, I do tend to stop often to take photos, if briefly.

This is what most of the trail is like -- quiet and peaceful, traversing a variety of woods and wetlands and rural homes and farms.  I can't even begin to explain how grateful I am for having this trail in my backyard (literally -- it's right across the RR tracks, although there's no access that way).  It's a gift.  Granted, in Eugene I had lots of good bike trails, too, and for a year I lived right on the river bike trail that offered an 18-mile loop plus access to other places, but that trail tends to be really crowded and far from a place for serious cycling.  Too many dogs and kids and strollers and pedestrians, unless you are out in the early morning or in cold weather.  I was grateful to have it -- but this one is SO much more!  And it's less than 5 minutes from home.  How wonderful is that!

Lovely day, lovely countryside.

Is it a turtle or a terrapin?  His buddy was less amused at being disturbed and plopped into the water.

Same wetlands, more turtles.  I was trying for some birds I saw, but they were far too shy.  This is full zoom.  I would call them wood ducks, but I'm no expert.  Lovely, graceful swimmers with beautiful tufted black and white heads.

These little blue flowers are everywhere right now -- thick carpets of them alongside the highways between here and Rome, and even out in my neighbor's back yard.  I'm not sure what they are.  Bluets?  Lovely, whatever they are.

I hatched a plan while I was out.  I know now that I can easily make the Alabama state line and the end of the Silver Comet.  One day this summer I'm going to plan an overnight trip to Jacksonville, Alabama, which lies at mile 26.8 on the Chief Ladiga Trail.   That's a total of almost 35 miles one way, which is granted a bit on the long side, but I've done longer days in recent years and I can do it again.  Jacksonville is the home of one of my writing idols, Rick Bragg, and while I don't expect to encounter him I'd like to see the town and area.  I'm sure there are motels and restaurants and it would be a fun overnight excursion.  It'll  be a great incentive to get out there and ride, as if I needed any!

Ahhhhhhhh... Bliss!!

When you come right down to it, this is a large part of what this move was all about, and yes, as of this moment it's worth every minute and every mile and every dollar.  Once the frost cleared this morning I headed out on the Silver Comet Trail, westbound.  A bit nippy at first, but of course that didn't last plus I had on good thermal clothes and a windbreaker.  The sun, as you can see, was shining brightly and not a cloud spoiled the blue sky.  From here, the trail crossed under the bridge then ramped around in a circle upwards to the left and crossed over it.

 

Not far from where the trail leaves Main Street, it leaves the designated path and follows city streets for a short distance.  The route is well-marked, but I missed a turn that would have taken me to this and eventually backtracked to find it.  This bridge crosses a canal of some kind that goes through some really pretty park area.

Just past the bridge the trail curves and goes through the outskirts of an industrial area for a bit before reaching the big bridge in the first photo.  I'm really looking forward to seeing all this once spring takes hold and all is green.

I wish you could have heard the noise here -- it was a large wetland on both sides of the trail and the frogs were having a croaking field day.  Unbelievably loud.  Other than frogs, most of the sound I heard on the trip was birdsong, and birds were everywhere. 

The trail as it travels beyond the wetland and frogs, through farmlands and rural residential areas.  I think this is about where I turned around, my exploration finished for the day, about 3.1 miles from town.  That gives me a total of 6.2 trail miles for the day, plus getting to/from the trail and some extra while I was lost.  It wasn't a long ride, but it was enough for today.

I haven't ridden my bike for about a year now, and that's way too long.  My cycling muscles were rusty, particularly when I needed to go up a hill or over an overpass.  I thought it best to not push too far this first time.  All in all, I was out for about a hour, which included stopping at the railroad station (which is now a visitor center for the Trail) and getting a couple of trail maps.

Wonderful way to start the day.  I'm a happy camper right now!

Full Moon Over Georgia

I just peeked out my back window and saw this -- more than a little bit lovely.

I thought this, with the zoom, was also interesting, but perhaps not immediately recognizable as the moon!

Happy full moon, everyone.

I'm Getting There

This is today's work.  I think I was out there for about 3.5 hours, building the beds then spreading pine straw.  It still looks a little like a junk pile because I'm afraid all the pine straw will blow away before it has a chance to settle in, become more compact.  I also still need to put some inside the frames, temporarily, to help block the sun from the grass and weeds underneath until I can get a load of compost to fill 'em up with.  I guess I could have managed it this afternoon, but why kill myself?  This was hard enough for the old body. And....I found a nice little pile of black gold way back in the trees at the rear of the property.

Compost!  My neighbor said he cut the grass and Miz Adair had him pile it all here for compost.  It's kind of rooty and has some grubs in it, but it's black as can be and crumbly and just wonderful.  I'm not sure enough of it to put large quantities in the beds, mostly because of the roots and the grubs, but I'm putting a small layer in each bed under the pine straw, and trust me, a 5-gallon can of this stuff is a haul from here to the garden area! I still don't have a wheelbarrow. So, I only managed one bed today.  Tomorrow I'll finish all this up and it should look halfway decent.  I also got a good start with my worm bin today -- it's almost ready for occupancy.  Now, I just need to find some occupants.  There are a few in the compost pile that'll probably end up in the bin.

Here's a little different view -- from the compost pile looking at the house.  See how big this yard is?  The property line runs from the left of where I'm standing here by a few feet.  On the other side, you can see my car peeking from the right side of the house, and the line goes a few feet to the other side of the car and back. More or less.  The back here is nice and shady, which makes it perfect for chickens, compost, garden shed and all kinds of uses other than growing things that require sunshine.

I solved my transportation problem this morning -- paid my neighbor $10 to pick up 10 bales of pine straw for me.  He said he'd do it for 'a couple of bucks for gas', but it was well worth $10 to me and I know he needs the work right now.

I had a bit of a meltdown last night, and I'm not ashamed to admit it.  All over $$, of course, and the way it's been flying out.  I don't plan to spend much more once I get this garden bed finished, but I worried about every possibility -- emergencies of all kinds -- and basically got myself all in a dither and couldn't go to sleep for a long time.  I ended up trying some of my Buddhist techniques for staying calm and accepting a situation.  It'll all work out, I said. I told myself I'd worry about it tomorrow, because I sure couldn't do anything about it right then.  Finally, I got up and swallowed a big mouthful of brandy, and that did the trick.  Today, I got a check in the mail from my landlords in Brookings for $333, which is about three times what I thought it might be.  Can you spell r-e-l-i-e-f?  That's not a fortune, but it's certainly enough to make me feel much better -- keeps my reserve at a more comfortable level.  As the folks around here would say, Thank you Jesus!

Let's Get it Started!

The bare slate. Complete with garbage can.

My goodness, this is turning into SO much bigger a project than I intended.  Doing the work isn't a problem, but getting all the materials together and getting ready to do the work is a real pain.  I'm still not there, but I was determined to get it started, at least.  I guess I spent maybe two hours out there -- no more, although it certainly felt like more.  And no harm done, other than one fingernail broken to the quick and a bit of stiffness in my back at times.

After the layers of compost and dry molasses.  Yes, in a perfect world the layer of compost would have been a lot thicker, but my world isn't perfect.  I only had the 21 gallon bin full of it, so this will have to do.  As I understand it, the purpose of both layers is merely to stimulate microbial activity, so again, this will have to do.  I think I even have enough compost left for my worm farm.  The blocks on the right are locations for the three blueberry bushes, with the raised beds going on the left.  I used my pine boards for laying it all out.  I thought I had it well inside the property line on the right, but now that it's all done, I'm not so sure.  I guess I need to get out there and really try to mark the line -- I eyeballed it for this. I'm also pretty sure they're not parallel to the house, although it looked OK from out there.  Not so much from inside.  I really should have done this right, as I intended.  But, I can adjust it later.  I'll be sure the raised beds are parallel -- there is lots of room around them for walkways and assurance of weed/grass removal, and those can be adjusted.

OK, so it's not pretty.  It's not supposed to be pretty.  In another perfect world, I'd have constructed the two raised beds and let them help anchor the cardboard, but refer to the above paragraph about perfect worlds.  It's all wet down and I can only hope I have enough stuff on top to hold it in place overnight.  I can build the beds tomorrow, and I guess, bite the bullet and get some mulch delivered.  I really hate doing that!  And I don't have a clue when they might be able to deliver it, naturally.  But....we do what we can do.  I sure hope this works.  From the pile of boxes on my front porch, I thought I had enough to do the entire yard -- what a joke that was!  I barely had enough to do this section. The good news, I guess, is that now the front porch looks neater.

There was a garden hose left by the sellers, but it didn't take long to learn that it's not all that great.  Too many old kinks that are determined to stay. And, one of them is so bad it's wearing through the material.  I guess any thoughts that it might have been good were wishful thinking.  The connection to the faucet wasn't all that great, either.  I think I ended up with as much water in a pool below the faucet as I got on the garden area. I need to go back outside and finish re-winterizing the faucet, once the pool disappears.  It only had thick cloths wrapped around it and instead of just coming out from the foundation a short distance, the pipe extends almost a foot before the faucet starts.  Not knowing this, I bought a foam faucet cover which will clearly not work.  Isn't owning a home fun?  Actually, my sense of humor with all this is just fine -- I laugh at both myself and the situation, constantly, regardless of the 'complaints' I write here.

The body is tired.  Not exhausted, not sore, just a tad tired. Once I got home with all my purchases I had to unload the car.  The pine boards are lightweight, of course, but that 50# bag of dried molasses isn't!  My legs complained as I carried it up the ramp to the back porch, but hey, at least I could carry 50# up the ramp!  My hands feel like sandpaper -- haven't uncovered my leather gloves since moving, and I like to feel the dirt in my hands anyway. So, that's my story and my whines for today.  Stick around.

Busy Day!

And I thought this was going to be a quiet day!

I'll get to the rest of it in a minute, but I had a real treat this afternoon when I got a call from a cousin of mine, wanting to stop by and introduce himself.  Here I am in my sweats and not all that presentable, but wasn't about to tell him no.  I last saw him when he was 6 years old and I was 18, which makes it almost 50 years ago!  His mother was my first cousin, older than me but one of my favorite people in the world.  I've been in email contact with Kenny for a short time -- he actually found me recently on an internet genealogy site of some kind, but I had contacted him several years ago and we'd lost touch.  He is a beautiful 'young' man!  Definitely the best treat I've had since I've been here.  I feel totally welcomed back into the family, although he's about the only close relative I can claim around here.

Now, to the photo.  I had an interesting lesson in the difference between Home Depot and WalMart this morning, after I got the new shelving system (on the right) home and compared it with the one from HD, on the left.  Made by the same company, clearly, although the packaging was different. The new one cost a good bit less, but it's the same design.  It's just a smaller gauge of metal than the HD version, hence the cost savings.  It's sturdy, and they still claim that the shelves each hold 250 pounds, which is way more than I'll ever have on them.  I still need to get some baskets to hold loose stuff, and a toolbox to hold the tools, but this should take care of all my storage needs once I get it organized.

I also bought a little jiffy greenhouse with peat pellets, and some more seed, and planted a few things.  I didn't think fast enough to only wet a few of the pellets, so I planted large quantities of basil and rosemary, along with my San Marzano tomatoes, bell peppers, hot peppers, and parsley.  The rest of the seeds need to be sown directly in the ground.  I've never tried growing rosemary from seed, but I use lots of it and would like to have a little rosemary hedge someplace, so I'll plant whatever comes up and grows.  I have a sunny, south window in the living room, which is also the warmest place in the house, so they should do OK.

What else made the day so busy?  I cooked some of the beans I bought in St. Helena.  Assembled the shelving.  Planted the seeds. Called Medicare to get my supplemental insurance changed to a local provider. The dryer repairman came (Yay!), then Kenny called.  Doesn't sound like much, but I have 6664 footsteps on my pedometer so far, with no long walks or any intentional exercise of any kind, so I've been moving around doing something.  I put the odometer on this morning after reading that NYT article, to see just how many steps I would get on an average day, without working at it.  This is a lot more than I would ever have done in Brookings, without at least one long intentional walk during the day.  About the only walking I did today was in WalMart.

Off to Rome tomorrow.  Hopefully, I'll come back with a fully assembled bicycle if they have time to do it.