More Relief and Less Grief

| Flower Roberts

I have just done a potted plant and garden inspection with a walking stick. Not my usual shovel. I did not need the temptation!

I ate my first and last tiny tomato from the garden today.

Tommy toe snack

There is still a good crop of jalapeno peppers to be harvested. We make crazy hot poppers that make folks cry.

Jalapenos

I am proud that I have found new homes for so many of my potted, green babies. The migration of pots going inside today will be so much easier. Mr. Flower and my son will be in charge. They know the drill.

Ric rac/ fish bone cactus

The Schlumbergera survived and benefited from a nip of cold. Some are even budding up. My collection used to be 3x this size.

Schlumbergeras

Some of my pickiest plants died in my absence. I have mixed feelings about these losses. I regret their demise, but not a tear was shed. No guilt was felt. My attachment to them was not strong. There was more relief than grief.

Epipyphyllum and black elephants

Some tiny treasures disappeared. I do not know if they died or were eaten. Many hypertufa troughs are totally empty. My  fences were breached in several locations. We have deer, rabbits, raccoons, foxes, possums and ground hogs at the lake house. It has been a thirty-year battle to garden here. I am not up to it anymore.  My efforts are best spent elsewhere. Boundaries is my new mantra!

Fence corner pushed apart.

I was happy to see the little Chinese Dunce Caps blooming. These are treasured and tucked in a safe spot in the rock wall, but still need some attention.

Chinese Dunce Cap

I will accept the fate of my plants. No matter relief or grief. I have been shoveling sand against the tide for too long here.

It’s time for relief!

FLOW

Giant Wooly Bears Tumble and Roll but do NOT Sting nor Predict Weather

| Flower Roberts

I try not to keep my house and garden too clean. It makes visitors uncomfortable and intimidated. No white gloves inside and only dirty garden gloves outside. I want all to feel welcome.

I used a leaf blower today to clean off the porches, patio and door jambs and door slabs outside. The wind was blowing, so I was in a leaf tornado when I spotted a fuzzy black ball rolling away from the doorway.

Giant Wooly Bear

The blowing had dislodged one of my little friends from its hiding place. I took the opportunity to take some photos before recreating the mess I had just moved.

This caterpillar is hairy but NOT poisonous or stinging like many that have bristles/setae. Its best not to pick the bristly ones up. Some of the cutest ones give painful stings.

Its name is Giant Wooly Bear. It does NOT predict the winter length and harshness. Neither does the Banded Wooly Bear which has black ends and a brown middle..but that’s another story.

This Giant Wooly Bear is the caterpillar stage of the Giant Leopard Moth. The species name is Hypercompe scribonia. I had to use the internet to look this up. I found all kinds of misinformation and even how to keep them as pets. All this gave me a headache.

Let’s focus on what I know.

The shiny black setae/hairs are arranged in star-like tufts that do NOT sting. The tufts deter predators which usually do not like fuzz in their mouths and throats.

Non-stinging setae/tufts

The red-orange bands only show when it rolls up to protect itself. Red is a warning color to would-be predators. 

Giant Wooly Bears roll up really tightly holding the tail and mouth together. Do not try to pry them open. You will cause harm.

Enjoy carefully looking at any caterpillar and then put it back where you found it. You would not like being taken out of ypur home and moved to a foreign location would you?

But that’s another story.

FLOWER with a blower.

In a Tree in the Fog and Rain with a Squirrel and a Chipmunk

| Flower Roberts

This tree is important to me. It is an unusual oak. It may be a cross of Scarlet and Red. Its acorns are plentiful and beautiful.

Its mast is food for our deer, turkey and chipmunks. Maybe crows? I do not know. One must be fast to gather acorns or there will only be caps on the ground.

Too late.

This tree reaches over our two porches. When I am on them I feel like I am in this tree. My younger self climbed trees, so I love this sensation.

I am socked in by a thick fog this morning. This tree is the only thing I can see. I spent time on each porch listening to the rain and sounds from unseen sources.

Dead limb in the fog.

I was surprised to see a squirrel looking at me and my camera. It is the first one I have noticed here. It moved too fast for a photograph. The squirrel seemed to be deliberately headed onto my roof. We have meant to have those reaching limbs trimmed. They touch the roof during storms. Now, we have another reason to cut them back.

A chipmunk also scurried up the trunk while I was watching. It is one of many around here.  The little ones must climb for their acorns.

This big oak is the guardian of the yard.   A huge poplar was killed by lightning, so this tree is even more important. We too have lost our caretaker parents. We will be the guardians here, now.  Any home should be a haven.

It is early October. This place is recovering from the shock of Hurricane Helene. I do not expect a normal fall season. There is healing going on around me. I plan to watch and learn from nature.

Fall 2025 many leaves are browning and falling

My time in the old oak in the rain and the fog with a squirrel and a chipmunk will be a treasured memory. I am part of this. I belong here. It is my haven. I do not take these things for granted.

FLOW

My Daddy and the Boy Scouts

| Flower Roberts

When my Daddy was a young boy there was not a Boy Scout troop in his town, so he started his own. He and some buddies formed their own troop, did their own paperwork, earned badges and even went to Camp Philmont.

He had stories about riding a horse down steep terrain by letting it have the reins. His guide told him to point the horse toward the ravine and drop the reins. I envisioned my Daddy as a young boy leaning back on his horse as it charged over the cliff like Jim Craig in The Man from Snowy River. I guess liability was not a concern back in those days.

Decades later he started another troop with his friend Jack, this time as a leader. Daddy  kept his training records. If you look at that date, you will see March 1961. Just three months before I was born. This is more proof that he wanted a boy. Sorry Daddy!

Training certificate from 3 months before my birth.

Daddy and Jack took their troop, which included lucky Jack’s son Jay,  on many trips. They even took their scouts back to Camp Philmont. I am glad for Daddy that he got to return there again with the boys from our church.

I was envious of those boys going on all those adventures with my Daddy. He took my sister and me on adventures too, but we did not get to earn any colorful badges.

Flag pole toppers and badges

I am proud of my Daddy for going ahead with male bonding and high adventures with the boys of the community. He was a very patient mentor. His scouts have shared how much that troop and those trips meant to them.

I saved these badges incase some of those boys never picked theirs up. If any of you guys have a troop of your own, let me know. I have the brass flagpole toppers for your flags.

Female Flower

Fall and Frost Chores

| Flower Roberts

As the air gets brisk here on the mountain,
I feel the need to get home.
My family sends me photos of leggy plants and late blooms.


There are deadlines to be kept. One is for fall and the other for frost.
I have kept garden journals for decades. The entries are by months.
All I have to do is flip to the Octobers of the past to see what needs to be done.

Blue Ginger

Both fall and frost must be taken care next week. My family will help me. I appreciate their support. I have given away dozens of plants. I will continue to down-size my collection, until it is a size that I can manage and move by myself.

There will be a flurry of cleaning and preening all plants the must go into my workshop. It will take on the look of a crowded jungle until spring. Plants will cover every surface and hang from the rafters.

I do not clean my gardens outside until March. The mess is a haven for insects and wildlife over the cold months. I may add extra mulch around some tender favorites. I will need help for this, too.

I am still wobbly and in pain. Hopefully that will end. My left hip will be replaced on October 24. This hip was damaged by a fall on August 4, 2024.  My whole left side was jarred and jammed just two weeks before my unsuccessful surgery on my right hip on August 24, 2024.

I have been in constant pain for 18 months. I  have thought about this quite a bit. Mostly I think of my precious Daddy who had rheumatoid arthritis for decades and kept moving. I also catch myself hobbling like his mom who had arthritis and wore shoes that were too small and too pointy.

I also think of the miles I ran on roads and sidewalks before there were properly cushioned running shoes.  I still have a habit of carrying heavy loads, because I do not like asking for help. I remember all the times I waved off men in parking lots who offered to help me load 60 and 90 pound bags of portland cement and masonry mix into my vehicle. I worked like a man with the joints and muscles of a woman.

Now, I need help doing many mundane tasks. I do not like this helplessness. My hope is that I will be strong again in the spring. I will be more cautious with my repaired and healing body from now on.

Next week, I will need help with these fall and frost chores. Seasons do not wait for us to be ready. They come when they come.

Not sooner, not later.

Are you ready?

FLOW going slow…for now.

Four Legs of a Zebra

| Flower Roberts

This story is not finished yet. The legs are still disconnected and some stripes are missing. 

That is about to change this week.


The dismantled zebra spent over forty years gathering dust in my Daddy’s shop. When we sold our homeplace on Enwood, we moved the zebra to the mountains.

I hired the neighbor’s children to help me take the zebra outside and brush it off and hose it down.

We carried it back in the basement for me wipe it down and dry it off. Then I carefully rubbed it down with special oil.

My neighbor helped me load the zebra into my car.  I drove it to a special place for rehabilitation. I pondered its sentimental value against the rehabers’ cost estimate. How much is an old zebra worth these days?

I stood by my car looking at those old legs wondering what to do. I thought of its long journey; from Piqua, Ohio to Lenoir, North Carolina then to Charlotte and finally to this place in the mountains.

I had to trust my ancestors who bought the zebra and kept the zebra and dismantled the zebra and moved the zebra. I had to trust my father, the woodworker, who stored the zebra in his shop for decades. Who was I to determine its value?

They will start work on it this week, stripping it down and repairing it. Then we will go examine it and choose the color of  its new coat.

Something about this gives me peace. That I have done my part in this arduous journey and now, at last, the zebra will be whole again.

Maybe that’s all any of us are supposed to do…Our part. Not the beginning, not the ending…just a leg of the journey.

I will share the results when this story ends. For now, we will trust the zebras handlers to do their part and bring the zebra back to life.

FLOW

Color on the Rocks

| Flower Roberts

I am a fan of plants that spread. They soften lines in the garden. I like the look of spilling over rock borders and walls.

This ice plant is growing nicely in its spot along the rock border. I like that it stays low and compact. This one is neater than some I have grown in the past.

Ice plant ‘ Orange Sunset Orange Glow’


This color combo really pops. The yellow center with petals which trsnsition from orange to pink lives up to its name ‘ Orange Sunset Orange Glow.’

Ice plant between stones and sedums


Its tag claims hardiness to -30°F. This is also deer resistant. If it survives several seasons I will be thrilled.



FLOWER on the mountain

On the Book Trail

| Flower Roberts

I read books about things that interest me. Those books refer to other books on the subject that the author used to write their book. I look up those books and read those, too.
I call this ” following the book trail.” That is how I have found some of my favorite books. I have been following the book trail lately as I wait for my next hip surgery.
This book, Every Living Thing by Jason Roberts, is about the lives of two naturalist in the 1700’s who attempted to classify all living things.

I have read about them and even taught about them many times, but I never really knew their stories until now. This book starts at the early lives of Carl Linnaeus and Gorges-Louis Leclerc (de Buffon) and details their development into the important researchers they became.

Their stories involve the struggles of obtaining an education and a proper place in society and science. These two men followed very different paths to get to their goal. Both stories are amazing!

If you love biology, you will enjoy this book on how our present classification system came into existence.

FLOWER  (sitting still and silently reading about science)