It was time to take a walkabout as spring looks like it’s coming to an early close, with summer right on its heels. I took a picture of the last of the daffodils, the last of the hyacinth, the early azaleas and peaches. But the real bonanza is these crazy hostas! They are insanely huge, and very happy. Here are some photos.
Last of the daff and hyacinth…
And here are the early azaleas. I do love azaleas, especially the whites. They’re like little tiny spring-time lilies, ha!
And peaches – we’re going to have a nice abundant crop of white Georgia peaches, this year! Unless that family of raccoons recalls where they had the all you can eat buffet two years ago…
And the trillium came en masse, this spring – so many that I may need a new bed for them!
Oh my goodness, would you look at that? This post is already so big, I’m going to have to let the hostas have their very own! So here it is, only the middle of April, and spring is well established and on the wane. It has been a spectacular one so far, I must say.
It must be April! The daffodils have already been blooming like mad in an early spring frenzy. The one pictured here is a late-comer (if you can imagine a daffodil being late on the first of April. But isn’t he a beauty, all white and dapper with his pale yellow collar…
His name is actually Loth Lorien, which is ‘the fairest forest of the realm’ in JRR Tolkein’s Lord of the Rings, and is not only home to the Elves, but a place where time stands still… and that’s pretty much what happened to me when I spotted these this morning – I just froze and stared at them for I don’t know how long.
Ah, Spring time…
And the Hostas are coming out nicely, down by the creek – looks like they’ll be enormous this year. Scott came and split the beauties growing at the Cottage and put them all around the property. This one is called American Sweetheart Hosta, and it is a particular favorite of mine. The American Sweethearts and Patriots (similar colors but in reverse, with creamy white margins around a deep green center) are heirloom plants, put here by Colonel ‘Pug’ Pugmire when he built the Creek House in the 60s. We’ve tended and split and shared many of this one’s offspring.
Even the lilacs are putting on an early show for us this year. I did take pictures of the ones already blooming (after pressing my face deep into the middle of them and inhaling their intoxicating fragrance. Not like I couldn’t smell them from further away, but I could, so I did. What luxury! Bliss! -wait a second, what was I saying?) Oh yes. I did take pictures of the full blooms, but this one with the buds just seemed to show the promise of spring better than any of the others, so presented here, for your pleasure… Lilacs in bud:
The lilac is actually another of Pug’s legacies. The one he planted is way down the creek bank, and stays in full shade. It continued to grow, of course, but didn’t reach the sun until I’d been here a full dozen years – I was stunned to come out one morning to the heady scent of lilac and wondered, ‘What in the world?’ Looking far up into the tip-top (about ten feet!) there was a single bloom, and the breeze sent the fragrance sailing. It was downright magical. But everything here is, you know. No big surprise there. It started putting out little shoots that year, and I transplanted two to the roadside beds, where they’d have the afternoon sun. This is only the second year for lilacs out there, and this photo is one of dozens of blooms on that bush! I’m pretty happy about that.
Now, anybody who knows me knows that I am mad for Lilies. Day lilies. Oriental lilies. Asiatic lilies. Tiger lilies. Turk’s Cap and Trumpet lilies and Easter lilies. I love the lilies. All this wonderful stuff in spring is, for me, just the forerunner of summer when the lilies arrive. The day lilies are far earlier, of course, and I have different varieties that bloom from late spring right through the end of summer, but the others – the true lilies – don’t start until late June and continue through August. I was astonished to find that I they are up and out of the ground and growing like crazy!
Stargazer and Casablanca Lilies, already growing in April!
It was a spectacular spring day,
as I wandered with the camera trying to capture bits and pieces to remember…
Here’s the creek – my little bit of paradise.
You can see that even the Rhodies are planning to make a grand entrance,
since they are already budding.
So glad to be able to share this place with all our wonderful guests.
Springtime at Timberwolf Creek
Wishing you all a wonderful spring, and hope to see you here soonly!
I love my husband. He’s a wonderful, kind, creative, brilliant, intuitive, charming man. And I’ve known him for a while – since 1986 – so you’d think I would have some insight into the way his mind works. Yet, he surprises me daily… usually in a good way, ha!
The table was set for last week’s wedding elopement. It’s lovely, and this is what I saw:
And while Larry took dozens of table pictures, looking for just the right shot, he saw this…
As much as I appreciate the table settings, and all the tiny details that go into creating them, and as pleased as I was about the way that bouquet turned out, I would have missed this photograph. It is so delicate, and evocative of that dappled-sunlight day.
Just enough roses so you’d know it’s a bouquet. Sunlit reflection on the champagne flute stem, with a single silk rose petal. An edge of Battenburg lace. Shadows and light.
It’s such a pleasure, for me, seeing the world through his eyes.
This gorgeous day lily is called Moonlit Snow. Larry gave me this plant for Mother’s Day about eleventy bazillion years ago. Ok, more than ten years, anyway. I planted it right out front, and it has propagated and grown into a healthy lily that produces these enormous blooms. Today, there are about a dozen greeting our guests. Sigh! Lilies make me smile.
The bride said, “I want my wedding bouquet to be filled with light, airy flowers… like you just walked out into a field and picked it.” Ah, romance. She loved it!
I’m having fun, updating the anniversary picture on the Maggie Valley Weddings website every day. Nostalgic for me! Every wedding couple is unique, so every wedding has its own flavor, its own memories. I have the best job in the world. Oh yes, I do!!
Every so often you do something, just for the fun of it.
Today was definitely one of those days!
The rain stopped just in time for a bright sunny wedding, bride and groom arrived on their Harley, it was a lovely ceremony, with lots of smiles all around.
And my favorite part, here’s the wedding portrait…
If you think the title of this blog post is ambitious, you should see what we’re doing in the kitchen. Ok, what I’m procrastinating about doing in the inn kitchen,today…
This is what we’re dealing with: a fifty year old summer cabin, with a kitchen squeezed in where it would fit. Later, the original builders (a truly delightful couple, Pug & Mickie Pugmire, who could make me laugh until my face hurt) added on to make a spacious home, but the kitchen remained the same – hardwood floors, odd corners, low ceilings, exposed beams, mismatched cabinets, and a charm that I find so appealing that I never want to settle for another dry-walled boring kitchen as long as I live.
Peeking into the Kitchen
So, how do you go about organizing this? You need a few things, like organization skills, determination, stamina, follow-through. Good grief, I’m doomed. Instead, I opted for Letitia. She’s got all those things, and she’s a slave driver. I mean, she says, “Sandee, make a decision. Throw this away or tell me where to put it.” It seems that all I really needed was a couple of days without guests, and Letitia. I may call myself Queen of the Kitchen, but that makes Letitia the Prime Minister. Unless I’m cooking, I’m just a figurehead. I am Purely Decorative, if you will. (Nod to Melinda Redshaw, the bride who introduced me to that wonderful phrase.) So. Letitia. (See how easily I am distracted? Oooo shineee.)
Oh yeah! The kitchen! And Organization! Here’s what’s happened thus far. Every single thing has been dragged out of the cabinets, the cabinets cleaned, the stuff cleaned, and it’s ready to go back in the cabinets. (And in case you’re wondering, NO it doesn’t all fit, if you try that. It’s like putting something mechanical back together. There’s always that extra screw lying around, making you wonder where the heck does THAT go… ) Meanwhile, every item is subject to Letitia’s brutal scrutiny. “Do you need this? Do you use this? How often do you use this? Should it be in storage? Do you want to donate this? Surely you don’t need THAT.” I’m telling you, that woman is worth her weight in gold. We’ve weeded out and removed and consolidated and donated all over the place.
Everything finishes going back in, today.
Most everything is back in place. The remainder has been allocated its proper space. And while we’ve uncovered treasures (my organization skills lend themselves to the occasional Christmas-like, ‘Oh wow, I forgot I had this!’) during this process, I do believe the angels sang when we found ourselves with that most treasured of all things, in a kitchen: a completely empty cabinet.
Seriously. There is one cabinet that nothing is slated to fill. Three shelves. You can’t tell me that’s not a treasure. (There’s not one person reading this, who’s got a kitchen and uses it, that wouldn’t love to have just one more cabinet.) And it’s killing me, here. I mean, I can’t just LEAVE it empty, for heaven’s sake. And Letitia won’t let me put anything useless in it.
There’s only one thing to do. I just don’t see any other option. I’m going shopping.
You’ll never have to wonder about why I love my brides…
It’s a facebook love-fest!
And yes, these are my brides.
And yes, the “Like” is yet another bride.
And if I wait a day or two, there will likely be more, but I am just so pleased.
My brides are The Best.
~
Oops! I didn’t see that Tanya also ‘liked’ this right before I ’snipped’ the image. Didn’t mean to be misleading… She’s not my bride, but she is my niece, and if we’d been having weddings back when she got married, maybe she would’ve been my bride, too!
