Weekend in Washington, Georgia

     This weekend my wife took me on an over night trip to Washington, Ga for a relaxing stay at a Bed and Breakfast. We left Friday morning as school was out for a snow day holiday that we didn't have to use. We got there and both had scheduled a deep tissue massage at the local massage therapy place. One
hour of relaxation - I was done for the weekend -  everything else was icing on the cake.

     The Bed and Breakfast had wine and cheese for us on the veranda when we got checked in late that afternoon. We found several camellia arrangements in our bedroom.

We ate at several nice restaurants downtown and did a lot of shopping and found some treasures for the family. I found a white camellia for the white garden, and my wife found a maiden's hair fern that she really loved.

     Washington, Ga is rich with history and many, many beautiful homes and public buildings. We found out that the local library had Tiffany windows so we made a side trip. The original front doors were quite interesting.

The Mary Willis Library was built after her death as a memorial and gift to the town by her father. The Windows were made at the Tiffany Factory at New Haven.



Mary Willis is pictured in the central panel, St Peter is shown in the left panel, and William Shakespeare is shown in the panel to the right.

Below is the Maiden's Hair Fern

and Camellia Japonica Man Sized

... they're back!

This is the Circle Yard. I envision a white garden. A cool area, dripping with white fox glove, gardenia, white roses, and all sorts of dark green lushness. What I have is a dry, sun baked patch of scratchiness. At the bottom left of the photo - right above the little concrete edging you can see the peonies are coming back! I have never had peonies. I have a lot of hope pinned on two of them - they are supposed to be large and white forming the entrance to the white garden.

This is a white...

This one is pink with a yellow center...

These are deep red - the pink and red are placed outside of the white garden. I'm so hopeful I have already put the support structure up to hold all their masses of glorious beauty!

A trip around the backyard

This forsythia is at the turning point of the driveway.

This is the Pink Perfection Camellia that i have taken so many air layerings from. I am trying to build up enough to go all the way down the fence line. This camellia has an upright growth habit and has been very disease resistant since I have lived here.

This unknown camellia is down in the "waydown", and is overflowing with flowers.

This is a favorite of everyone who braves the trip to the "waydown". They call it peppermint stripe, i don't know its correct name, it's just a camellia that we inherited.

This camellia needs to be air layered and put into work along the fence line also. The picture seems light - the flowers really look red in real life.

The Linten Roses have put on a show for the Season of Lent. These are old hellebores from a famous local garden that was dismantled by a local doctor and then funeral home. This one is white.

I think these purple are my favorite.

These are kind of a mix - slightly white purples. Behind them you see the fence where i hope to plant a long row of camellias soon. That brick structure is the laundry for the house. Inside is a huge black iron "bowl" big enough to take a bath. Under it a fire was built and the laundry was boiled. You can see the little chimney there. The house dates to about 1882.

Here's a close up view.

Like my daughter, this little gal never tires of reading, she is usually shaded by hostas, but they haven't awakened yet.

Finally, here's a shot of narcissus, with Italian Arum coming right behind it to hide their slow dying that comes later.

Thanks for stopping by.

David

Orchid Portraits

This is the rescued orchid that was basically dead.

She's doing good now!

This little yellow orchid has really impressed us this year.

This is the oldest orchid we have - it will have larger white blooms. The healthy stem looks promising.

Update on the Orchids

 The little orchid is doing great - two more buds coming behind these.

I can't wait until this rescued orchid reblooms. If I remember correctly the flowers are pink. We'll have to wait and see.

the yellow line is your friend!

     Well... we survived, and so did the car! My daughter's first day driving a real car on a real road, not just a big parking lot. She did a great job. I have no whip lash, and she was smiling and laughing when we finished, so I guess it was a success. We drove to a small town out in the country and back - only six cars had to pass us, and we were never really close to the ditch. i think she's going to be a great driver.

Now, parking... that's going to be a whole 'nuther thing.

It's been a long road...

     My wife often calls me when she is coming home from the store so I can help her bring things up. One night she called and said, "come down in a minute I have something for you." I went out to help her bring in the groceries. She said, "This was just sitting at the grocery store, it was so pitiful, I just couldn't leave it there. I knew you could take care of it" Well, of course I figured it was an abandoned kitten. Oh, great!

     She reached into the the back of her car and brought out the saddest orchid I had ever seen. We held it in our hands like it a fragile treasure. It was totally wilted, the leaves were tan/green like some kind of camoflauge color. Half the roots were rotten, the other half were shriveled up and dry. It was floating in dirty water. Pitiful really doesn't do it justice. It was bad... very bad.

     I had read that orchids like dry feet. I poured out all the water and let the poor soul drain and gasp for air for a while in the sink. I put it on the shelf with the other orchids, and left it there. After a couple of weeks of good light and air, life began to come back into the roots and the leaves. It's been a long road, but ... I think she's back. Bless her heart!

     All this reminds me of Jack. He was a rescue too. We only buy the Sunday paper, but one day my wife said she felt lead to get a paper - it was a Tuesday - What in the world? She was scanning the ads and spotted an ad for a rescued standard poodle - cheap. Yeah right. Cheap? What's wrong with it? Three legs? One ear? We talked and talked about it for several days - she couldn't get it off her mind. We were too chicken to call the number - knowing we would feel sorry for whatever we found on the other end of the line. We had a friend call. It seemed legitimate. We drove 40 miles and met in the parking lot of the McDonalds in the town this lady lived near.

    It was just like that orchid - when she opened the door of the car to show us that dog it was the saddest thing you can imagine seeing. He was wet from a bath, shaking and bleeding from a bad fast clipping, all stained with red mud. He was a full grown dog - but he weighed about 50 pounds. pit - i - ful.

     Well, of course we had to have him. He never barked, we thought his vocal cords had been cut. He ate laying down with his head in the bowl - he had been kept in a bathroom his whole short life. He still has a fear of coat hangers, we try not to hang clothes in the closet when he see us. He hates men with beards wearing hats. I think I can piece together what he may have gone through.

     You can see that he is now a full figured 90+ pounds - healthy, and happy. He screams and hollers at every cat, jogger, or tourist that has the nerve to walk past the front door, night or day. It's been a long road, but ... I think he's back. Jack. Bless his heart!

Three Snow Days ... and a lot of baking

Here in Abbeville we just don't get much snow. We had the Christmas Day snow, and now we have missed three days of school this week. Everybody is happy now, but they won't be so happy this Spring Break when they have to make all these days back up. It has been really beautiful. It is cold and this stuff refreezes really fast at night.

My carbs get low on snow days... i have to bake and keep my levels up, napping helps too. Homemade bisquits, pancakes, i'm considering dumplings, i think i have a problem.  

I got my Wayside Garden catalog - i am trying to not look at it, i have cabin fever really bad, and ordering massive amounts of perennials might help bring me out of it. Right?

This is the side yard in the front. It looks cold in those beds. I always cut my border grass on MLK day. I don't think I'll be cutting any of that grass on Monday. Below is a photo of the orchids in the kitchen. The window gets early morning bright light - then indirect light the rest of the day. I am so proud of these ladies reblooming! Last year the blooms lasted almost three months - it was amazing. 

Thanks for stopping by - have a great week.

Christmas at Pinewood Cottage

Here's a look at the house all decorated up for the Christmas season. We really enjoy putting out the garland, the bows, and the lights. We can actually do all this in about three hours. It only took 15 years to figure out the secrets... zip ties and cup hooks.

The front door gets thick, heavy garland and loads of lights. Through the door you can see all the way into the back of the central hall. The Pencil Tree is positioned to center in this door. 

Here's the Pencil Tree all decked out. Our ceilings are 11 1/2 feet tall so I guess the tree is 10 feet tall. This tree is usually all decked in silver and red balls and goes in the living room but this year it gets center stage.

Underneath the Pencil tree i fixed my childhood train set and the pieces we have in Snow Village. We seem to have alot more accessory pieces than houses. I really need to focus on getting these as gifts more often.

I love to sit and watch the train go round and round. It is strange having a toy from your childhood. It makes me think of my Daddy and brother who both died the same year ... 2001. I think if I collect enough houses to create a great village what joy it could bring grandchildren someday. I'm planning WAY ahead i guess. My children are 14 and 11, I think I still have time to collect.

Have a great holiday season.

I wish you all the warmest, Christmas cheer.

The Ginko Tree

Coming home I saw "The Ginko Tree" was in it's full glory. I never seem to be quick enough to get a photo. This time I was determined. The tree is on North Main Street and only stays in color for about 2 days - then every leaf will drop off all at once. We always say "let's remember to get a picture", this year we got it!