Posts from the Weekend…

Another beautiful weekend of sunshine, light breezes and warm temperatures.   Since I had committed to work Saturday morning (way back when the weather was cold and winterish), we had little more than 36 hours to enjoy.  Here is what we did with our time off.

1) Cleaned out and Mulched my Much Loved Lenten Rose Garden.                Lenten Roses are the plants that I most closely associate with my mother. I have some very mixed emotions attached to this plant, both time spent together shopping for Lenten Roses and hours of talking gardening, and my mother’s passing in mid-March when the Lenten Roses were in full bloom.

When I bought my first home (at 45), I transplanted several plants from her garden to my garden where they spread and thrived for 11 years.  Then I sold the house to move in with John and begin our married life together.  Again, I transplanted the roses from my garden to our garden where they are happily growing under a canopy of maple trees.  I kept the garden clean and mulched until my mother passed and I haven’t been able to spend time in the garden since.  This year, 3 years later something felt a little different.  It was time to clean out and mulch the garden!

Growing amongst the Lenten Roses is my favorite flower (and birth flower), Lily of the Valley.  Several years ago, I planted 10 clumps of Lily of the Valley but only two survived. For the past 3 years, two sets of leaves have appeared each spring and disappeared each summer, each year no flowers.  Then viola, two beautiful stems of tiny, sweetly scented bells!

Three years of maple leaves and weeds have taken it’s toll on this little garden.

Monkey grass in the pond structure has choked out one of two beautiful hostas and all but one sprig of Jack-in-the-Pulpit, another of my favorite spring  flowers.  Not to mention the weeds and small bushes that have taken hold in that annoying grass.

Three hours later, the garden is mostly weed and leaf free.  A fresh topping of mulch has been applied and J moved my concrete bird bath to the center of the garden so I can see it from the 2nd floor kitchen window.

All except one clump of monkey grass has been removed, I threw in the shovel when I got to that piece.  The roots were holding tight. I will try again later in the season!

All in all I am pleased with the result and have enjoyed watching a couple of big, fat robins splash around in the birdbath.

2) Slept Late on Sunday.We are usually up early on Sunday morning, either off to church or off to exercise.  This morning, I slept late, UNTIL 8:30 AM late!  Bonus, we spent time on our little porch, drinking coffee, talking  travel, yard work and fun stuff.

So here I am, uncombed hair, no makeup and oh so happy, drinking my first cup of coffee for the day (although I don’t look happy).  J, on the other hand, has been up for almost 2 hours.  He really can’t sleep late.

3) Went for a Short but Hilly Bike Ride.After a bicycling part of the Virginia Creeper Trail last weekend ( hope to post about that soon), we are all about bicycling.  I should add that 11 months ago today, J was in critical care after hitting a dog on his bicycle and going to the ground. It was a summer long recovery with time spent in Patricia Neal rehab and most of the summer off work.  I have been very reluctant to agree for him to get back on his bike and will now agree to it only with serious limitations.

Today we rode laps around our neighborhood and out and back on the Will Skelton Greenway.  Total mileage was about 14, not much, but we climbed several significant hills.  We rode our road bikes, taking caution on bridges and other questionable areas to prevent flat tires.  Road bikes are not necessarily a good choice for greenway riding but are easier than mountain bikes or cruisers to pedal up hill.

We stopped at the end of the Will Skelton Greenway to look at the river, smell the honeysuckle and get a drink of water.

It was not a hurried ride.  This is only our 2nd time out on bikes this year and our “butts” and legs are not accustom to the demands. We have been discussing the possibility of  driving to Atlanta in May or early June to ride a section of the Silver Comet Trail.  Last weekend J threw out a goal of riding 50 miles on the Comet.  We have a lot of work to do.

The trees seem to have leafed out over night, so lush and beautiful!

This grand old tree is still leafing out and a few seeds pods still linger on the branches. Pollen is thick in the air right now.

J has “official” biking shoes with clip less pedals.  I have never been comfortable with the idea of locking my feet on the bike so I stick with my running shoes perched on top of old school pedals.  Someday I will make the transition.

The Wildlife Resource Agency has plowed the field on one side of the greenway (the other side is bordered by the river).  Grains and sunflowers will soon be planted.

Looking forward to July and a field of bright sunflowers.

The beavers have been busy at work.  I expect the wildlife folks will be out tearing the dam apart soon.  This creek empties into the river and a water backup could be problematic.

J waiting patiently while I take photos.  Pre-bike accident, he would not have been so patient, he would have been riding ahead.

After the bike ride, we cleaned up a bit and headed downtown for the last day of the Dogwood Arts Festival Craft Fair.

Market Square was lined in food trucks and tents filled with crafts.

We walked up one side and down the other.  Lots of people were enjoying the beautiful weather.

Restaurant patios on the Square were filled even at 3:00 PM in the afternoon.

We knew we would buy something from a food truck but just what would that be?  (Yes, that is J and me in the window reflection).

We decided on Cookies and Cream ice cream between chocolate chip cookies.  Wow!  Everything wonderful thing you may have read about ice cream served between two homemade cookies is true!  We are going to have to try this for a home dessert!!

Bicycle parts were tied to light poles in downtown Knoxville, tires, old handle bars, old forks.  We aren’t entirely sure why but expect it may have to do with the festival sponsored bicycle rides held yesterday and today.

And that’s our weekend recap.  Now we are preparing for the work week and 3 days of rain!

Hope it didn’t rain on your weekend.  Thanks for reading!