Yard, Spring of 2019.

I forgot to post photos of the yard for this Spring. The azaleas and the dogwoods were nice. Not the best I've ever seen them, but pretty darned good. Some of the azaleas are dying and we need to plant new ones. It has been three years since Carole and I took the effort to replace the older azaleas in some of the beds. So we'll have to tackle that task this year. In addition, a few of the more mature dogwoods are also dying off. A few new dogwoods were nice enough to appear on their own over the past five years, but we'll have to target some spaces in the yard with transplanted trees. That's another task we'll have to take on this year.

At any rate, here are photos of this Spring's show.

The front yard.

One of the dozen azalea beds in the back yard. (Things still don't look right to us since the property owner behind us harvested the hardwood forest back there.)

Azaleas and dogwoods on the left side, back yard.

Another of the twelve beds in the back.

Dogwood branches in full bloom.

Our travel trailer. I took this today after getting the Casita all scrubbed for our upcoming vacation.

It took an awful lot of elbow grease to get the Casita cleaned up this time. She was really, really dirty.

Frank's Legacy

One of the nicest people I ever met was my father-in-law, Frank Henderson. I've heard this said many times about some people: "He never knew a stranger." Well, with Frank, that was actually true. He genuinely liked people and he loved to make new acquaintances. And I never met anyone who didn't like him.

He's been gone a long time, now. Taken from his family by cancer. But I see echoes of him every time Carole and I visit her mom. He built the house her mom lives in. Back in the 1960s. And when I say "he built it", I mean that. He even dug the foundation himself. Yeah.With a pick and shovel.

But what makes me think of Frank every time I go over there is the yard and the landscaping. He did all that himself, too. He had the forethought to purchase two lots so that he'd have much room and a place for his kickass garden. No matter how tired Frank would be when he got home from his job as an electrical engineer for Duke Power, he would work in his garden. And when that was done, he'd tinker with the trees and flower beds that make that yard a very special place in the Spring.

So, here's to Frank Henderson. I think of him whenever I see the house he built and the yard he landscaped and planted.

Every Spring is a treasure for the eyes.

The front of the house. I rarely take any photos of the front yard. But there it is.

The grassy area in front of the dogwoods and azalea bed was where Frank had his garden. He could have fed an army with the fruits and vegetables he grew there.

Frank's Place

Last week we went to run some errands at Carole's mom's place. I often refer to it as "Frank's Place". Frank was Carole's dad. When he built his house he bought two lots instead of one so he would have extra space and wouldn't have to worry about pesky neighbors hemming him in. Also, it gave him room for the kick-ass gardens he used to plant. Frank didn't mess around when he did his garden. It was like a mini-farm. It was only about 1/4 of an acre and I know that doesn't sound like much...but it produced AMAZING amounts of food. All kinds of great vegetables. I miss that garden. When Frank died, that was the end of it.

One thing that Frank did when he built the house was to do his own landscaping. To that end he planted islands of azaleas and put in dogwood trees. The only things that mar the yard are a couple of camelia bushes and a holly tree. I hate both of those, and I don't think they were Frank's idea. Other than those, the yard is amazing when the azaleas and dogwoods are in bloom, which takes place roughly at the same time. Frank is gone, but the hard work he put into landscaping the glorious yard lives on. Last week it was just before peak for the blossoms. We'll be back out there on Sunday, but I fear peak will have passed by then. We'll see.

Until then, enjoy:

The vast tract of green on the left side of the photo is what was once Frank's garden. He would plant that side to side and end to end with all manner of vegetables. Tomatoes, beans, squash, potatoes, melons, corn, etc. Those were the days!

Our Casita, framed by the dogwoods.

Wild Azaleas

I forgot to post some photos of one of my favorite heath flowers yesterday, that being the Flame azalea. These grow wild all over the southern Appalachians and are among the first of the heath wildflowers to bloom every Spring. When I was a kid living in the mountains of north Georgia, we had these growing all over our 120-acre property.

The Back Yard

Carole's dad put a lot of thought and energy into his back yard. Old Frank's been gone a good many years, now (almost two decades), but the flowers and trees he planted are still here. Occasionally we have to dig up one of the old azaleas that has bloomed its last; and we've set out many more to replace the older ones. But by and large the plants he put in place are all still there, still growing, still blooming. In early Spring the Henderson yard is a very special place.

Sitting area. Carole's mom spends a lot of time here.

Looking across the yard toward a neighbor's place.

From about halfway back toward the rear property line looking toward the house.

One of the azalea beds we need to work on. We took out the half where most of the azaleas had died off, but we haven't replanted, yet.

They were pretty much in full bloom the day we left for Florida.