December on the River

Pictures from yesterday's ride.

Hot in December

Just had to go for a kayak ride.  A beautiful day yesterday.

A leisure life is a good life

Finally got around to hanging a hammock down at the river.

After but a few minutes upon stretching out on it:  z z z z .

Blue behind blue

Some days are just perfect.

Morning Glories are blooming!

This year the morning glories germinated and produced lots of vines.  There's a window behind the vines on the side of the garden cottage; it's nearly all obscured by the vines.

The vines have been growing well, but have not had any blooms.  Culprits for this are too much water or too much fertilizer; we had not too much of either one.  So we just waited patiently.  Finally, over the past few days there have been new blooms each morning.  Yesterday (this picture) there were fifty-one blue blooms.

Bald Eagle

This afternoon a bald eagle stopped to visit, just across the river from us.  Have a look (iPhone cameras are so handy).

Bountiful

Considering that there have been many 100° F days in a row-- with no rain-- we have been fortunate with the garden this year.

The idea of  erecting farm fence posts with wire strung across as a trellis for cucumbers and foot-long beans has worked well.  This year there have been fewer of those cukes that grew huge because you didn't see them in time to pick them when they'd be more tasty.

The tomatoes, despite a worrisome threat of blossom rot (ugh), have done well.  Kudos to us for keeping up with weeding and training those vines to stay in their cages.

And the sunflowers, well, enough said.

Today was another harvest day.  Have a look for yourself:

Bountiful

Civilization... and Family Fun

Just because River Bend is in Perry County, the least-densely populated county in Tennessee...

... and notwithstanding the high unemployment here:

There's more to River Bend than just solitude and watching the dragonflies shuttle around the [Buffalo River] water's surface.

For the third year now, every other Saturday night sees 'Music on Main Street' (on the opposite Saturdays, it's held up in Lobelville, Perry County's other big city).  You probably didn't get to be there last night.  Here's a shot of the stage in front of the County Courthouse.

Lots of people have worked very hard over the last couple of years to create the really attractive street scene you see here.  Notice the street lighting, trees and a very pleasant scene.

The County Courthouse is the center of the city square, so common in rural counties.  The transformation  of Linden's downtown has been a great thing.

The courthouse was built in 1928, having replaced an earlier courthouse that was destroyed by fire, and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1995.





























But it is still great to be at the River, just 15 minutes outside of the county's seat.

Sunshine (and hot)

Although it is getting hot and dry now, the Sunflowers seem to be happy-- and huge.

Because it is so dry we're watering the garden from the river to keep stress from our well and protect our well water.  The little pump you see here does a nice job of pumping water up the river bank and all the way to the garden.  It's one of the few 2-cycle engines that starts reliably and easily.

It's Summer!

Every June begins summertime.  Update:  those blackberries are ripe and ready for picking.  Plenty for you—there are way more of them than birds to eat them.
The River is ready for your enjoyment.

Take a look at the Garden.  It is doing very well this year.

And see the harvest after everything was picked just two days earlier.

Also doing really well are Sunflowers.  These all germinated on their own-- evidently from last year's seeds.  Several of them were transplanted to the flower garden when they were just a few inches high,   Reminds you of "... look at me now ..." from Karmin's viral video of the same name?

Though you may be wishing for better weather where you are, it's been great here at the River.  Here's those sunflowers for you to enjoy.

Early June 2012 at the River

See some pictures from today at the River.  The grass is all newly mowed (mown?) so it was a good time to snap some views for you. Click on this full-sized photo collage to open it in a new page if its too big to fit on your computer's screen.

When do you think those blackberries will be ready to pick?  

Taking shape - the gravel is moved

Well, today the gravel was spread into the space on the ground which will become the garage floor.

and Watch the Bobcat® in action.

Sunny - not

So, today the only sunshine around here is the first Sunflower of the season.

Sunflower - Vegetable garden is in background behind Butterfly bushes.

Another beginning

Here's the first step for a garage (!) here at the River.
The gravel will be pushed into place and become the underlayment for the garage's concrete floor.

Let's stay tuned for further progress over the next few weeks.

March goes out like a lamb?

So, it's the last day of March.  Temperature hitting 85°.  It's a beautiful day to cut the grass that's been growing by leaps and bounds.  And some dandelions that have gone to seed.  Have a look at the River for yourself:

Noon at the River (High Dynamic Range photo) -Newly Mowed Grass

Wouldn't you know that on such a summer-like day there would be an afternoon cloudburst-- with hail.  A two-minute video; so different from the earlier sunshine!
So, you decide:  did March go out like a lamb?  Hint:  later on, the sunshine reappeared just in time for sunset.
You may need to turn down the volume if you listen to this video-- the hail is very loud on the 'tin' roof.

The video is in 720p HD if you want to get a good look at the hail on the porch.

a Super day

Yep.  Today has been a Super day.

If panorama picture is too wide to fit on your screen, try clicking on the middle of the photo.  It may switch you to a photo viewer.

River panorama in the morning

Not exciting... but peaceful.   Listen to a few birds chirping early in the morning (less than 40 seconds).

Better than the rain deluge the other day.

The River is rising ... again

Here's a 12 second clip of this morning's downpour at the River. Wraparound porches are great for a day like today.

Hope the baby crops won't wash away. And hope river doesn't rise too much or become too swift to preclude kayaking this afternoon :(

Spring is here (almost) !

The garden

Lots of cedar trees have grown up in our lot  adjacent to the 'cabin'.  The picnic bench you see here has stayed close to home.  It is tethered onto a post in the ground.  Before tethering, it had floated down several lots to a neighbor's tree line during a good sized flood (before the flood of May 2010)

The garden has been tilled for 2012.  Rows are marked with string.  It's a beautiful day... mostly sunny and unseasonably warm

The sky has darkened; thunder claps are occurring, but no rain.  The dark sky brings out the contrast of the trees beginning to leaf out.

A telephoto shot reveals the River as it bends northward.

Down from the picnic bench is a path that leads over the bridge to the River's edge.  The water is higher now than in the Summer.  The path is ready to be repaired after several high waters that approached flood stage.

Kayaking

After starting the garden, it was time for a well-earned break.

Dragging the kayak to the beginning of the path at the Riverbank.

Preparing to climb aboard.  A little trickier this time as recent late Winter high waters have brought sand and mud to where there had been a good base of river rock.

Underway!  The substantial wake is created by such powerful paddle strokes

.

It was a good ride, into the setting sun.

Already planted:  lettuce, broccoli, cabbage, beets, radishes, red onions, white onions, yellow onions.  To be planted tomorrow-- potatoes.