Summer flowers...

My gardens have been neglected since the summer thermostat shot up so I slipped outside for a few hours today to return some dignity to the summer chaos. Gardening is my pleasure, my "me" time, my time to think (or not).  In return for a little effort, the gardens yield endless bouquets of flashy reds, sunny yellows, cheery oranges and oh, so cool whites. 

On my project list was replacing the white pansies that still inhabited the pots on each side of the front steps. This has been a difficult task for me and I have been putting it off for a month. The pansies were a gift from my neighbors a few days after the death of my mother, but the relentless sun had long since wilted them and it was time to say good-bye.

My morning started with a trip to a local hardware store where I picked up several pots of red petunias and white zinnas.  It is late in the season to be purchasing start up plants and the ones I picked up looked pretty pitiful.  A good potting soil, a strong dose of fertilizer and some warm sunshine is the only hope these plants have for the rest of the summer.   I have my fingers crossed.

Shrubs, weeds and watering occupied the rest of my morning, it was time well spent!  While I wait for the petunias and zinnas to fill in, I will share some pics of several other pots I planted last month. 

 

Another day, another incredible storm...

Around 8:00 PM  yesterday evening, we became one of 127,000 households in Knoxville who lost power during the latest series of storms that ripped through the city.  The storms started with what has become a familiar sight, rapidly moving gray clouds.    

Angry clouds on the move



Following the clouds, we heard the familiar roar of wind blowing in from the west. As with the April 27th storm we were storm watchers from the safety of our side porch.  Unlike the April storm, the wind lingered and we became anxious as a great, old oak tree at the corner of our driveway violently shook and swayed.   Finally the wind moved out and the rain began.  Hard rain, lots of thunder and lightening but no hail.  The lights flickered off and the rain moved out.  We could see  storm carnage from the porch... a neighbor's tree had split in two and many small branches littered the street and lawns.

As dusk faded into darkness, so did our house.  The candles and headlamps came out as we prepared for bed.  Without ceiling fans and air conditioning, the air in the house was so very, very still. We tossed and turned until the power finally came on, around 3:30 AM.  Along with fans and air conditioner, the lights and TV that had been on before the power failure, also came on.  What an early morning wake up!!

With that said, we are lucky.  Tonight 50,000 Knoxville households are still without power including our friends Mac and Sonya (they were without power for 4 day after the April storm).  Hope our luck holds out.  Gray clouds have rolled in again and we are waiting for another night of severe weather!!  And another on Thursday... 

Rainy day in the city...

We slipped in  Harry's Delicatessen ,  just before a heavy rain began falling.  We had read several articles about this newly opened deli and all the reviews were good.  The deli is billed as Jewish/Italian with emphasis on the locally grown and homemade.  Harry's is located in the space  once occupied by Harold's Deli.  Harold's was a Knoxville institution for over 55 years, serving kosher overstuffed sandwiches, crunchy oversize pickles and many Jewish delights. It closed in 2005 and the building stood empty until Harry's opened.   

As we stood in line to order, John's boss and his wife appeared from seats at the end of the counter and warmly greeted us.  He told us his son and daughter-in-law, both professionally trained chefs, moved back from Vermont to open this deli.  He is one proud "papa"!  We chatted a few minutes, ordered and grabbed two stools in the front window. A steady rain continued to fall as we watched people dash about on Gay Street.

Our food arrived quickly.  I ordered a traditional corned beef and John ordered a patty melt.  In the basket with each sandwich was a side of pickled cucumbers, cauliflower and beets.  I normally won't eat off a plate if a beet has touched the surface but these beets were delicious!  I am now a big fan... of these beets anyway.

Corned Beef

Vinegar based coleslaw and roasted fingerling potatoes were our sides of choice

Patty melt

The rain had slowed to a trickle by the time we finished lunch so we walked a few blocks south to explore Union Avenue Books.  The bookstore, which opened a week ago, was hosting a grand opening event.   Nice to see a bookstore in downtown.  

John in front of just ripe, a new grocery and prepared foods store located next to the bookstore

Flowers purchased at today's Market Square Farmer's Market

We finished our day back downtown for the final performance of "Forbidden Knoxville" at Theater Knoxville Downtown.  Like everywhere else in Knoxville, the road in front of the theater is shrouded in orange construction barrels and we had to make our way through the rubble to the entrance.

The play is a locally written satire touching on such topics as the Road Kill Bill, Lane Kiffin, Bruce Pearl and other UT sports figures, road construction, Tim Burchett, the Hillside Task Force, Pilot and the Haslam family, Pat Summit and so on.  We laughed till we cried.  Another good day in downtown Knoxville...

Spring is back for the moment...

Beautiful night in K-town.  The oppressive heat and humidity has pushed out giving way to a few breezy and cool evenings. Spring is back for today but summer is waiting at the end of the week.  Perfect time to be backpacking but these are workdays for us!

Tonight was a dinner out kinda night.  Because we are trying to respect our evening workout schedule, dinner was a late one by Smith-Dunlap standards.  We left the house clueless on restaurants.  The first few minutes driving included the usual "wherever you want to eat" conversation but John had to go to work for a few minutes and I had been craving sushi, so we ended up at  Chaiyo's Thai and Sushi ( just behind UT School of Law).

We split a couple of spring rolls, a plate of Pad Thai and 10 or so pieces of sushi. The restaurant has a laid back university kinda vibe and the food is delicious!  We ate, talked and caught snatches of a lively discussion going on behind us... the current and past state of raunchy politics, the Republican candidates debate and nuclear engineering (well that part wasn't so lively).  Soon, it was time for us to pay our bill and finish our evening tasks.   We got home just in time for "The Voice". Sadly, we are addicted...

Weekend recap...

A small milestone this weekend, I replaced my car.  After 15 years, 501,250 miles and one major hailstorm, it was time.  The once beautiful white Infiniti served me well.  We spent 10 years together my hour and 1/2 commute to Cleveland, TN and 2 years of monthly travel to Mt. Airy, NC.  In this car I have traveled to countless backpacks, day hikes and overnights in Asheville, Abingdon, driven highways, back roads and even some dirt and gravel roads.   On various occasions, the car has been packed full of gear, plants, family and friends.  Lots of fun and laughter in this car.

Somewhere about 5 years ago, I quit repairing body damage on the Infiniti.  The missing paint on the back bumper is a souvenir of a disagreement I had with Tom, one of the service writers at Harper. I was so angry that I backed into a stone wall at the dealership while trying to leave.  Then there  is the long dent on the driver's side where an elderly lady in a gray mini van hit the Infiniti in a Target parking lot.  I was not in the car at the time, but watched the lady speed out of the parking lot before I could catch her.  Of course there is the rusted space on the front passengar's bumper where a 20's something didn't look both ways when pulling out of a gravel turn around on a narrow road.  I remember sitting in the snow waiting for the police on that afternoon.  The list goes on.

Recently age has caught up with the Infiniti. The stabalizer bar needed to be replaced, the car was not responding as it should to the steering wheel and the check engine light was on. John and I had been out test driving cars on several occasions but I hated the process and  waffled back and forth about another car.  Then April 27th arrived bringing with it baseball sized hail. 

The insurance company made the final decision for me.  They gave me market value for my damaged car, much more than any dealership would ever offer for a trade-in.

So this (above) old, scratched and pitted mug has given way to the pretty, shiny mug below, a new Rav4.  Well, maybe not brand new, but new to me!  The Infiniti was towed away by the insurance company this afternoon, leaving a little more room in the driveway for the Rav4.

Sunday John and I went on a day hike in the Smokies.  We hiked about 6.5 miles out and back on the Lumber Ridge Trail.   It was really just a workout type of hike, a chance for us to get away from our usual workout routines.  We gained and lost some 1600' overall, not too bad. 

The day was sunny and warm but the trail was mostly in the shade so we remained as comfortable as one can hiking up the side of the mountain in high humidity.  We found a few great views along the way and saw only one other couple.  Very pleasant.

                                                                           
                                                             Dappled sun on the trail??!!

                                                        
                                                    A few flame azaleas were still in bloom

                          
                                                      Rhododendren is still in bloom!

Tree damaged in the April 27th storm