By The Light Of The Silvery Moonflower

  

Autumn unfurled itself in the waning afternoon sunlight yesterday, coming to life in the spiraled blossoms of the moonflower vine (ipomoea alba) that opened up to star-kissed flouncy petals.  It was as if flower fairies, hidden deep inside the heart-shaped leaves of this magical vine suddenly decided to celebrate the changing of the seasons by twirling their celestial moonflower skirts in the unpredictable breeze coming from the southwest, which usually means rain, here at Blooming Hill.

Billowy clouds in shades from crisp-white to soft-grey skipped across the blue sky in an effort to keep up with the finicky breeze.  Dressed in their finest cotton-candy outfits, the clouds greeted the newborn Fall and kept the moonflower blossoms well protected under dappled sunlight through the late afternoon.  All the while, the unseen fairies flitted in and out of the vine, for they were just getting started.

 

Evening came and still, with no rain in sight, more fairy-like moonflowers came out to dance, twirling their skirts as the dark night crept in.  The moon, itself, was nowhere to be found, hiding behind the burgeoning cloud cover that lingered to enjoy the company of the twilight gardens.  Still, the moonflowers called out by releasing their sweet perfume while dreaming of love, (as their meaning implies in the language of flowers).  The flower fairies wrapped themselves in the creamy-sheer moonflower petals with emerald-green leaves for capes, too protect them against the chill of the evening, in preparation for their nighttime Fall Gala.

Moonflowers claim their name because they appear in the late afternoon, showing off their full, round figures, so similar to the full moon and yet, possessing their own beauty.  They stay open, dancing the night away through the misty dawn before they fold up their petal skirts, leaving the sunlight to their cousins, the Morning Glories, who while away the quickening days.  Each moonflower blooms only once yet, their brilliance requires nothing more than their own radiance to glow in the garden.  Again, so much like their mentor, the full moon on a clear black night.

So, caught up in all of their enchanting revelry, I took their pictures by the light of their own silvery-ness and, they smiled back at me in all of their grandeur, basking in the glow of the cool autumn evening and bidding farewell to the long, hot summer.

Walk Up a Country Hill

I have a question for you...How many steps does it take to walk up a country hill?  Apparently, here at Blooming Hill, it takes sixteen steps.  Yes, that's right--it takes sixteen wide and gently sloped steps dressed in pearly pea gravel and garnished with cherubs, lavender and hydrangea all arranged under dappled sunlight and shade provided by tall trees along the way, to reach your destination, the gardens at the top of Blooming Hill.  Of course, there are other ways to go that are just as pleasant but, maybe, not so clever.

My last blog entry talked about the adventures of the Blooming Hill Ax Men clearing dead trees and branches off of the hillside which lead to a quandary of what to do with all of that wood--in fact, that could have been yet another question I could have posed to you but, I liked my original riddle best.  Anyway, there we were, with piles and piles of tree trunks, not too thick and not too thin, but just right to create a green solution to an age old problem of walking up this particular steep, country hill and it became Peter's pet project for several days and evenings.

We are already on a first name basis with the local milling establishment that supplies gardeners' necessities such as stone and mulch, as it seems we are in there every weekend for a fresh load of something to fill the truck bed with so, they were interested to hear what P.Lorenz was up to this past week with all of that stone and, a meandering, stepped walkway up into the gardens sounded pretty intriguing to them.

Who needs a membership to a gym when you have endless projects such as this to keep you honestly working out and working hard in your finest work clothes? Now, walking  a country hillside here at Blooming Hill just became a little easier and not quite so steep.

So, here are the completed steps that now connect the shop, down at the road, to the upper gardens and lavender beds!  Pretty nice, don't you think?

The Ax Men of Blooming Hill

Blooming Hill Ax Men crew from left to right: Micheal, Sean, the Prodigal son, Kevin and  P. Lorenz  (Peter).

As the day went on, more trees came down.

It was an episode straight out of the History Channel's Ax Men, here at Blooming Hill, the other day.  Well, it was if you take into account that the Ax Men were not in the Great Pacific Northwest and they weren't big and burly with full beards and wearing flannel plaid shirts--although I did notice that none of them had shaved that morning and these Blooming Hill lumberjacks were more on the collegiate-preppy-athletic side.  Well, again, that description also excludes P.Lorenz, the tree climber extraordinaire, for the day, who is preppy but way beyond the collegiate side of life...Sorry dear...'Tis true, however.  Anyway, I digress--where was I?  Oh yeah...

The three Ax Men pulling on rope attached to a tree they are pulling down.

Okay...now they look serious!

Don't let the narrow trunk fool you.  These Black Locust trees are made of very hard wood and they all reached about 50 feet in height.

...It was the day of reckoning for four dead Black Locust trees and two very ominous looking dead branches on an old Silver Maple tree, all precariously perched on the hillside overlooking the garden shop and it was time to end their reign of terror they gleefully held over Peter and me, especially every time a good wind whipped up around here.  These trees were leaning menacingly toward the shop and you could see them conspiring with each other, planning their own day(s) of excitement and adventure.  Are you following me?  In short, these trees and branches were an accident(s) just waiting to happen.  So, P.Lorenz took a day off from his "day job," and summoned the "prodigal son," a.k.a.  Kevin, home.  Kevin, in turn, called in his own reinforcements, Micheal and Sean, to help heave and ho, saw and chop and gather and dispose of old and rotted wood planted stubbornly in the ground...PHEW!

One of the first trees to come down.  Then the work of chopping and cleaning began.

Sean, Micheal and Kevin loaded and unloaded chopped-up fallen trees in and out of the truck all day long, creating a huge burn pile.  Burning the left-over wood will happen much later in the fall when county fire restrictions are lifted.  Like Micheal's shirt says, "No guts, no glory" for these guys.

From left to right:  A Rugby player, a Lacrosse player and a Baseball player (and former pitcher, I might add) trying to lob a ball, attached to a rope, over a very high limb in order to help stabilize it and pull it down as Peter, in the tree, saws it off.  Note to reader:  Kevin was able to snag limbs this way and the tugging and pulling on ropes by all three helped get these trees and limbs down safely.

I must say, having three Generation X-Ax Men here to do a lot of the heavy and dirty work sure made things a lot easier for Peter and after a long and hot day of hard work and sweat,  P.Lorenz and his band of merry  Ax Men finished the job. The trees were not only reduced to a huge future burn pile of branches, but their trunks will also be recycled and used here at Blooming Hill as a stepped and slightly slanted path, sometimes referred to as a peron, up the steep hill and into the gardens and lavender beds.  Good idea, right?  According to P.Lorenz, "Felling trees is as much an art as it is a science."  So, he is applying his artful skills to making good use of these trees.  More on the progress of these steps in a future blog entry.

Micheal brought his own chain saw and cut through trees quite easily.

P. Lorenz and one of his favorite toys, his own trusty chain saw.

The beginning of the "peron."  Logs from the trees placed as a winding path up the hill.  The logs still need to be dug into the ground and secured.  After that, pea gravel will be added to each step.  

Once the day was done, and the BZZZZing, SNAPing, CRACKLing and CRASHing  stopped, our band of Generation X-Ax Men ate a hardy meal and then merrily headed down the road and off, to yet, other adventures they had in store for themselves. I'm thinking those adventures probably will not involve chopping down trees, at least not in the very near future.  Thanks guys!

Finishing up with lunch at the "OK Blooming Hill Corral"...er .. actually, on the back porch. Tucker, the dog, was too preoccupied with keeping his eye on the table and refused to turn and smile for the camera.

The Blooming Hill Ax Men from left to right: Micheal, Kevin, Sean and Peter.

P.S.  I'm also thinking Blooming Hill should have our own reality show.  We could call it the "Ax Men of Blooming Hill"--I think that's a pretty catchy title and these four modern lumberjacks are a pretty handsome crew...Don't you think?!

Women's Work and Ice Cream

PVFD, Company #8 serves the Philomont Area Neighborhood of around 1450 homes.

Trucks outside and at the ready!

I had a wonderful time this past weekend serving up my homemade Lavender-Honey ice cream at the Philomont Volunteer Fire Department Ladies Auxiliary Ice Cream Social for the community of Philomont.  This group of women is among the hardest working I've ever come across, from putting on horse shows to making chili suppers to an annual barbecue and Sunday Brunches throughout the year, all in the effort of supporting our wonderful volunteer fire department which, in the past few years, thankfully, has also become a fire company of full time paid firefighters.  Not only are these women hard working, they also put these events on with a cherry attitude and always, always with a smile on their face.

Ladies Auxiliary members, Amanda and Kellie getting into the soda fountain shop spirit.

Pricilla, Alexa and Karen prepping the sundae table. 

The shake and sundae table, all festive and bright. Notice the pile of bananas.

When you don't have a jukebox, make your own and make sure it's colorful. 

We were so fortunate that the heat and humidity actually took a break, if only temporarily, this past Sunday afternoon and the Ladies Auxiliary threw open the doors of Philomont Company #8 and asked the firefighters to move the trucks so they were always at the ready, should they be needed. The ladies then transformed the truck bays into a fifties style soda fountain. Suddenly, a sparkling, sunny party was under way complete with live music, strawberry shakes, chocolate malts, Neapolitan-banana sundaes topped with their own mountains of whipped cream, watermelon snow cones and lot's and lot's of homemade ice cream, not only from me but also from other neighborhood women who brought their culinary talents to the Company #8 at 4pm.

A corner of my Blooming Hill Table.

The homemade ice cream side of the room along with the snow cone machine at the end.  We were ready!

At 4pm, the doors opened and the tasting of or homemade ice cream began.  We only got busier from there!

Homemade ice cream flavors that came from all local ingredients included Peach and Wineberry from Pricilla, Kathy brought Blackberry Sorbet and Alexa, who was the organizer of this particular event found time to make Elberberry Fig Gelato, and then of course, there was me with my Lavender-Honey Ice Cream.  We were lined up and ready for all of the taste testers!  If anyone had any concerns about too much sugar, they sure didn't let on!  The sundae/shake/malt table ran out of ice cream and someone was sent out for more while those of us who brought our own special blends, went home after the event  just about empty-handed, too.  I brought four quarts and left with barely any!  That, as Martha Stewart would say, "is a good thing!"  By the way--Kathy won the taste testing contest for her delicious Blackberry Sorbet--congratulations!

Moon Bounce after ice cream?  Ya gotta be young!

The band dressed appropriately in colorful Hawaiian Shirts--just like the Beach Boys!

No matter how much ice cream there was, snow cones ruled the  day.

From the moon bounce to milkshakes and bananas to neighbors getting together for a good cause, I think everyone had a good time.  And, eventhough my pictures don't reflect the amount of people who did show up, a good time was had by all.  I sort of got a little busy when the place really got going and picture taking had to take a back seat and chill! The entire day was a success for the Philomont Volunteer Fire Department Ladies Auxiliary who, once again, generously and graciously served up a wonderful time.

The Unveiling - The Garden Gazebo, That Is!

The cast-stone pillars loaded and ready in Asheville for the long drive home.

Home (Blooming Hill) at last!

You can tell it's early.  Even the dog is yawning!

Well, if you read last week's blog entry about our journey down to Asheville, North Carolina and beyond to collect our new (old/antique) garden gazebo reminiscent of a structure straight out of a Jane Austin novel or, perhaps, that great American  saga by Margaret Mitchell, Gone With the Wind, then you're in the right place to witness it's unveiling right here at Blooming Hill.  The truck trundled back north into Virginia last Tuesday evening.  Bright and early Wednesday morning, true to form, Peter was out working on rebuilding the structure on top of a sunny slope and flanked by lavender beds.  A firm believer in "no rest for the weary," Peter had Kevin up and out of bed bright and early, too while, Kevin, nobody's fool himself, called for more reinforcement, his friend Micheal, to come over and join in the "rebuilding" games.

Measuring and leveling.

Placing it just so...

Enough posing for pictures...Back to work!

I think I heard both the truck and trailer release a collective sigh of relief when the Peter, Kevin and Micheal finally pulled the heavy cast-stone columns and scrolled wrought iron cap out of each and back into sunlight and stable ground.  Then, the real fun began as the early morning temperatures were mobilizing to rise into the mid 90's by 12 noon.  They worked fast in order to get
the columns set and the filigreed cap in place.

How come this doesn't fit?

A few minor adjustments...

So, now, I'll let the pictures tell the story, from here, as P.Lorenz and company put their noses to the grindstone and finished the job bringing Peter's vision to a close.  I'm sure that Jane Austin and Margaret Mitchell would be proud.

A few more minor adjustments...

Just one more inch...

Toasting the gazebo with cold bottles of water, now that the hard part is done, and before the hot, hot heat of the day settled in.

 The structure was up in less time than it took to come down but just as sturdy, thanks to the project manager and lead designer, P. Lorenz (a.k.a. Peter) and his assistants, Micheal and Kevin.  It was a job well done...Wait a minute!  There are still a few more things to be done--finishing touches, that is.  Two days later, after Kevin and Micheal were long gone, Peter added pea gravel to the floor of the gazebo which added definition to the entire structure.  He also filled in and repaired several cracks and divots that had occurred throughout the years as well as from the journey to Blooming Hill.

That poor truck never catches a break .   Peter unloading pea gravel from it and onto the floor of the gazebo.

Details...Details!

Nothing major left to do at this point, however P.Lorenz likes things as close to perfect as he can get...you know those artistic designer types! You can't live with them and you can't live without them. Yet, all of his efforts and hard work were worth it and shows in the small details.

The pea gravel floor in the gazebo.

Looking up through the wrought iron cap of the gazebo. "Nothing but blue skies, do I see!"

Are we done yet?!?

This beautiful fox statue is proving more effective in scaring off the devil deer than Tucker!

Elaborate, intricate and sturdy.

"Le Pie'ce de re'sitance!"

And VIOLA!  Blooming Hill's newest addition, a centerpiece of quiet beauty and vintage charm that will grace the gardens here for years to come.  It wasn't easy.  In fact, at times it seemed as though it was a perfect war of wills between the garden gazebo and Peter.  However, in spite of everything, it turned out beautifully!  Finally, we can enjoy it's arrival home.  And, yes--I really do think that Jane Austin and Margaret Mitchell would like it very much.  What do you think?  Drop by and see it for yourself.  It's even prettier in person.