Things in Bloom

Spring begins in a few days. Most of the trees are still bare, though.

But some flowers in my yard are blooming, so an elderly border collie and I went in search of things in bloom. We found a few.

By the road, the forsythia I planted years ago from just a stick was in full bloom.

Nearby, the peach tree that I planted years ago had some blooms, too, but not as many as previous years. I'd thought the tree was dying, but it's still hanging on.

The crocuses have beeen blooming for a while . . .

. . . and so have the windflowers . . .

. . . and daffodils.

The bridal wreath is blooming, too. I don't know how old it is, but it was here when we moved in twenty yeas ago.

The corkscrew willow isn't a flower, but it's still pretty. I'd bought it at a garden club sale at the farmers market over a decade ago. When I planted it in a low spot beside the kennel, it was only a few feet tall. 

I didn't plant the weeping cherry that grows along the pasture fence. A bird did that several years ago. My next door neighbor has a weeping cherry, so I know where the seed came from.

That's all that old Maggie and I found so far. Likely a lot more things will bloom during the next few weeks.

~

Towering Over Us

I've blogged before about one of our farms—120 acres of what used to be the 700-acre Philemon Sutherland plantation. Last year, Shentel had wanted to build a 198-foot cellular tower on our property, but we decided an unsightly tower wasn't worth the money they'd pay us. However, a woman who owns the property next door—also part of the original Sutherland plantation—sold out, so we now have a metal monstrosity a few hundred feet from our property line and towering over our place. 

I can also see it from my house, about a mile away as the crow flies. In the center of this picture, which I took from my front yard, a white line extends above the trees. That's the tower.

It took them a while to get the tower up, what with all the rain we've had. First they scraped off the site

The tower site is not far from our property line.

Then they brought in sections of the tower.

. . . and some gravel. And big rocks to keep the heavy machinery from sinking.

Before long, a big crane started putting up sections of the tower.

They pretty much made a mess while getting the sections assembled. (Some of our land is visible in the upper right.)

The photos below were taken from one of our fields behind the tower.

As you drive to our land, you can't miss seeing the tower. (Neighbor woman's house is to the right.) 

This is our hayfield near the road. We once considered it as a place to build a house if we decided to move to a smaller home and to get away from the gas pipeline that's being built less than a thousand feet from our current residence. The tower has now made this field undesirable for a homesite.

Who wants to live under that towering monstrosity?

Not ony is it ugly, it could also cause cancer. . . .

The World’s Largest Animal Study On Cell Tower Radiation Confirms Cancer Link

Cell Phone Towers. What Distance is Safe to Live?

World’s Largest Study On Cell Tower Radiation Confirms Cancer Link

~ 

The Interlude

The Interlude, Linn Stepp's latest novel in her Smoky Mountain series, is an enjoyable read.

The back-cover blurb hints at what the book is about: "In this gentle, inspirational romance, Lin Stepp reveals the healing touch and deep peace the beauty of the Smoky Mountains can bring to a hurt and troubled heart."

The two main characters, Mallory Wingate and Lucas James, both have troubled hearts. After Mallory cared for her recently deceased mother during her mother's long illness, broke up with her suitor Ethan, and  succumbed to pressures at the publishing house in Savannah where she works, she suffers a breakdown. While Mallory recovers, she will stay for a while with her grandparents at Millhouse Resort in the Smoky Mountains. Lucas James—a golf pro still affected by the suicide of his bi-polar ex-wife a few years earlier—takes the seat beside Mallory on the plane. At first, Mallory tries to ignore him, but soon they are conversing. He invites her to have dinner with him during a layover and, back on the plane, they sit together again. Flirtatious kissing ensues. "An interlude," Lucas tells her. After all, they won't see each other again. 

But, of course, they do. And therein lies the story. I won't give away the surprises, but there are some mysteries—a series of thefts, (including items stolen from the Butterfly Tea Room and cars stolen from the resort parking lot) and the circumstances surrounding the accidental death of Mallory's father in a hunting accident decades earlier—and a scene where Mallory is in danger.

One of the enjoyable parts of a Lin Stepp  novel is a strong sense of place. There are some wonderful descriptions of hikes that the main characters take. Plus the Millhouse Resort, surrounding town, and Great Smokies are all important to the story. The map provides a handy way to see where various senes in the novel take place.

A strong sense of family is another hallmark of a Lin Stepp novel. The Interlude emphasizes and demonstrates the importance of family.

The main characters—and several minor characters—are well-developed and believable. Stepp's background in psychology no doubt played a part in both illuminating the emotional problems Mallory and Lucas had as well as providing believable solutions.

What did my youngest cats, Charlotte and her brother Otis think of the book?

Charlotte: I  thought that the purrfect place to read The Interlude was on the cat-shelf in a sunny window.

Charlotte: The sun could shine right through my ears and illuminate the book. I liked the book. What did you think, Otis?

Otis: You know I'm always looking for a good book. I liked The Interlude and I give it two paws up.

 Otis: I prefer to do my reading in bed. I had a little trouble turning the pages until I realized I was using the wrong side. Once I got into the book, I thought the best part was about the cat, Baby. My favorite part was when she had kittens in the closet!

Charlotte: Otis, you're giving away too much of the plot! But I liked the part about the cat, too.  I could really identify with Baby. I'm going to share the book with our mom-cat Alfreda. 

Alfreda: Can't I finish my nap first, Charlotte?

Charlotte: You should start reading now! It has a cat in it!

Alfreda: Oh, a cat? Then I'll probably like it. But first I want to finish my nap.

Charlotte: No, you should start reading it now!

Another plus about The Interlude: a cat! (But the cat doesn't appear until later in the story.)

NOTE: I received an advance reader copy of this book. The Interlude will be released on April 2, but it is available for pre-order from Amazon now.