Family Fun with Butterflies, Birds, and Fish at the Tennessee Aquarium

This past weekend our two daughters (Christine and Liz) joined us in Chattanooga with their daughters (Adella (left) and Everleigh (right) respectively) for some family fun. We also brought along our youngest grandchild (Riley) since his father was not able to bring him. We were only missing the oldest grandchild (Joshua) who happens to be in school in Florida. It was delightful to have three of the four grandkids together and the two girls! Mr. Fix-it and I had a wonderful and relaxing time. Thanks Chris and Liz for taking Riley overnight! 

We met in Chattanooga to kind of shorten the driving distance for Christine and to also have fun at the Tennessee Aquarium. While the grandkids might've been a bit young to really enjoy the sights and sounds of the aquarium, they did have a good time as did the the adults. Here the three grandkids are looking at two very noisy, very blue, very big macaws. These birds were quite fascinating to the kids until they squawked. That really got their attention but no one was scared enough to cry. It was a good start to the tour and we spent several hours at this wonderful attraction in southeastern Tennessee-for once I was a visitor to a tourist attraction in a state I actually lived in!

The aquarium has much more than just fish in it. I did not know the Tennessee Aquarium had a butterfly house. It was a very small butterfly house but a very prolific one nonetheless. Their chrysalis hatching area was huge compared to Callaway Gardens; which had a much a bigger and stand alone butterfly pavilion.  I think I could've stayed and watched those butterflies hatch out all day long had it not been for more touring to do. 

One really cool feature of the butterfly house was a hook containing fresh fruit skewered on it and hung from the ceiling. There were several butterflies on it but when I approached all of them flew off-except this one. Can you see it?

It is a nicely camouflaged butterfly that I believe is a gray comma butterfly. I may be wrong on the identification so if I am please let me know! I should've looked it up on the handy charts while I was in the butterfly house but did not. This butterfly really looked like another piece of food or a dried leaf. Looking at it casually you might not ever know it is there because it was perfectly still feasting on the juices from the fruit.

The last butterfly I will share is a blue morpho. These are common butterflies where Christine resides in Florida but I am not so familiar with them in my area. Christine was quite familiar with it and while we were there one landed on her arm and hung out there for quite a while. The outside of this butterfly looks like a giant owl butterfly but the seven spots actually gives this one away. If it was to open its wings the butterfly would look completely different and beautiful. It is, like its name, blue! It is a spectacularly colored butterfly but only when the wings are opened....

in the garden....with family.

Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team, In the Garden

An Update to My Daughter's Garden and Landscape Design Progress

I love Limelight hydrangeas! The above bouquet was picked by my daughter Liz from her garden in Louisville Kentucky. On a recent visit Mr. Fix-it and I got to enjoy her garden as well as her and her one year old daughter (our granddaughter) and we had a good visit though we missed Liz's twin sister and her daughter (they were supposed to meet us there but it didn't work out this time--we'll see them soon tho).



I was quite interested in the gardens because I did the complete landscape design for Liz's house two years ago and the front gardens are finally coming into their own. If you like, please go back and look at that post about the landscape design because you will most likely be quite stunned by the changes in the curb appeal in only two years. Liz has not been able to install the complete design but on my visits up there and when she is able to, she and I work around the gardens. Having a small toddler in the house means garden work can be slow, but this front garden is really impressive and honestly it takes very little time for maintenance but looks good all the time. It is pretty well finished.

All of my garden and landscape designs start with structure and year round interest. In Liz's garden I knew the front garden had to be fairly large and its edge had to have a nice mowing curve. So many times I see foundation gardens designed too small with awkward angles that mowers cannot easily mow around. The structure here is the 'Grace' smoketree. It is the taller shrub with purplish foliage. Liz has been digging up and moving this particular shrub from house to house as she has moved over the last six years. This is the first year it has really come into its own. We are working on developing a strong framework for it because during the moves it has suffered some setback. Ultimately it will be come a nicely limbed up small tree that will provide year round interest. It's purpose is to provide structure, privacy, and interest without totally overwhelming the house and view from the house and to the house from the road. It is also a nice tree that will not overly shade the southern facing garden but will give Liz and Everleigh some shade in the spring, summer, and fall without blocking the southern sun in the winter. 'Grace' smoketree is an awesome cultivar of smoketree and will do well in a full sun exposure. Once established all smoketrees are quite drought tolerant.

Most of the perennials in Liz's garden have come from my garden. They are all grouped in balloon (massed bubbles) sized spaces on the plan and massed to make a nice effect. I group perennials by the texture of foliage and bloom times as well as heights and then finally colors. The pinkish sedum right here on the corner of the driveway and sidewalk really makes an attractive edging that will provide year round interest. These were just planted a few months ago and will fill out even more by next year. The color of this sedum blends perfectly with the nearby coneflowers and does not clash with any of the yellows in this garden. Behind the sedum are: coneflowers and rudbeckias, coryopsis, 'May Night' salvia, Japanese roof irises, asters, and daylilies. Interspersed in this garden are daffodils and surprise lilies. Liz's garden will have something going on in it all seasons of the year with the combination of perennials, bulbs, and small trees. 

Here is a copy of the design tho I am not sure if you all will be able to see it in this format. Each of my designs are drawn out on 24" x 36" vellum. Th vellum copy was scanned into a computer to get the electronic file copy. Liz's information has been blacked out to protect her privacy.





The rock edging was all picked up by us from the as yet undeveloped part of her subdivision. This limestone is a tan color and is indigenous to the area. It fits right in as the color of the limestone is subdued in this garden and picks up some colors in the house. A lot of Liz's neighbors are also using landscape rock around their houses for some interest too.

This is the eastern side of the house. As such, it is a somewhat sheltered part of the garden as far as sunlight and harsh conditions. Over here are some aucubas, spiderworts, hostas, heucheras, Japansese irises, columbines, and a 'Limelight' hydrangea and peony out front of this part of the house. This area descends down to the backyard. The good cover of hardwood mulch (I use it only on new gardens) underlaid with cardboard has ensured this garden does not erode down the hill while the plants establish themselves. This winter was a pretty tough winter on most gardens and Liz's garden also took a hit. Mainly to the three aucubas located on this side of the house. Aucubas are marginally hardy in Zone 6/7. It helps if you plant aucubas in full shade so that they do not quickly warm up in the winter then suffer freeze damage when the sun goes down at night. This is really what got to Liz's aucubas. Fortunately two of the three are slowly coming back. One died.

The western side of the front garden gets a lot of sun. As such all sun loving plants will do well here. Here we have some 'Limelight' hydrangeas, peonies, lambs ear, salvias, irises, mums, and a 'Graham Blandy' evergreen corner accent shrub. I made a common mistake when I designed Liz's landscape design. Oftentimes experts in the business can tell what season a design is prepared in just by looking at the design. The clue to which season this design was designed is that it looks great in the summer-the season I designed it. The problem I made was I did not allow for evergreens to help carry the garden through the winter. Liz and I have somewhat compensated by adding some low growing junipers in front of the 'Limelight' hydrangeas. These are slowly filling in and hopefully will provide that much needed color in the winter. If a designer designs a plan in the winter then most likely she or he will go heavy on evergreens, it is the opposite for summer designs. A hard learned lesson for me.The 'Limelight' hydrangeas are a bit floppy because they are young plants and simply overloaded with blooms. Hence the bouquets of 'Limelight' hydrangeas in the opening picture. As time goes on we will train the hydrangeas by pruning; which will in turn shore up the main trunks and help to prevent floppiness in the future.

This is a close up of the sedum. I can't tell you how beautiful this garden looks from the sidewalk, street, and even houses across the road. This is one of my absolute favorite sedums. I don't even know the name but butterflies flock to it. On this day the rain kept most insects away.

But! The rainy day garden did bring out a box turtle! Liz found the little box turtle while working outside in the garden. It was a lesson in teaching her daughter the value and beauty of nature to her daughter and those little moments are priceless! And all because of a garden....

in the garden....

Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team, In the Garden

A Visit From My Sister in Florida

Cornus kousa (Korean dogwood) is one of my favorite trees. Can you see why? How about those berries? They will slowly turn reddish pink and will quickly be consumed by birds. I took this picture at Patti's Settlement located in Grand Rivers Kentucky. I love this place and if you are local and have not yet been, there is no time like the present. I had the opportunity to visit Patti's Settlement while my younger sister Joanne was here visiting with her husband, and two granddaughters. They all had a great time. Here are some pictures from our recent visit.

Patti's Settlement is based on an 1880's town. In it are several stores, a wonderful restaurant (Patti's), several gardens, a small zoo, a playground, and gardens. There were a lot of seating areas scattered around to make enjoying the garden absolutely delightful.

Here is Samone, Joanne's oldest grandchild and granddaughter. She is standing next to the largest wind chime I have ever seen. It made a really low and echoing sound when 'chimed.' It is easily taller than Samone and she is ever bit of four feet.

There were flower designs nicely displayed in creative pots. There were also a lot of fruit trees bearing fruit, and lots of hardscaping to make the settlement quite user friendly for all visitors.

I liked this display of trees due to the variety of color and textures. Wow.

In addition to visiting Patti's Settlement we also visited the Golden Pond Planetarium and the Woodland Nature Station located at Land Between the Lakes (LBL).   We here in Middle Tennessee and southern Kentucky are very lucky to have such a beautiful natural recreation area nearby. Each trip I make to LBL always delights me. Here are Samone and her younger cousin Carmen standing in front of an elk at the small museum located in the Planetarium. Also located at LBL is an Elk and Bison Prairie. This prairie is a 700 acre prairie that is very native and beautiful. I can see my Wildflower Hill becoming like this prairie-with time. There is a large herd of elk and bison who call this prairie their home. The cost is a mere $5 to enter the enclosure where you can loop around the paved road as many times as you'd like looking for the elk and bison. On the day we were there we saw several elk but no bison. 700 acres is a pretty big area so there is no guarantee you will see the animals. Even if you don't be sure to notice all of the natural and native vegetation and beautiful prairie plants visited by birds, rabbits, and all sorts of other wildlife and pollinators. You cannot go wrong with visiting Land Between the Lakes as the cost for all attractions is very low and the return immense. While we visited the Woodland Nature Station we saw a show that allowed us to howl to the coyote on display. Do you know he howled back to us??? It was SO cool! Add to that the fact that the momma and daddy red wolves also began howling along with us and you have a wonderful experience that is also a learning experience for families.

On the way to the attractions at LBL be sure to stop and explore Stewart County's historic past as the center of the iron industry in the 1800s by stopping by the Great Furnace. The above picture was taken near the Great Furnace and it shows my sister, her husband Gary, and her two granddaughters (Samone on the left and Carmen on the right). Thanks so much for your wonderful visit Joanne! I look forward to more and one of these days I might make it down your way too....

in the garden....

Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team, In the Garden

The Largest Perennial Plant Sale in Middle Tennessee and New Beginnings-A Baby!

Are you looking for a new start this spring? Perhaps you might think your garden needs a pick me up-or perhaps even you might need a pick me up! What better way than to go shopping? 

And since we are mostly all gardeners on this blog what is better than shopping for plants this time of the year? This Saturday, April 6th at exactly 9:00 AM the Perennial Plant Society of Middle Tennessee will be holding its annual plant sale at the Tennessee State Fairgrounds in Nashville. This is your ticket to fun and good buys! There is no charge for admission to the sale. You will want to come early as the selection of plants and reputation of this large plant sale is legend. 

New beginnings in your garden and perhaps new beginnings for some outstanding perennials such as the ones pictured above. In order from top to bottom are: scilla, candytuft, and an herbaceous peony. You can find some of these plus many more at the sale. Check this link for more information. 

Speaking of new beginnings, we just welcomed our third grandchild to the family on March 24th. This Easter we were able to all visit together. Pictured above are my two oldest children-Elizabeth on the left holding her new baby Everleigh, and Christine on the right holding her nearly sixteen month old daughter Adella....

in the garden....

Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team, In the Garden

Visiting Callaway Gardens with the Family

On a recent visit to our oldest daughter's (she is one of two twins and happens to be older by one minute-I posted on the other twin Wednesday) home in southeastern Alabama Mr. Fix-it and I made time to visit Callaway Gardens. On this day we had time to visit just a few of the many parts of the garden, and since it was very cold outside we started at the Butterfly Pavilion. The cute little girl peeking out of the cutout is my thirteen month old granddaughter. You'll see more of her in this post. Her name is Adella.

Inside the pavilion it was warm and cozy. I easily felt as though I was in a tropical paradise like Martinique or something. Butterflies soared all around us but you won't see many in this post. I have saved them for another post to come up soon. There were SO many.

Being right around the holidays poinsettias were front and center in the pavilion. Adella seemed a bit fascinated by this display.

Here is Adella being held by her Grampa 'Grumps'-our fun moniker for Mr. Fix-it (he is not grumpy at all-I promise!). The adults were fascinated with the case of chrysalises but even though Adella was looking toward the case the soon to be butterflies really did not hold her attention. 

But boy were they amazing! I will show more of this display in my butterfly post. These butterflies were all in the process of hatching out of their chrysalises. Once hatched with wings dried they will be transferred to the big pavilion for all to enjoy.

People such as my daughter Christine and her daughter Adella....

in the garden....

Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team, In the Garden

My Daughter and I Visit Yew Dell Gardens

My daughter Liz and I visited Yew Dell Gardens and Arboretum in early October 2012. The day was beautiful and I had a good time looking at all of the trees and gardens. I found the gardens were maintained wonderfully and quite pretty. There was also a long allee of very mature hollies that I enjoyed. The trees in the arboretum were a bit neglected I'm sad to say, but I did have a chance to see some nice mature specimens of some interesting trees and shrubs. Actually, the picture below was taken by my daughter on her phone as my camera battery died. The shrub/tree is a very mature PeeGee hydrangea (Hydrangea paniculata). The blooms are quite attractive in the fall when they take on their pink color. Liz did a good job of taking the picture of one of my favorite shrubs. 



One of the neatest things about Yew Dell besides its wonderful garden area was the entrance hall where you purchase your ticket. The hall is actually a glass building sited inside of an old barn. It was very cool, but again, no battery for the camera so no photos. 

Once Liz and I purchased an entrance ticket (sorry no military discount because this is a privately held garden) and walked through the entrance hall Liz and I came to this wonderful fall display; which my daughter only enhanced....



in the garden....

Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team, In the Garden

Refinishing My Grandmother's, then My Uncle's, Larkin Desk

Okay, on to a special antique and a big job refinishing it. My grandmother (mother and uncle's mother) was a lifelong gardener, society lady who volunteered to bake goodies to take to the local hospital each week, church going lady, fabulous cook who baked her granddaughters many apple pies, and antique collector. We called her Nana. Nana could've been the mother on Leave it to Beaver. She lived in a time when women were more traditional and for me, she epitomized that lifestyle. I have posted a picture of her beautiful home when Mr. Fix-it was able to visit it last year. I mention the home because it was a rather large home on a river located along the Maine/Canadian border. The house was in of itself very special but inside of the house there were many treasures. Not only was my grandmother a gardener, but also a painter, and home decorator. She had many views about life and she was surely the kind of woman who let you know them. When she and my grandfather decided to downsize; first by selling their wonderful home of countless years and moving into a condo, then by moving into a travel trailer and splitting their time between Maine and Florida; a Larkin desk and a China cabinet came into the possession of my Uncle. 

My Uncle was diagnosed with liver cancer last year and by the time I visited him in March he was quite ill. Sadly he passed away within one month of my visiting him. Prior to passing he was adamant I take home this Larkin desk. I was like his daughter. I was in fact, his Goddaughter, and had spent a lot of time with him throughout my life. He was a redhead (like me in my earlier years), and we had a good relationship. While in Florida I was quite ill myself but did manage to bring this desk back with me along with a few other things. This was the most special and precious possession he gave me. It has taken me until now to finally tackle refinishing this piece and facing old memories.

Like my grandmother, mother and sister, I too love antiques. I have a few here in my home and I think most, if not all of them have been refinished by me. My good friend Vonna said I'd destroy the value of this Larkin desk if I refinished it but I tell you, seventy years of use had taken its toll on this Larkin desk and it needed to be refinished. Unfortunately, I made a mistake and deleted a few of the photographs that showed all of the damage from the years of use but I've posted a few for you to see how many years of use can wear down an antique. The finish has worn down in spots, been discolored to the point of turning white in others, and overall had darkened with age. The two side support boards had also warped and needed to be put back into place. 

Larkin desks are made of oak and I believe are from the golden oak era of days gone by. I; being a product of those days; still love the look and feel of golden oak. Never in a hundred years would I paint oak-it's blasphemy! Though I know many are doing it now because it is the style. Well, not for my home or for my desk.

I had hoped I could simply clean the finish with turpentine and all would be well. At first it seemed like it was working, but alas, the finish was not really in good shape and the color was all off. I decided I had to strip it, re-stain it, and seal it. I am the type of person who likes shiny furniture, actually, just about anything shiny makes me happy. I feel like furniture that does not have a finish on it and is only stained is not done yet. I think, judging by how the finish was preserved inside of the desk that at one time this piece of furniture had a good shiny protective coating on it. It does again too as you'll soon see.

The mirror in this piece is the original mirror. It has silvered terribly but I have no plans to update or change it.

And here is the finished piece in a spot of honor in my living room. I am so happy with it! The journey was not fun but now that it is done I am thrilled. I have to tell you I don't mind staining furniture but stripping it is another matter entirely. I used a gel stripper to take off the black lacquer; which was probably mostly old wax and dirt. The turpentine did not work for me. The stripper also lightened up the finish a bit. I wanted to keep the same golden oak finish it probably had so I did not strip off all of the stained finish-only the top coat of gunk. It took me two days to do this messy and nasty job. And let me tell you stripper will also strip your skin-latex gloves were no match for it in my case.

Stripping; while I hate to do it, is a relatively straightforward matter. This piece of furniture had larger issues than just the finish. This Larkin desk utilized only two screws in the whole thing. Those two screws allow the desk part of the furniture to open and close. The two sides are the backbone of the piece. These are attached to the shelves by a mortise and tendon joint at each of the four shelves. And I assume they were all glued in at one time. Well, this Larkin desk is old and has been exposed to a some changes in its life. These changes made the side boards pull away from the shelves. One of the sides actually bowed away from the shelves. I had to take a hammer, with a board on the furniture, and beat the sides back to the shelves--all the while keeping the glue in place. I then clamped it all together. I am not a woodworker and did not like doing this part at all. I had to buy special clamps and had to get Jimmy to help me as the oak simply did not want to go back into place. While hammering the boards into place I tried real hard not to split anything but one side was more bowed than the other and was actually already cracked--though not all the way through. Well, once I got done hammering it was cracked all the way through. So I then had to clamp it together and glue it as well. You can barely tell where it was split but I know it is split.

Another problem with it was part of the relief was broken off. I had to glue that back into place as well. The shelves and all other parts were just fine. The key to lock it was lost many years ago. I took off the brass plate to refinish it but will reinstall it as soon as I can get a good locksmith to come over and give me a key for the working lock. Isn't the oak grain beautiful? I just can't understand how anyone would ever want to paint oak. Once I stained it with a golden oak to even out the color, I sealed it with Deft. Deft was an excellent polyurethane coating. It dried to the touch in less than 30 minutes and could be recoated in two hours. I just love Deft. My friend Geri had given me some when she moved. I had never used it before so I was a bit surprised at just how easy it was to use and how nicely it finished the piece off.

There is one part of the desk I did not mess with. Can you spot it? The cigarette burn? It was probably too deep to get out but even if I could get it out I wanted to leave it. You see, my Nana was a lovely lady who smoked. She was notorious for dropping her lit cigarettes or for forgetting where she put them. I remember one time riding with her to the hospital and she dropped her lit cigarette down her pants leg. It was not a funny time. I just kept thinking why doesn't she quit? She never did as far as I know. I know my mother misses her even now, 26 years after my grandmother died. I hope neither my mother or grandmother will mind that I shared this on my blog. While refinishing this piece I thought of my Nana and how lovely this desk looked in her home. I also thought of my Uncle so that is why I am sharing it all. 

in the garden....

Note: The trim piece that goes on the bottom shelf was not refinished with the whole piece so it is still missing. I recently found it and will be adding it soon. Also, the skeleton key for the original steel lock is missing. I have had a local locksmith come and remove the lock so he can search for a key to custom fit into the lock. These two things remain to be done before this Larkin desk is back to nearly 100%.

Larkin desks are easily found in the antique trade but are somewhat out of favor with the new trends and styles of painted furniture. I will tell you though that while looking for information on Larkin desks I found there is a w-i-d-e variety of Larkin desks for sale on the Internet. Many of them were missing the back board, or had parts replaced (like the original lock), or were in some way changed or damaged. If you are in the market for a genuine Larkin desk be picky with what you buy as there are good pieces out there as well. As for me I love my desk and it is priceless to me because of the memories. 


Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team, In the Garden

My Daughter's New House-Which is About to Get a New Landscape Design

Welcome to Louisville Kentucky and a brand new house for my daughter Liz to start a new phase of her life. Recently Mr. Fix-it and I traveled the three hours north to help Liz move into her beautiful brand new house. It is a house I simply love! I've never lived in a brand new house and I found this one to be most cool with a great contemporary layout that works so well for Liz that I feel the house will be perfect.

And here is the happy new homeowner after a long day of moving into the new home-a long hot very busy day and she's still smiling! That was more than you could say for me as I was pooped and hot and miserable on a very humid southern day.


As a housewarming gift I will be designing Liz's brand new landscape. Working with a blank slate is my dream. It is so much easier to design a landscape with no existing plants. Of course, with most new houses there are a few plants that were installed by the landscaper and they are really the subject of this post-or rant.



Here is a picture of the landscaper's package. It consists of exactly five plants. The five plants are two 'China Girl' hollies and three 'Schip' laurels. I bet you can notice the shrubs are all planted rather close to the house-less than two feet to be exact. Perhaps you are thinking that is my complaint? No, that is not it. I totally understand why the landscaper planted these shrubs (that will grow to at least 5-6' wide and run right into the house) too close to the house. He or she did it simply to save money on mulch. Two feet of garden space is a whole lot less to mulch than like six feet out from the house. I understand this is a pretty typical practice and kind of expect it.





The part I did not expect was planting two shrubs that will grow to 18-24 feet tall in front of windows that are a mere five feet off the ground! I just don't get this. Do landscapers even read the tags of the plants they are buying? I am sure 'Dwarf Burford' hollies would have done the same job as the 'China Girl' hollies and they would not outgrow the windows. I am rather incensed about this situation because while my daughter knows enough to know this is not smart planting, many other unsuspecting homeowers do not know enough to remove those shrubs right away and plant them in a better location. A location where they can grow to their full potential without having to be hacked to pieces several times per year for however long they live in their location. I've seen this kind of situation way too many times. You've seen it too. Almost everyone has moved into a house with overgrown shrubs that were planted way too close to the house. The solution is to either prune the heck out of them or remove them. Removing them when they are full grown is not an easy undertaking at all. I just don't understand why a landscaper can't take two minutes to look at the shrub he or she is planting and plant the right shrub or tree in the right spot-or don't plant at all....


in the garden....

Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team, In the Garden

Memorial Day is a Time For Remembering

Last year about this time Fort Campbell and the Clarksville/Hopkinsville area had a rare treat--a visit from the traveling Vietnam War Memorial Wall. The miniature wall was set up just outside of Fort Campbell's back gate in the Destiny Park area in a beautiful and convenient location. Mr. Fix-it, the Jimster, and I decided to make a visit to the memorial while it was visiting here last year. These pictures are all from last year since we went right after Memorial Day. This year I am posting them in honor of Memorial Day.


When you walk up to the area where the wall is located you are immediately met by this sign. It was a sobering sign to all of us and told us immediately that quiet, respect, and dignity were called for. This traveling wall is not like a traveling carnival. It was not there for people to gawk and comment but only for people to look for names, reflect on the sacrifices the listed persons made, and to be grateful for all of our freedoms.

My father and uncle were both soldiers in the Vietnam war. While my father is doing well my uncle lost his battle with an Agent Orange related disease just last month. I think of him every single day. Typing this post brings tears to my eyes. I am grateful I got to spend some time with my uncle last fall and early this spring. 

My uncle was my godfather and I was very close to him my entire life. When we lived close my family would often visit him and his great companion Mitsuko. Mitsuko, who is Okinawan, cooks the best tempura ever. Upon one particularly trying move from Germany to North Carolina by way of Alabama my children and I made a surprise visit to my uncle's home and were welcomed with some super good cooking. We have never forgotten that night and are grateful for the small things in life-mainly family. If you have ever moved a long distance you know how very hard it can be and this is something servicemen and women have to do every few years. A good home cooked meal can make all the difference and my aunt and uncle sure helped my family to settle in smoothly after our permanent change of station from Germany to North Carolina.  

My uncle was a tall, slim, red head who fought as an artilleryman. He jumped out of airplanes as part of his job and wow, he was quite a sight all decked out in his uniform when preparing to jump from some huge planes in the middle of the night. One night he had a bad jump and received an injury. I never heard him complain about that injury. It just was what it was and he dealt with it.

Upon retiring my aunt and uncle retired to Florida to live a life of leisure. Unfortunately that was not to be for my uncle. When my uncle became ill with liver disease he kept up a very strong and reassuring appearance. He never let on to anyone just how sick he really was. It was not until this year that he was diagnosed with liver cancer. Even with the terrible diagnosis of liver cancer my uncle  was a paratrooper to the end and remained strong. We miss him dearly. He may be gone but not forgotten because of all of the memories we have of him.

Roger and Jimmy at Destiny Parks Pavillion Fort Campbell Kentucky

I don't normally post very personal things like this on the blog but my uncle loved the blog and enjoyed hearing about it from me. He also adored my husband and Jimmy. I think he would be happy I have posted a little bit of his story on this post. To tell it all I'd be talking all day and then some. I can tell you how I remember driving with my grandmother to go pick up my uncle just home from the Vietnam war. I vividly remember this trip because it was at night and the moths were thick in the car's headlights. I don't know what happened to all the moths but it is not like that anymore. I can tell you all the fun my uncle had as not only a soldier but also as a teacher in the prison system in Florida helping countless prisoners to turn their lives around by getting their GED, I could tell you about his love for cars, and fruit, and Florida, and his family, his great big huge pride in having served with the 173rd Airborne during the Vietnam War, and so much more but I will stop for now. If you have ever seen the movie We Were Soldiers you can see the determination those soldiers who fought in Vietnam displayed and also the camaraderie. This was my uncle to the end and we remember him this special Memorial Day. 

Just about everyone knows someone who has served not only in the Vietnam War but in many of the wars since then. You may even know someone who has perhaps paid the ultimate price for serving; whether that is during war or after as in the case of my uncle it is the greatest sacrifice. Let us take time to reflect for all of our veterans. Let us be quiet, dignified, and respectful for their sacrifices and let us tread on hallowed ground and think of all the brave souls who have passed before us on this Memorial Day. 

Picture from my nephew in Bushnell Veteran's Cemetery in Florida.

So you see this Memorial Day will be extra poignant for all of us in my family who knew my uncle. He exemplified all of the veterans who bravely fight for us every day and who will not be forgotten....


in the garden....

Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team, In the Garden