Your neck of the Woods Part 9 Easter Bonnet

I'll have to ask my wife what the 'act of God' situation is. She is a claims agent for an insurance company.

Another Baltimore landslide! This time in a cemetary! EEK!
http://www.wbaltv.com/news/mudslide-reported-at-baltimore-cemetery/25772494?utm_source=hootsuite&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=wbal-tv%2B11

Wow, hopefully no graves were compromised.

From the photos, it appears that a number of tombstones were in the mix, which doesn't bode well.

Yikes. How terrible for the families. :-(

Yes Seq would be interesting to hear your wife's perspective!

If the ground collapsed from broken pipes / old infrastructure, not a flood or natural land slide would that still be an act of god? Instead of city neglect.

Excellent point Holly!

Though if there is 3rd party liability, query whether the insurance company would require litigation against the city....

The Marathon Drive is over and I am back home. I left Wed night at 6:00PM and drove to Georgia to drop Josh & Courtney off at the Head of the Appalachian Trail in Chattahoochee National Park. I dropped them at a parking lot not far from the trail head at 7:00AM with a overnight drive. Then did a driving tour of the park, it is huge and beautiful. Heading back home I finally stopped after 20hrs of driving just south of the Virginia state line about 3:00PM on Thursday. Found a nice motel with an indoor pool and spa. After a nice soak in the pool and spa I collapsed into a nice king size bed and never woke up till 6:00AM this morning. Not quite the trip to Georgia that Ric and I had planed but after coming home from the Bahamas we decided that another trip right now was just too much.
Josh & Courtney will be hiking for a month and her parents are driving down to somewhere in Tennessee to pick them up at the end of the month.
Josh and Courtney have been dating and living together for a couple of years now. Things between them are going to change now. I knew Josh was going to propose at the Trail Head and from the text he sent she said yes!
Here are a few pic from the park.

This message was edited May 2, 2014 6:52 PM

I'm so pleased Courtney said yes!

She said yes! :D

There were absolutely huge Rhodies, Not sure if this is a Rodie, Azalea or something else. It was the only one like it that I saw may be one of you can ID it from the picture. I saw several beautiful streams.

Pretty sure these are tirella unless there is something else that looks just like them. Never saw so many in one place they were growing all along the road and up the sides of the banks.

There must have been someone else at the trail head as this picture was taken with Josh's phone and then texted to several people including her mother. See the ring on her finger and the plaque in the rock and the trail marking. So cute.

This message was edited May 2, 2014 6:09 PM

Congratulations to Josh and Courtney. What a memorable way to get engaged!

They look SO happy and so healthy and so handsome, both of them! What a joyous occasion!

Congratulations to all for such a happy event--and in a beautiful setting, too!

OH BOY OH BOY!!!!!!!! Congratulations Josh and Courtney!!!!! < =D ♥

Really lovely photos Holly! =)

So Holly, was Courtney surprised?

Someone advised Josh to propose at the start of the month rather than wait. After a month of hiking in all types of weather, cold nights, no or few hot baths, body odor, and half cooked meals, she might not say, "Yes". LOL Cortney is so sweet as many of you know from our past swap, and just as adventurous as Josh. They should do well together.

She may have had an idea. Josh got a custom ring and the jeweler really wanted an accurate ring size. So a little more than a month ago he took her to a jewelry store at the mall to get her sized. At first she couldn't figure out why they were there and when he took her hand and held it out to be sized she started crying. Although there will be a surprise.
The ring is white gold with filigree and instead of a diamond there is a very small piece of quartz that Courtney picked up years ago the first time Josh took her to the beach. Courtney thought it was a piece of beach glass and made the comment that it could be her engagement ring. They brought it home and it was in a basket of sea shells. Every so often she would look in the basket and say the stone is still there so I guess I'm not getting engaged. Then quite some time ago the basket fell off the shelf and she never found the stone. Josh found it and tucked it away.

I love that story! But she must have been surprised that it happened on the Appalachian Trail, of all places!

I just realized you drove through the night to drop them off at 7am. You must have been dead tired! Was Josh nervous?

Holly---

Not too many people would do what you did. Drive all night to drop them off--
and then drive back??? Insane!

Your love for your family and each other supercedes anything I have ever seen.
You both--you ALL--are just so special.
I hope your kids carry on this amazing expressions of love and caring.

I KNOW they will! You both are great examples to follow...and, it will come easily.

Love to you all--and congratulations to Josh and Courtney.

Gita

What a great story! One for the books.

awwwwwwwwwwwwwwww
thanks for sharing the wonderful story!

Thanks Gita.
They called just a bit ago must have found a spot with a cell phone signal. She really was surprised, he said no one was there when he proposed. They hung around to take a few pics and another couple came along so they asked them to take a picture of them.

The photo is really excellent -- the misty background contributes to the whole effect, and they both look so happy. Maybe you can print it out and get it framed as a present for their return?

This message was edited May 2, 2014 9:17 PM

What a special proposal. Do you have one, Holly, from Ric?

No we were much less conventional.

That's a great story, Holly! It's nice that someone came along to take a photo for them.

About the azalea...it's probably Rhododendron calendulaceum, a native flame azalea.
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/195912/

Thanks Muddy,

YAY! She said YES! Congrats to both of them.

Sort of puttering around after getting back from PGH, should probably focus my efforts in one area so I can see what I'm actually getting done! But it's so satisfying to poke at this and that, plant a few things, take a few photos, continue taking "roll call...." :-)

hah Critter--yes that's exactly what I've been doing--puttering and fussing and planting. Still moving things based on the drastic change in sunlight I had a few weeks ago when the back neighbor cut his huge black locust tree down.

Last year my coleus was so happy in what was then my morning bed under the rosebush. Now it's a full sun bed. :-( Still trying to decide on a good alternate spot for the coleus...

I went to the HGHA meeting this morning. Picked up a blooming orchid desperately needs re-potting and a few cute little air plants. Just had lunch, need to get myself up and out to the yard it is just beautiful out there.

WOOHHOOOOO!!!! Doing a happy dance. She said Yes!! I LOVE the idea for the ring. Very special and absolutely priceless!!

Overcast and cool here today and a little damp for mowing, but what needs to be done ...

Good weather to get tomatos in ground so I did.- wish I had time for more planting....

Rain at last. Pollen must have been through the roof. I have never suffered from allergies like this year. My neti-pot is getting a real workout and if I take 1 more drug I'll be a Zombie.LOL
I did manage to finish the mowing yesterday, and got the gazebo up and furniture out of the barn today. I also got the kitchen somewhat in order and most of tomorrows lunch made. All you girls have a good Mother's Day, I'm pretty sure Holly and her mom will..

Thanks, Ric! I'm hoping to get the last of my NC plugs planted tomorrow. I'm down to about 8 Lupinus perennis. Well, plus the Lupines I hurriedly planted in a bad spot and should replant.

I had a good day today, met up with Coleup and got into so much trouble, she is such an enablerer. I now have alot of plants to plant and not sure where (actually I know where but the area needs to be prepped). Really had a good time. Thank you Judy for your help.