Local Scenery, Food and Flowers

Quiet times here in East Tennessee, at least for us.  Laid back and relaxed is just fine with us.  We are hoping and planning for a couple of road trips, exploring the back roads of America before the colder weather returns…

On a recent beautiful day with blue skies and temperatures in the high 60s, we wandered the back roads not too far from our home here in East Tennessee.  We loved this calming view of the Smoky Mountains as seen across a lovely green field… We only live about 20 minutes from the true foothills of the mountains.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with these mountains, the Great Smoky Mountains (Cherokee – ‘Equa Dutsusdu Dodalv’) rise along the Tennessee – North Carolina border in the Southeastern United States.  They are a subrange of the Appalachian Mountains.  The tallest peak in the Smokies is Clingman’s Dome at 6,643 feet.  

The Great Smokies is home to roughly 187,000 acres of old growth forest, the largest such stand of forest east of the Mississippi River.  The Smokies are part of an International Biosphere Reserve with the hardwood forests at the range’s lower elevations being among the most diverse ecosystems in North America.

These mountains have been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  The name “Smoky” comes from the natural fog that tends to hang over the range.  That fog is caused by the vegetation emitting volatile organic compounds…chemicals that have a high vapor pressure and which easily form vapors at normal temperatures and pressure.

The mountains are the backdrop for crops and critters.  We like taking photos of the critters as well as the natural scenery.  After all, they are part of the scenery… In this instance we first encountered a curious young cow.  Then it was this handsome pair of donkeys…whose mission may well be to protect the cattle from coyotes and wild dogs.  We do love donkeys and if we had ever had a farm, they would be a couple of the first critters we’d add to the property.  As for the dog, there were a pair of them that were guarding a flock of sheep.  One dog was pretty laid back but the other one wasn’t putting up with our roadside visit!

Now for some home cooking…our way.  This is one of my favorite meals.

Laurie places 5 – 6 boneless chicken thighs in an oven proof container.  Then she pours a large family size can of Campbell’s Cream of Chicken Soup into a separate bowl.  Then she pours half and half milk into the soup can…to about half full.  Next she adds pepper, garlic and onion powder, plus crushed red pepper flakes.  The mixture is thoroughly stirred together.  Then she pours all of it over the chicken thighs, shaking it down to ensure that the thighs are totally coated.  Finally, she sprinkles a bit of Herbes de Provence over the top.  She puts it in the oven at 325 or 350 degrees and cooks it until the chicken is falling apart tender.

This was my serving of Laurie’s Cream of Chicken Special…first before adding my usual Tabasco and then after I ‘decorated’ my dinner.  In this case we served the creamy chicken special over mashed potatoes, but more often we serve it with rice.  This is true comfort food!

Because they are so different than most flowers that we see here in East Tennessee, I decided to show an up close of a Hoya bloom.  Interestingly, these flowers tend to project most of their scent at night…which would indicate that they are designed to attract nighttime pollinators.

The smell is quite intense.  It’s been described as smelling like chocolate, citrus or vanilla and with notes of honey and butter.  Others describe it as perfume-like, butterscotch, caramel, grape juice or even obnoxious.  To me, the night time odor is so sweet, it’s almost cloying.  But then again, I’m one of those guys who becomes a little nauseous when I’m in a scent or candle store…

I’ve written about the Iris plantings and our azalea bushes before.  The white azalea bushes seem to really love their location in the semi-shaded area under our big oak tree and against our deck.  We have both red and pink azaleas…but I failed to take a photo of the pink version.  Love the spring time pops of color!

Laurie saved and transplanted this wild rose bush.  It used to reside in the strip of woods behind our house and it never got enough sunshine to bloom before.  Love these flowers and the fact that it was provided directly by Mother Nature…no nursery involved.

These are our Weigela bushes along one side of our home.  They weren’t doing very well…no blooms last year…as the soil they were planted in wasn’t conducive to healthy growth.  This year they look great because Laurie upped the quality of the soil they’re in.

Weigela is a deciduous shrub that can grow from 3 to 15 feet tall.  We believe that these are among the shorter species…at least we hope they will be in the 5 to 6 foot range.  All weigelas are natives of eastern Asia.  These bushes were first found in Northern China, Korea and Manchuria…and were first imported to England in 1845.  However, they were already well-known in Japan.  The best news about the weigela is that the flowers are very attractive to hummingbirds and bees.

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave