LIVING IN OUR NEW HOME IN ANDERSON, SC

2007

2007 was definitely not a good year. Jeanne got sick and was admitted to AnMed, our excellent hospital. She had been under going chemotherapy since her colon surgery late last year. She had problems with energy and breathing which we found out was due to blood clots in the artery leading to her right lung. It was a great shock to me and all of her family when we were told 28 days after she entered the hospital that there was no hope for her recovery, there just was too much damage to her lungs. Jeanne passed away February 8, 2007 and everyone who knew her will miss her greatly.

In memory to Jeanne I am trying to maintain her flower gardens as she would want them. In addition, we had planned to work on the paths from the house down to the lake. A part of this plan was to add river stones to the area directly off the deck stairs and the area in front of her garden under her work room window.

Below are photographs of the areas I am now trying to maintain for her. She was very, very proud of her flower gardens and I hope that she will approve of what I have done to continue her gardens.

First are the two flower beds in front of our home. The raised bed we built in 2006 and I added pansies in 2006 and more flower in April of 2007. She started her garden under her kitchen window almost from the day we moved in and it has grown by leaps and bounds. I have added hardwood mulch to all the gardens to help retain moisture and enhance the contrast between the flowers and the ground. I hope you enjoy the photographs.

The back of our home faced Lake Hartwell ... that is when the water level was at least at 657' above sealevel. Most years the Corps of Engineers would "draw down" the lake in the winter (November - March) in anticipation of the spring rains ... which normally never arrived!

Anyway, we put in paths down to the lake, one from the steps down from our deck and one from the flower bed under Jeanne's workshop window. The paths were always covered with mulch. However, when rain did arrive, and arrived in "sheets", the paths near the house would become rather muddy due to the flow of water down to the lake. After Jeanne passed away I decided it was time to get rid of this run off problem. So, I put in landscape timbers to outline the areas, i.e. direct the flow of water, and then filled in the areas with 4 tons of river stones.

Finally, I covered the flower beds with hardwood mulch (not covering the flowers that were there) and added lots of new flowers. The photographs below show the results.

Jeanne planed many flowers in our flower beds. One very beautiful example is the tall flower that blooms during late June early July. Jeanne did wonders with our flower bed and I am trying to maintain them. I do need to add some perennials sometime to brighten things up a bit.

In the summer of 2007, 5 months after Jeanne passed away, this wonderfully, huge, yellow flower appeared next to our front porch. I don't recall seeing it before but, perhaps, it has been there for some time but not flowered. Well, it did this year and what a flower! Jeanne would have been so pleased.