{Dead Trees due to HOT & DRY Summer}

It has been the most DRY and HOT summer we can recall, and it also took its toll on several plants, shrubs and tall trees. Georgia is kind of sub-tropic as it is at the same latitude as Tunisia in northern Africa but with some exceptions of course. We do get snow once in a while and frost and this summer did also surprise us. When we came home from a two-week trip to Europe, we counted 22 dead Leyland Cypress trees that lined our wood garden in the back and on the side. Quite shocking and we decided that we will not even replace those as they are over 15 years old. Nature sometimes takes a different course! We will have to adapt to it and make do with what is left. It could have been worse of course, there are other natural disasters with a lot more impact. Let me show you the walking trail through our wood garden where the dead ones are. Still standing but we will have to take them down one day, in the spring probably with some help.

It was hard to see them all brown after we got home. But for over two months no rain and temperatures of 40°C-44°C (104°F-111°F) did really scorch them to death. This is the walking trail in the back of our wood garden. It goes on like this with nothing but brown, dead Leyland Cypress, a total of 22.

This was on August 6, at 10:34 AM and the thunder-storms never got to us. No rain for about two months and no running water in the creek, just mud that got over grown by weeds. Ponds in the area were all dry and ours stayed full because of an underground spring that is feeding our pond.

Not a happy sight...

In the back you still see some dead Leyland Cypress but we also got some healthy trees left.

Barty our 7 year old feline followed me all the way, he behaves more like a dog than a cat...

Let's turn around and look down towards the house... This was on November 10, before the frost and already lots of leaves on the ground due to the dry summer. The tree to the right is a beech and it has not turned yellow yet. The ladder got used a couple of weeks ago by Pieter for pruning out all the dead limbs and also cutting the lowest limbs off,  for more light and a better view.

But look, there is HOPE as I found some blooming Oxalis between the fallen leaves...

{Fall & Winter Preparations}

Because on Friday night, November 11, we did have our very first frost, the pot plants HAD to be moved inside the greenhouse. There was already over-population last winter and as things grow only bigger, it would not quite fit this time. So Pieter did build an additional greenhouse with only thick plastic, adjacent to the greenhouse with Doppelstegplatten, Insulated Polycarbonate Glazing. There will not be a heater on a thermostat, as in the greenhouse, but it gives some protection for the drying and cold wind in freezing temperatures. So let's have a look at what Pieter has build for our green children... 

This photo is taken after the first frost, with everything already inside. Where the adjacent plastic greenhouse has been built, there was still a row with tomatoes that had to be removed...

Our LAST home grown tomatoes for the year. They cannot ripen on the plant but they will also color this way.

Still in the process of building the greenhouse for those tender plants like the Angel's Trumpet Datura and others.

Pieter the worker bee and handy man...

You see still a Key Lime hanging on the tree?

It was a very pleasant day for working out doors, that helps.

The patio we had added last year, as the wood path leading to the greenhouse was rotting away...

Everything inside already and sheltered from the biting wind when freezing.

A look inside the greenhouse with its green residents. Safe again for Winter!

Do you have a greenhouse too?

{Dutch - American Heritage Day: November 16 since 1991}

Dutch - American Heritage Day: 1991

By the President of the United States of America, George Bush
A Proclamation

On November 16, 1776, a small American warship, the ANDREW DORIA, sailed into the harbor of the tiny Dutch island of St. Eustatius in the West Indies. Only 4 months before, the United States had declared its independence from Great Britain. The American crew was delighted when the governor of the island, Johannes de Graaf, ordered that his fort's cannons be fired in a friendly salute. The first ever given by a foreign power to the flag of the United States, it was a risky and courageous act. Indeed, angered by Dutch trading and contraband with the rebellious colonies, the British seized the island a few years later. De Graaf's welcoming salute was also a sign of respect, and today it continues to symbolize the deep ties of friendship that exist between the United States and the Netherlands.

After more than 200 years, the bonds between the United States and the Netherlands remain strong. Our diplomatic ties, in fact, constitute one of the longest unbroken diplomatic relationships with any foreign country. 
 
Fifty years ago, during the Second World War, Dutch and American Servicemen fought side by side to defend the universal cause of freedom and democracy. As NATO allies, we have continued to stand together to keep the transatlantic partnership strong, and to maintain the peace and security in Europe. In the Persian Gulf, we joined as coalition partners to repel aggression and to uphold the rule of law.

While the ties between the United States and the Netherlands have been tested by time and by the crucible of armed conflict, the Dutch-American heritage is even older than our official relationship. Indeed, it dates back to the early 17th century, when the Dutch West India Company founded New Netherlands and its main settlement, New Amsterdam and Fort Orange - better known today as New York City and Albany.

From the earliest days of our republic, men and women of Dutch ancestry have made important contributions to American History and culture. The influence of our Dutch ancestors can stilll be seen not only in New York's Hudson River Valley but also in Pennsylvania along the Schuylkill River and in communities like Holland, Michigan where many people trace their roots to settlers from the Netherlands. Generations of Dutch immigrants have enriched the United States with the unique customs and traditions of their ancestral homeland - a country that has given the world great artists, celebrated philosophers, and leaders of international business.

On this occasion, we also remember many celebrated American leaders of Dutch descent. Three presidents, Martin Van Buren, Theodore Roosevelt, and Franklin D. Roosevelt, came from Dutch stock. Arthur Vandenberg, who after World War II played a crucial role in the development of our bipartisan foreign policy, the strategy of containment, and the establishment of NATO, also traced his roots to the Netherlands.

Our Dutch heritage is seen not only in our people but also in our experience as a Nation. Our traditions of religious freedom and tolerance, for example, have spiritual and legal roots among such settlers as the English Pilgrims and the French Huguenots, who first found refuge from persecution in Holland. The Dutch Republic was also among those systems of government that inspired our Nation's founders as they shaped our Constitution.

In celebration of the long-standing friendship that exists between the United States and the Netherlands, and in recognition of the many contributions that Dutch-Americans have made to our country, the Congress, by House Joint Resolution 177, has designated November 16, 1991, as "Dutch-American Heritage Day" and has authorized and requested the President to issue a proclamation in observance of this day.

NOW THEREFORE I, GEORGE BUSH, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim November 16, 1991, as Dutch American Heritage Day. I encourage all Americans to observe this day with appropriate ceremonies and activities.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this fourteenth day of November, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety-one, and of the independence of the United States of America the two hundred and sixteenth.

George Bush

EMBASSY OF THE UNITED STATES THE HAGUE - NETHERLANDS | link to proclamation