Archive for July, 2009

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My World # 51: Roses

July 21, 2009
Roses in front of our house. June 12, 2009.

Roses in front of our house. June 12, 2009.

This is my post for the My World meme.  It is hosted by Klaus, Ivar, Sandy, Wren, Louise and Fishing Guy.  To see more of our world or to join and share your part of the world, click HERE.

My world often contains roses.  The last of our roses bloomed this week, so I thought I would post this picture of the front of our house, showing almost all of our roses (two in containers on the extreme right didn’t get into the picture.  We have 48 roses — 22 in the bed on the left of the driveway, 16 in containers, and 10 in the bed on the right.

Needless to say, these flowers are a big part of my world in the Spring and Summer.

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Posted in My World | 11 Comments »

A Hard-Luck Rose

July 20, 2009
Frederic Mistral Rose, Fairfield Glade, Tennessee. July 17, 2009.

Frederic Mistral Rose, Fairfield Glade, Tennessee. July 17, 2009.

The rose above is the newest rose in our garden, Frederic Mistral.  It is also the last of our roses to bloom.

Actually, this rose has had a hard life.  We ordered it this spring as a replacement for a rose that didn’t make it through the winter.  So it got a fairly late start in the garden.  About the time that it started to form buds, the deer decided to use it for a snack.

It recovered from that experience and again formed buds.  This time the Japanese beetles used it for a snack.  The beetles discovered the buds on a day we went to Hendersonville.  The amount of damage Japanese beetles can do in a few hours is amazing.

But the bush finally produced a bud that was able to open!  The color is a light pink, and the petals look like porcelain.  As if that is not enough, Frederic Mistral is one of the most fragrant roses there is.

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Posted in Garden | 15 Comments »

Scenic Sunday # 53: The Blue Ridge Mountains

July 19, 2009
The Blue Ridge Mountains near Mount Mitchell, North Carolina. July 11, 2009.

The Blue Ridge Mountains near Mount Mitchell, North Carolina. July 11, 2009.

This is my post for the Scenic Sunday meme, which shares beautiful scenes from around the world.  To see more Scenic Sunday posts, or to join and show your own pictures, click HERE.

The picture above was taken last Saturday (July 11) at Mountain Air, North Carolina.  The mountains under the clouds are the Blue Ridge Mountains near Mount Mitchell, the highest point east of the Mississippi.

The Blue Ridge Mountains under a sunny, blue sky.  What could be more scenic?

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Posted in Scenic Sunday | 4 Comments »

How the Other Half Lives

July 18, 2009
The runway at Mountain Air, North Carolina. July 11, 2009.

The runway at Mountain Air, North Carolina. July 11, 2009.

When Betsy and I visited with my son last weekend, we stayed at a condo in Mountain Air, North Carolina, owned by the parents of my son’s girlfriend.  Mountain Air gets in name in part from the private air strip shown in the picture above.  The air strip is on top of the mountain and runs through the golf course.  Do you want to spend a weekend in the mountains?  Hop on your plane and fly in.  If you enlarge the picture your can see a few planes parked to the right of the runway near the ridge line.

The Mountain Air golf course.

The Mountain Air golf course. July 11, 2009.

Crossville calls itself the Golf Capital of Tennessee, and the Glade, where we live, has five golf courses.  But none of our courses have holes quite as dramatic as the course at Mountain Air.  Can you spot the two golfers on the tee to the left of center in this photo.  That’s the runway in the lower right-hand corner.

A home in Mountain Air, North Carolina. July 11, 2009.

A home in Mountain Air, North Carolina. July 11, 2009.

I will admit that the architecture of the homes we saw did a marvelous job of blending with the environment.  But some of the houses were huge.  I think several of the houses on our street would fit inside this one house.

But Mountain Air is a beautiful part of the country, and we were very happy to be able to visit there.

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Posted in Travels | 13 Comments »

Skywatch # 53: Evening Sky in North Carolina

July 17, 2009
Evening Sky, Mountain Air, North Carolina. July 10, 2009

Evening Sky, Mountain Air, North Carolina. July 10, 2009

This is my post for Skywatch Friday, a meme for sharing views of the sky from all over the world.  To see more, or to join and share your own photos of the sky, click HERE.

Last Friday evening we were at Mountain Air, North Carolina, enjoying a delicious meal prepared by my son and his girlfriend.  We were sitting on the deck of the condo when the sky slowly changed color after the sun set.

I couldn’t get around the trees in the foreground, but I did manage to capture the red afterglow.

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Posted in SkyWatch Friday | 24 Comments »

Our Daylilies 3

July 16, 2009

DayliliesCollage0903

This is my third and final collage of our daylilies.  The first two collages are HERE and HERE.  We still have a few blossoms, which we continue to enjoy.  We’ve already made plans to add more daylilies next year.

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Posted in Garden | 8 Comments »

Watery Wednesday # 44: Ammons Creek Falls

July 15, 2009
Ammons Creek Falls, Clayton, Georgia. June 22, 2009.

Ammons Creek Falls, Clayton, Georgia. June 22, 2009.

This is my post for Watery Wednesday, a weekly meme created and hosted by 2sweeetnsaxy of Eyes, Mind, Heart.  To see more of our beautiful watery world, or to join and post your own pictures to share, click HERE.

Last week I shared Holcomb Creek Falls, which we visited on our anniversary trip to northeast Georgia.  After enjoying Holcomb Creek Falls we hiked another quarter-mile through the woods.  This part of the hike was uphill, but it led us to Ammons Creek Falls.  Ammons Creek Falls is not as tall as Holcomb Creek Falls, but it is still very pretty.

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Posted in Watery Wednesday | 16 Comments »

My World # 40: The Mountains of Western North Carolina

July 14, 2009
Evening in the mountains of North Carolina. July 10, 2009.

Evening in the mountains of North Carolina. July 10, 2009.

This is my post for the My World meme.  It is hosted by Klaus, Ivar, Sandy, Wren, Louise and Fishing Guy.  To see more of our world or to join and share your part of the world, click HERE.

I lived in Black Mountain, North Carolina, from 1972 – 1985 and really grew to love the mountains.  So when my son Bob called to ask us to come visit them during their vacation in North Carolina, it didn’t need to think long before saying yes.

Sunlight breaking through the clouds. July 10, 2009.

Sunlight breaking through the clouds. July 10, 2009.

Bob, Mel and the boys were staying near Burnsville, North Carolina.  It was great to get back to those mountains that I had visited many times.  Friday evening was cloudy, but the sun did attempt to break through the clouds.

Clouds over the mountains. July 11, 2009.

Clouds over the mountains. July 11, 2009.

Saturday morning the sky was brighter, but there were still clouds skirting the tops of the mountains.

Bob, Mel, Zack and Sean. July 11, 2009.

Bob, Mel, Zack and Sean. July 11, 2009.

The real reason our visit was so nice were these wonderful people.  Their hospitality was as high as the mountains behind them.

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Posted in My World | 13 Comments »

A Family Visit

July 13, 2009
Sean crossing a creek on rocks instead of using the bridge. July 10, 2009.

Sean crossing a creek on rocks instead of using the bridge. July 10, 2009.

We had a wonderful visit with my son, Bob, and grandson, Sean, on Friday and Saturday.  They were staying, along with my son’s girlfriend, Mel,  and her son, Zack, at a condo in the North Carolina mountains owned by Mel’s parents.

Zack is older than Sean, so Sean has an ‘older brother’ to play with and do things with.  We were impressed at how well the two boys got along and how well they cooperated at doing their chores together.

We met them on Friday morning at Pink Beds, a picnic area in Pisgah National Forest.  After a short hike and a delicious picnic lunch, we went to nearby Sliding Rock.  Sliding Rock is a naturally occurring 60-foot waterslide with an eight-foot deep pool that has been developed into a recreation area by the US Forest Service.

Bob and Sean at Sliding Rock. July 10, 2009.

Bob and Sean at Sliding Rock. July 10, 2009.

When we got to Sliding Rock there were many people enjoying the slide (but even more were watching).  While we were there the water temperature was about 50°, but that didn’t deter Bob and the boys, as you can see from the picture above.  They went down the slide twice, but then Sean decided that was enough.  As he explained, the was COLD!

After everyone got changed into dry clothes we then drove to the condo northeast of Asheville, NC.  There Bob and Mel were perfect hosts and prepared a delicious meal.  The condo is an absolutely gorgeous area and some of those views will be the subject of future posts.

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Posted in Family | 17 Comments »

Skywatch Friday # 52 and Odds and Ends

July 10, 2009
Fairfield Sky. June 20, 2009.

Fairfield Sky. June 20, 2009.

This is my post for Skywatch Friday, a meme for sharing views of the sky from all over the world.  Last week nearly 400 people shared their view of the sky.  To see more, or to join and share your own photos of the sky, click HERE.

If you don’t like Tennessee weather, wait a while — it will change.  This picture was taken from our front yard last week.  It was a day of clear blue skies, high fluffy white clouds and threatening rain clouds.  And that was just in the afternoon!

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Fishing Guy and his wife. July 9, 2009

Fishing Guy and his wife. July 9, 2009

One of the members of the Skywatch team is Fishing Guy.  Fishing Guy was one of the first bloggers I came across when I moved to Blogger.  Tom (Fishing Guy) lives in Kent, Ohio, which is not far from Cleveland, where i used to teach.

Tom and his wife spent a some time in Nashville earlier this week and stopped by Crossville on their way home.  Betsy and I met them for lunch at the Cracker Barrel in town and had a wonderful time getting to know each other.  It’s so wonderful to be able to meet in person people you’ve gotten to know through the blogsphere.

If you’re in Tennessee please let us know so we can meet you as well.

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Sean2008

This young fan of Spongebob Squarepants is my grandson Sean.  Betsy and I are going to North Carolina for the weekend to see him and his father (my son Bob).  They are visiting the mountains and we’re going to meet them for some time together.  Betsy and I will be back Sunday.

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Posted in SkyWatch Friday | 23 Comments »

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