The last of our daylilies bloomed yesterday. I showed a collage of some of our daylilies a couple of days ago. I enjoyed making that collage so much that I decided I would make another one showing six more of our beauties. We had seventeen different varieties in bloom this year, so I’ll probably post one more collage at some future date.
Consider yourself warned!
Holcomb 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.
On the first afternoon of our anniversary trip last month, Betsy and I some hiking near Clayton, Georgia. We hiked the Holcomb Creek Trail through a beautiful forest setting. Some of the hemlock and poplar trees were three feet in diameter.
We hiked for about a half mile through the woods to reach our destination, which was the beautiful waterfall shown above. Holcomb Creek Falls drops 120 feet with boulders the size of automobiles strewn about it’s lower levels. We had this magnificent waterfall all to ourselves while we were there.
It was as we started back to the car that we realized we had a problem. The hike to the falls, as I said, was very pleasant. It was mostly downhill, which meant that the hike back was mostly uphill. I’ll just say that we both slept well that night.
The picture may be enlarged by clicking on it.
This is my post for the My World meme. It is hosted by Klaus, Ivar, Sandy, Wren, Louise and Fishing Guy. Last week there were many people sharing their worlds. To see more of our world or to join and share your part of the world, click HERE.
My world contains daylilies at present, but they are past their prime and going fast. The collage above shows six of our daylilies.
Daylilies are wonderful plants for our garden or just about any garden. They are easy to care for; you can almost plant them and forget them. They will also grow where other things won’t and they spread very nicely.
We like our roses, but we’re glad we have daylilies in our garden as well.
I’ll be the first to say that I really like our house. But there is one thing about it that is giving me increasing problems as I get older. Our house (and lot) is lower than the house next to us. Our lot is lower than the lot across the street as well. The result is a fairly steep drop from the road to a depression in our lawn which serves as a path for runoff water after a hard rain.
That slope, on each side of the driveway, has gotten steeper with each passing year. It is just hard to mow. The area around our mail box was especially hard to mow. When a house was built across the street, that mailbox was put next to ours and made a bad situation even worse.
Since I’m always looking for ways to avoid work, I built the small retaining wall and built up the area between it and the road enough to put in some plantings. Right now it contains hens and chicks (sempervivum) and periwinkle. We’ll probably add some pansies for color in the fall. The wall extends about six feet before tapering out where I can mow without any problems.
Now I just have to come up with a solution to the other side of the driveway, where the slope steeper and longer.
Independence Hall, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. November 18, 2000.
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 may be more historic than scenic, but I think it is appropriate for this holiday weekend. This is the room in Independence Hall, Philadelphia, in which the Declaration of Independence was signed. That document laid out the fundamental promise and obligation of a new nation.
… We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. …
Two hundred and thirty three years later, work still needs to be done to reach that ideal. But progress has been made and is being made. The words of July 4, 1776, still define and animate the nation today.
Fireworks at Opsail 2000, Norfolk, Virginia. June, 2000.
Happy Fourth of July! I hope you are having a wonderful weekend.
What’s the Fourth of July without fireworks? Since we were gone most of the day Friday helping my parents I didn’t have a great deal of time to go through my photo archives to find Fourth of July fireworks. But I did find the photo above. It was made in June of 2000 at Opsail 2000 in Norfolk, Virginia.
We’ll probably watch Knoxville’s concert and fireworks show on television. The Knoxville Symphony is quite good and they have a very good fireworks display. But I’ll admit that I’m showing my age, especially when I remember the Fourth of July celebrations of years past.
For example, consider the concerts we hear nowadays. They seem to be dominated by Broadway tunes, popular music or rock and roll. Now there’s nothing particularly wrong with any of those, but whatever happened to Stars and Stripes Forever and the other patriotic songs we used to hear so much more often?
While I was out in the yard a couple of days ago I heard This Is My Country on my iPod. Now I’m showing my age, but that song, by Don Raye and Al Jacobs, sums up what I feel about this country — not just on the Fourth of July, but every day of the year:
What difference if I hail from North or South
Or from the East or West
My heart is full of love for all of these.
I only know I swell with pride and deep within my breast,
I thrill to see old glory paint the breeze!
This is my country! Land of my birth!
This is my country! Grandest on earth!
I pledge thee my allegiance, America, the bold,
For this is my country to have and to hold.
Dillard, Georgia. June 24, 2009.
This is my post for Skywatch Friday, a meme for sharing views of the sky from all over the world. Last week over 300 people shared their view of the sky. To see more, or to join and share your own photos of the sky, click HERE.
As we were getting ready to come home from our anniversary trip I noticed the white clouds forming between the blue sky and green trees in Dillard, Georgia. I just had to try and capture that pretty sight and since this is the beginning of the Fourth of July weekend, the American flag makes the picture even more appropriate for this particular Skywatch Friday.
Upper Laurel Mountain Falls, Dillard, Georgia. June 22, 2009.
On our anniversary trip our main destination was Tallulah Gorge State Park in Georgia. But we wanted to see some other waterfalls in the area, if possible.
We have a book describing waterfalls in northern Georgia, and the book mentioned waterfalls and cascades on Patterson Creek near Dillard, Georgia, which is where we were staying. The book had directions, but it is eight years old and things change, even in the mountains. But we persevered and did find the creek. A faint path led us to the fall pictured above.
Laurel Mountain Falls, Dillard, Georgia. June 22, 2009.
A little way downstream we came upon Laurel Mountain Falls.
Lower Laurel Mountain Falls, Dillard, Georgia. June 22, 2009.
A steep path led down to Lower Laurel Mountain Falls, although I couldn’t get to creek at the base. Betsy, being the sensible woman she is, waited for me at the head of the steep path.
Patterson Creek did not have a heavy water flow, but the falls and cascades along the creek were pretty. We were glad to add these to our collection.
Twentymile Creek, Great Smoky Mountains, NC. 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.
On our anniversary trip we went through the Smoky Mountains along US 129 (Tail of the Dragon) and N.C. 28. This part of the Smoky Mountains is about as far off the beaten path as it is possible to get, but the views are definitely worth while.
Our route crossed Twentymile Creek, and it looked so inviting that we had to stop and investigate. We obviously did not find a waterfall, but the cascades along the creek caught our attention and are definitely worth a Watery Wednesday mention.
Senior Moments 