Archive for April, 2010

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Skywatch Friday: Glade Skies

April 16, 2010

Blue skies in Fairfield Glade, Tennessee. Aporil 14, 2010.

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.

We’ve had summer-ike weather for several days now.  Looking up showed a blue sky with some small white clouds.  It also showed that the trees are leafing out very nicely.

Later in the afternoon the clouds got a little bigger and some even got a little darker.  We didn’t get any rain, but I did get some good sky pictures.

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Posted in SkyWatch Friday | 15 Comments »

Honey Bees at Work

April 15, 2010

Honey bee at work in our redbud tree, Fairfield Glade, Tennessee. April 14, 2010.

Have you heard of CCD?  Honey Bee Colony Collapse Disorder?

In the past few weeks I have read or seen stories about the disappearing honey bees.  It’s a cause for concern because honey bees pollinate a sizable portion of our fruits and vegetables.  The causes of the collapse are not well understood, but bee keepers are having some success in rebuilding colonies.

I was working in the yard yesterday near our redbud tree when I heard buzzing.  Looking around I found a couple of bumble bees flitting about.  I went in to get my camera, but by the time I got back the bumble bees were gone.  I did, however, find a couple of honey bees hard at work.

I haven’t heard of any problems with the bigger bumble bees, so I imagine I can try to capture a picture of them just about any time.  Under the circumstances I’m glad I found these hard-working honey bees.

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Posted in Glade | 16 Comments »

Watery Wednesday # 83: Niagara River

April 14, 2010

The Niagara River from the White Water Walk, Niagara Falls, Ontario.

This is my post for Watery Wednesday.  To see more of our beautiful watery world, or to join and post your own pictures to share, click HERE.

This picture shows the Niagara River below the falls.  We were on White Water Walk, which is a boardwalk at the bottom of the gorge.  As you can tell, the boardwalk is almost at the water level.  I think the bridge is the Whirlpool Rapids Bridge from the U. S. (left) to Canada (right).

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Posted in Watery Wednesday | 11 Comments »

My World: Spring Is Busting Out All Over

April 13, 2010

Our front yard, Fairfield Glade, Tennessee. April 12, 2010.

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

My new camera allows me to capture most of our front yard in a single picture.  I took the picture above was taken yesterday afternoon from the road in front of our house.  Our pink dogwood tree is on the left and one of our redbud trees is on the right.  The containers along the driveway contain roses and you can make out two of our rose beds on either side of the driveway near the house and flagpole.

Our pink dogwood tree, Fairfield Glade, Tennessee. April 12, 2010.

This picture of the dogwood tree branches was taken from the front of the house looking toward the road.

One of our redbud trees, Fairfield Glade, Tennessee. April 12, 2010.

I also took this picture of the redbud tree from the front of the house.  It’s near the road, but it the prettiest of the two redbud trees that we have.

Our side flower bed, Fairfield Glade, Tennessee. April 12, 2010.

Betsy and I built this flower bed a couple of years ago to handle an erosion problem on the side of the house.  Now we’re enjoying these tulips.  The house in the background is on the other side of the fairway.

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Posted in My World | 20 Comments »

Spring Color

April 12, 2010

Dad Adams Daffodil, Fairfield Glade, Tennessee. April 4, 2010.

Yesterday (Sunday) afternoon was absolutely gorgeous here on the Plateau and both Betsy and I spent as much time outside as we could.  Fortunately there is always something that needs to be done around the yard, so we have plenty of excuses for being out.

We have alot of color in our yard now and it is not only daffodils.  I think the flower up above is a narcissus, but since my Dad gave them to us when we moved up here, we usually call them Dad Adams Daffodils.

Red Rocket Hyacinth, Fairfield Glade, Tennessee. April 4, 2010.

We have not had a great deal of success with hyacinths.  They never seem to do as well after the first year.  However we did have a few pop up and bloom.  They may not look all that wonderful, but they still have a nice fragrance.

Life's a Cabernet Tulip, Fairfield Glade, Tennessee. April 4, 2010.

We’ve been very fortunate with our tulips so far this year.  The bright tulip above is Life’s a Cabernet, which is new.  It is multi-colored, but red predominates.

Halley's Comet Tulip, Fairfield Glade, Tennessee. April 7, 2010.

I think my favorite new tulip is Halley’s Comet.  I got this picture early one morning before the sun caused them to open completely.

With all this beauty around us I guess you can understand why we enjoy spending so much time out in the yard.

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Posted in Garden | 17 Comments »

Scenic Sunday #91: Dunes

April 11, 2010

Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina. May 4, 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.

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, is a popular beach destination for people living in our part of Tennessee.  It has beautiful beaches and lots of attractions for tourists, so it also has many people on the beach just about any time of the year.

Betsy and I go to Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina, which is a few miles north of Myrtle Beach.  There aren’t as many people on the beach, but the beach is still beautiful and is backed by dunes that are very scenic in their own right.

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Posted in Scenic Sunday | 8 Comments »

Remembering South Carolina Waterfalls

April 10, 2010

Waterfalls visited on our way to the beach. May, 2009.

Since we got some rain on Thursday, I was able to get some work done on my pictures and worked with a folder of pictures taken last year on our way to the beach.  When Betsy and I travel we try to arrange our trip so that we can take a break by visiting some waterfalls along the way.  This is a great plan as long as we’re traveling through an area where there are waterfalls!.

Fortunately we have to travel through mountains to get from our house to the beach.  Last year we made a couple of stops near Westminster, South Carolina.  We had to do some bushwhacking to see Fall Creek Falls and Upper Fall Creek Falls.  The trail along Brasstown Creek was better defined and led to three waterfalls, although we did have to do some creek hopping to visit a fourth.

There’s something magical about seeing waterfalls one day and the ocean the next.  We’ll be doing it again in a few weeks.

To see these pictures and others, click HERE.

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Posted in Waterfalls | 13 Comments »

Skywatch Friday: Smokies Sky

April 9, 2010

Cheoah Lake, Great Smoky Mountains, North Carolina. October 13, 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.

I’ve been working in the yard this week and neglected to get any pictures of our beautiful skies.  But I found this picture in my archives that shows the sky and clouds very similar to what we’ve been enjoying.  This picture was taken this past October at an overlook above Cheoah Lake in the Smokies.

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Posted in SkyWatch Friday | 13 Comments »

More Daffodils

April 8, 2010

Las Vegas Daffodil, Fairfield Glade, Tennessee. April 5, 2010.

We’ve been blessed with bright sunshine and warm temperatures for several days now.  It’s been great to be able to work out in the yard and to see things blooming again.

Our tulips are starting to bloom, but I haven’t gotten any of those pictures organized.    But we’re still enjoying our daffodils as well.  When I posted some daffodil pictures a few days ago, someone mentioned that they thought daffodils were always yellow.  So I thought I would share a couple more ‘different’ daffodils today.

The daffodil above is Las Vegas.  We’ve had it in our yard for a couple of years now.  Although the trumpet is yellow the petals are a beautiful white.

Pink Charm Daffodil, Fairfield Glade, Tennessee. April 4, 2010.

This second daffodil is new for us this year.  It’s called Pink Charm.  It also has white petals, but the end of the trumpet is supposed to be pink.  I say ‘supposed to be’ because in our soil these daffodils look as orange as they does pink.  But we like them anyway.

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Posted in Garden | 11 Comments »

Watery Wednesday #82: L’Eau d’Or Falls

April 7, 2010

L'Eau d'Or Falls, Tallulah Gorge State Park, Georgia. October 14, 2009.

This is my post for Watery Wednesday.  To see more of our beautiful watery world, or to join and post your own pictures to share, click HERE.

L’Eau d’Or (Water of Gold) Falls is another of the major waterfalls in Tallulah Gorge State Park in Georgia.  This waterfall can be viewed from the North Rim Trail.  I took this picture on a cloudy, rainy day, so there is not much ‘gold’ in the water.

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Posted in Watery Wednesday | 15 Comments »

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