Archive for the ‘My World’ Category

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My World: I Promised Her a Rose Garden

May 17, 2011

Roses in front of our house, Fairfield Glade, Tennessee. May 13, 2011.

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.

I promised Betsy a rose garden about five years ago, when my job ended and I retired.  That first year we planted some roses in a flower bed we had built at the side of the house.  It quickly became apparent that that location was too shady for roses, and so we built new flower beds in front of the house, which is the sunniest part of our yard.

The picture above, which Betsy took on Friday, shows how well I’ve kept my promise.  You can see three rose beds (one near the road in the foreground, and one on each side of the driveway near the house.  In addition we have roses in containers along the sides of the driveway.

We have a total of 57 rose bushes — 55 different varieties.  All are hybrid teas or grandifloras.  We have roses of just about every color imaginable, and many of are also fragrant.  A beautiful rose that has a delightful fragrance is about as perfect as anything can be.

Crescendo Rose, Fairfield Glade, Tennessee. May 14, 2011.

The rose above, Crescendo, is one of our new roses for this year.  The light wasn’t very good (it had been raining) when I took this picture on Saturday, but I couldn’t resist the temptation to snap away.

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My World: Blossoms to Welcome Us Home

May 10, 2011

Our front yard, Fairfield Glade, Tennessee. May 7, 2011.

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.

Betsy and I came home to a yard full of color, thanks to the wet Spring we had here on the Plateau.  The grass was green, the iris were still blooming (they had started before we left for the beach), the azaleas in the front yard were putting on a show, and the roses were full of buds and blossoms.  All in all it was a beautiful welcome home.

Both of these pictures can be enlarged by clicking on them, but if you do that please don’t look too closely.  The grass desperately needs to be mowed.  I guess that’s my welcome home.

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My World: Iris in Bloom

April 26, 2011

Honey Glaze Iris, Fairfield Glade, Tennessee. April 22, 2011.

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.

We were down to one lonely tulip in the front yard, but then the iris started blooming and we are once again enjoying beautiful blossoms.  The first iris to bloom was Honey Glazed, which is shown above.

Blatant Iris, Fairfield Glade, Tennessee. April 22, 2011.

It would be hard for me to pick a favorite, but this one — Blatant — would certainly be in the running.

Clarence Iris, Fairfield Glade, Tennessee. April 23, 2011.

Another iris that is blooming is Clarence.

All three of these are re-blooming iris, so if Mother Nature cooperates we’ll have another show in October.

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My World: Tip-Toeing Through the Tulips

April 19, 2011

Tulips at the Biltmore Estate, Asheville, North Carolina. April 14, 2011.

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.

The Walled Garden (so-called because it is surrounded by a wall) at Biltmore is a formal garden with symmetrical flower beds arranged in patterns.  When we were there last week, most of the blooming flowers were tulips.

Tulips at the Biltmore Estate, Asheville, North Carolina. April 14, 2011.

Most of the beds contained two varieties of tulips, selected for their complementary colors.  Sometimes the differences in the shades were subtle, as in this bed of purple tulips.

Tulips at the Biltlmore Estate, Asheville, North Carolina. April 14, 2011.

The tulip beds at Biltmore were a riot of rich and beautiful color.

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My World: Spring Blossoms

April 12, 2011

Pink Charm daffodils, Fairfield Glade, Tennessee. March 23, 2011.

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.

We’ve enjoyed some beautiful weather since we got back from Arkansas, and our yard has responded by putting on a show.  Most of the daffodils are now gone, but they were pretty while they lasted.  The daffodils above are Pink Charm.

Shrike Daffodil, Fairfield Glade, Tennessee. March 23, 2011.

We did have some new daffodils this year, including Shrike.  I have no idea how it got that name, but it sure is pretty.

Red Dynasty tulips, Fairfield Glade, Tennessee. April 7, 2011.

The only good thing about the daffodils starting to fade away is that the tulips begin to take center stage.  These Red Dynasty tulips are in the new flower bed in front of the house.

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The doctor visit went about as well as can be expected.  The disc problems are pinching the nerves leading to my legs.  Surgery is the only ‘cure’, but it should be viewed as a last resort.  For now medication is controlling the pain, so I’m going to continue doing my ‘things’ as long as I can.  Thanks for those prayers and good thoughts.

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My World: Journey to Arkansas

April 5, 2011

Tulips and Azalea in bloom, Garvan Gardens, Hot Springs, Arkansas. March 28, 2011.

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.

Last week Betsy and I went to Mount Nebo State Park in Arkansas.  We’ve been going there at least once a year since I retired in 2006.  We have a favorite cabin that we rent, where we can enjoy beautiful views, fires in the fireplace, and the birds and deer that pass by.

As is usual with us, we can rarely go directly to a destination.  This year we stopped by Garvan Gardens in Hot Springs, Arkansas, on our way to Mount Nebo.  We had been there in 2009 and enjoyed the daffodils, so since we were a few weeks later this year, we stopped by to see the tulips.  As you can see from the picture above, the tulips and azaleas put on a beautiful display.

'Our' cabin on Mount Nebo, Arkansas. March 28, 2011.

Our cabin at Mount Nebo sits near the rim of the mountain top and provides a perfect spot to sit and relax and enjoy the beauty of God’s creation.

We made a day trip to nearby Mount Magazine State Park to have lunch in their wonderful restaurant.  It was a gray, cloudy, dismal day, which was just fine for eating, but very bad for picture-taking.

Since we now have a geo-tracker that we take with us just about every place, I can show you are journey thanks to Goggle Earth.  You can click to enlarge the map for easier reading.

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My World: Yard Work Keeping Me Busy

March 22, 2011

Our new rose bed. Fairfield Glade, Tennessee. March 19, 2011.

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.

Spring has come to  the Plateau, and that means that there is more work to be done in the yard.  I finished up one big project — rebuilding our biggest rose bed.  Hopefully the new bed will allow me provide a better growing environment for the roses this year.

Speaking of roses, the weather has been so nice that all of the bushes are showing new growth, so I have been uncovering them.  I should have them all uncovered in the next day or so.  The container roses were growing so much in the garage that I’ve already moved them outside.

Periwinkle Bed, Fairfield Glade, Tennessee. March 19, 2011.

Fortunately not everything in the yard has involved hard work this Spring.  The periwinkle that we have growing in the rocky areas where grass won’t grow is putting on a beautiful display.  Later in the year I’ll have to worry about keeping it in its bed, but right now I can simply enjoy.

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My World: Mill Creek

March 15, 2011

The Shoals of Mill Creek, Cohutta Wilderness, Georgia. March 8, 2011.

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.

Last Tuesday (March 8) Betsy and I returned to Mill Creek in the Cohutta Wilderness Area of north Georgia.  We had been to Mill Creek a couple of times before, but we like the area, and since we were nearby, we decided to visit again.

One of the nice things about Mill Creek is the cascade, or shoals, which are reached after a fairly short hike from the parking/camping area.  The shoals, as you can see from the picture above, are quite beautiful.  The rocks about midway down the shoals, from where this picture was taken, provide a nice spot to sit and enjoy the movement of the water.

Mill Creek is reached from Crandall, Georgia, by traveling along Mill Creek Road (Forest Service Road 630).  The road is not paved, but is graveled and in pretty good shape.  Mrs. P, our Prius, got us into the forest and back out without any problems.  (You can click on the map to make it easier to read.)

There are four waterfalls below the shoals, but since we had seen them before and it was getting ready to rain, we decided not to revisit them.

Besides, I had something much more pleasant in mind as we sat on those rocks by the shoals.

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My World: Crocus Pickwick in bloom

March 8, 2011

Crocus Pickwick, Fairfield Glade, Tennessee. March 1, 2011.

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.

We have good news and bad news on our Spring Watch this week.  The good news is that the crocus are blooming — Spring colors have begun.  The bad news is that they are blooming about two weeks early than they did last year.  I’m not sure Old Man Winter has agreed to stay away for good.

Crocus Pickwick, Fairfield Glade, Tennessee. March 3, 2011.

But there’s nothing we can do about that, so we’re just enjoying the crocus as they brighten up our yard.

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My World: Did I Say We Needed Rain?

March 1, 2011

Waterfall and river behind our house, Fairfield Glade, Tennessee. February 28, 2011.

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.

I don’t need to tell most of you that this has been a very strange year as far as the weather is concerned.  We had snow and ice in December and January, followed by cold weather and some snow in February.  One thing that we haven’t gotten is rain.  We were almost three inches below the normal amount going into the last week of February.

All of that changed Sunday night and Monday.  It rained and it rained and it rained.  The picture above was taken from the deck in the back of our house and shows the fairway about noon on Monday.  I don’t think there were any golfers out.

This picture, also taken from the deck, shows the rough behind our house.  It looks like it was trying to become a lake.

The situation was about the same in front of the house.  I haven’t heard yet how much rain we actually got, but I’m confident that it went quite a way toward eliminating the deficit.

 

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