Archive for the ‘My World’ Category

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »

My World: The End of Autumn Color

November 23, 2010

Our front yard, Fairfield Glade, Tennessee. November 20, 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.

The autumn colors are just about gone here on the Plateau.  As the picture above shows, the trees around our house are mostly bare.  Betsy and I worked hard on picking up leaves Friday and Saturday, so the yard looks pretty good right now.  Of course, if the wind blows from the wrong direction, the leaves in the vacant lots will be in our yard.  Oh, well, we’ll just enjoy how good it looks as long as we can.

 

Tags:, , ,
Posted in My World | 17 Comments »

My World: Red Maples

November 16, 2010

Leaves of a Red Maple in our front yard, Fairfield Glade, Tennessee. November 4, 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.

We’ve had a couple of days of cool, rainy days, and most of the leaves are off the trees in our yard.  Of course, that means there are a lot of leaves on the ground, but that’s a job for a drier day.

A maple tree in our front yard was among the last trees to hold onto its leaves.  The utility company did a pretty good job of mutilating the tree a couple of years ago, but the surviving branches still held some pretty autumn color.

These pictures were taken about a week ago.

Tags:, ,
Posted in My World | 15 Comments »

My World: Last Roses of Summer?

November 9, 2010

Roses brought in before an anticipated frost, Fairfield Glade, Tennessee. November 4, 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.

It’s that time of the year.  Last week we were warned about low temperatures and freezing over the weekend.  We still had roses blooming and we wanted to keep as many of the blossoms as we could.  So Betsy gathered all the vases she could, and I gathered all the blossoms and buds about to open that I could find.

I brought in 40 buds and blossoms, which we put in the vases as you can see above.  Betsy put the vases in various places around the house and not only did they look good, several were also fragrant.

We had three nights of temperatures in the 20s, but no frost.  All the rose bushes seem to be doing fine.  And the temperatures are supposed to stay above freezing for the rest of the week.  I may be able to bring in some more ‘last roses’ by the weekend.

Tags:, , ,
Posted in My World | 17 Comments »

My World: The Second Time Around

November 2, 2010

South Sea Daylily, Fairfield Glade, Tennessee. October 2, 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.

We’re being threatened with freezing temperatures over the weekend, but in the meantime we’re enjoying some of our flowers that are blooming for the second time this year.  We have daylilies and irises that bloom in both Spring and Autumn.

Our South Sea daylily (pictured above) started blooming again in early October.

Hemstitched Iris, Fairfield Glade, Tennessee. October 23, 2010.

We currently  have two irises in bloom.  Hemstitched (I have no idea where that name came from) started blooming again about ten days ago.

Floor Show Iris, Fairfield Glade, Tennessee. October 27, 2010.

The other blooming iris is Floor Show.  I’m guessing that it got that name because it is quite showy.

Most of our roses are continuing to bloom as well.  You are welcome to stop by and enjoy the flowers in our yard, but it looks as if you need to get here before the weekend.

Tags:, , ,
Posted in My World | 18 Comments »

My World: Autumn in the Smokies

October 26, 2010

Chimney Tops overlook, Newfound Gap Road, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee. October 19, 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.

Last Tuesday Betsy and I drove Newfound Gap Road through the Smokies and part of the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina.  We were on our way to Maggie Valley, North Carolina, but we took advantage of every opportunity to stop and enjoy the colors.

We had an absolutely gorgeous day, with bright sunshine and blue skies.  The colors may not have been at their peak, but they were close to it.  The picture above was taken at the Chimney Top overlook in Tennessee.

Webb Overlook, Newfound Gap Road, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina. October 19, 2010.

As we headed down the mountain in North Carolina after passing Newfound Gap, we stopped at the Webb Overlook, where the trees were mostly yellow and orange.

Balsam Mountain, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina. October 19, 2010.

Later in the afternoon we left the Blue Ridge Parkway to drive to Balsam Mountain, where we took a short hike to an overlook.  We found these beautiful colors along the trail.

Tags:, , , ,
Posted in My World | 23 Comments »

My World: Is Dry

October 19, 2010

Cane Creek below Cane Creek Falls, Fall Creek Falls State Park, Tennessee. October 17, 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.

Sunday Betsy and I went to Fall Creek Falls State Park to have lunch with two of Betsy’s cousins who are here visiting friends.  We had a wonderful (and delicious) meal at the lodge and enjoyed lots of laughs and conversation.

Of course, Betsy and I couldn’t go to Fall Creek Falls without checking in to see the waterfalls.  We were shocked to see how little water there was.  There was no discernible water going over Cane Creek Falls, and the creek bed below the falls was essentially dry, as you can see from the picture above (those are shadows of trees across the creek bed).

Cane Creek Cascade, Fall Creek Falls, Tennessee. October 17, 2010.

Cane Creek Cascade, which is further upstream, brought even a greater shock.  This is all the water I could see flowing over the ledge.  The picture below shows Cane Creek Cascade as it looked when we were there in April.

Cane Creek Cascade, Fall Creek Falls, Tennessee. April 21, 2010.

We could really use some rain here on the Plateau.  If you have any rain to spare, please send it our way.

********************

Betsy and I are taking a blog break for a few days.  I’ll visit when I can, but probably won’t post for several days.

Tags:, ,
Posted in My World | 21 Comments »

My World: Deer at Noon

October 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.

We often see deer on the golf course behind our house in the late afternoon, but on Sunday we saw a mother and three fawns out at noon, which is very unusual.
Both Betsy and I went out to the deck to take some pictures.  Mama Deer kept an eye on us, as you can see from the picture above.

The two largest fawns were enjoying the grass not too far away.


The smallest fawn stayed close to Mama.  All we could see of it here was its legs and ears.


All three fawns decided they needed some liquid refreshment after their grass lunch.  Mama doesn’t look too thrilled at the prospect.


I got a final family portrait before all of the deer disappeared between two houses further up the course.

Tags:, ,
Posted in My World | 23 Comments »

My World: High School Football

October 5, 2010

Waiting for the team to take the field, Bearden High School, Knoxville, Tennessee. September 30, 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.

This past Thursday Betsy and I drove to Knoxville to see a high school football game.  Actually we went to see the band which was performing at the game, since Betsy’s grandson, Landon, is a member of the band.

This game was somewhat unique for me since I got to sit and watch the entire game.  Now don’t get me wrong — I’ve been to many high school football games.  But both of my children were in the marching band at their school, so much of my time at games was spent in Band Parents’ concession stands.

Half-time show, Bearden High School, Knoxville, Tennessee. September 30, 2010.

Since Landon is in the band, we have many more pictures of the band than we do of the football team.  The above picture shows much of the band during their half-time show.

Landon, September 30, 2010.

The handsome young man on the left is Landon.  He’s a percussionist and, as a freshman, is not marching this year, although he expects to next year.

********************

As many of you know, I have been using a geotagger with my camera to record our location when we take pictures.  Using the information on the above pictures I found this picture of the stadium on Google Earth.  We were in the nose-bleed section of the stands near the press box.

Tags:, ,
Posted in My World | 17 Comments »

My World: Hensley Settlement

September 28, 2010

Sign at the entrance to Hensley Settlement on Brush Mountain, Cumberland Gap Historical National Park. September 23, 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.

Last week Betsy and I went to Kentucky to visit some places we’ve long talked about.  On Thursday we went to Cumberland Gap National Historical Park in the mountains where Kentucky, Virginia, and Tennessee come together.

The first thing we did was take a tour of Hensley Settlement, a community that existed from 1903 – 1951 atop Brush Mountain.  We were driven to the settlement in a Park Service van along some ‘interesting’ mountain roads.  Once we got to the settlement, we had a walking tour through the community and into some of the buildings.

Our guide through Hensley Settlement, Ronny Oplinger, the grandson of one of the founders of the settlement. September 23, 2010.

The guide on the day we were there was the grandson of one of the founders of the community.  It was definitely interesting to hear his family stories as we walked through the community.

The Lige Gibbons Farm, Hensley Settlement. September 23, 2010.

The Lige Gibbons Farm is one of the preserved homesteads on the mountain.  This farm is in a pretty little hollow on the mountain top.

Ruins of the Willie Gibbons House, Hensley Settlement. September 23, 2010.

Unfortunately, preserved doesn’t always mean protected.  This is the ruins of the Willie Gibbons house.  It was built in 1904 and was the most unique cabin on the mountaintop.  It was larger than most and had a double fireplace.  Sadly, it was destroyed by fire in 2000 and there are no longer any American Chestnut logs big enough to rebuild it as it was.

There are many more things to see in Hensley Settlement and I will post more after I get through some of the pictures we took.  The map above of our visit to Hensley Settlement was created on Google Earth using data from our geotagger.  The yellow line is our track, and I’ve noted some of the main features of the settlement.  If you ever get the chance to visit this site, I urge you to do so.  I think you will enjoy it.

Tags:, , ,
Posted in My World | 13 Comments »

My World: Hints of Autumn

September 21, 2010

Berries on our dogwood tree, Fairfield Glade, Tennessee. September 15, 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.

This has been an exceptionally hot summer here on the Plateau.  The record number of summer days with temperatures over 90° is 78, and we stand at 77 with two more days of summer left and highs around 90 predicted for both days.

But there is hope.  The dogwood tree in our front yard is now sporting berries, a sure sign the autumn is on the way.  The berries are a bright red, and although the leaves are trying to turn, there is now only a hint of color.

Leaves starting to show some color. September 20, 2010.

But hopefully they will turn and give us more color.  And hopefully we will also get some cooler weather in our part of the world.

Tags:, , ,
Posted in My World | 19 Comments »

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »