Watery Wednesday # 134: Garvan Gardens

April 6, 2011

Garvan Gardens Falls, Hot Springs, Arkansas. March 28, 2011.

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.

Garvan Gardens is a beautiful woodlands garden near Hot Springs, Arkansas.  The main attractions are the beautiful flowers and shrubs, but Garvan Gardens also has some wonderful water features, including Garvan Gardens Falls in the picture above.

Pool surrounded by shrubs in Garvan Gardens, Hot Springs, Arkansas. March 28, 2011.

Unfortunately that part of Arkansas is going through a drought this year, so the streams and pools have less water than they did the first time we visited.  But they still make a beautiful picture among all the shrubbery.

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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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Scenic Sunday #141: The View from Mount Nebo

April 3, 2011

The rim of Mount Nebo and the valley below as seen from behind our cabin. March 28, 2011.

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.

Last week Betsy and I spent several days at our favorite cabin on Mount Nebo State Park in Arkansas.  Mount Nebo is a flat-topped mountain, and ‘our’ cabn sits near the rim on the southwest side of the mountain.  We have a marvelous view of the valley below, as can be seen from the picture above.

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SkyWatch Friday: Spring-Time Evening Sky

March 25, 2011

The evening sky in Fairfield Glade, Tennessee. March 18, 2011.

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.

Everything in Spring seems bright and beautiful.  Last Saturday evening we were walking on the golf course behind our house at sunset.  The sun was dropping below the Plateau, and the eastern sky was turning dark.  But the sun was still hitting some of the clouds in the western sky.  All in all it was a beautiful evening.

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Betsy and I will be taking a blog break for about a week.  I’ll be back about April 4, the yard willing.

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It’s Beginning to Look Like Spring

March 24, 2011

Fortissimo Daffodil, Fairfield Glade, Tennessee. March 20, 2011.

It’s beginning to look more and more like Spring on the Cumberland Plateau.  We’ve enjoyed some beautiful weather over the past few days, and flowers are beginning to bloom profusely.

We’ve had some yellow daffodils blooming for several days, but now some of our other daffodils are blooming as well.  The daffodil above is Fortissimo.  The petals are yellow, but the trumpet is orange.  It’s a fairly large blossom.

Chromacolor Daffodil, Fairfield Glade, Tennessee. March 21, 2011.

Chromacolor also has an orange trumpet, but it is much shorter than the one on Fortissimo.  Chromacolor’s petals are a showy white.  Both of these daffodils happily proclaim that Spring has sprung!

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Posted in Garden | 19 Comments »

Watery Wednesday #132: Cane Creek Falls

March 23, 2011

Cane Creek Falls, Dahlonega, Georgia. March 9, 2011.

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.

Cane Creek Falls is a waterfall near Dahlonega, Georgia, which Betsy and I visited while we were in north Georgia during my birthday trip.  I’ve mentioned that we had quite a bit of rain during that trip, and you can see the muddy water thundering over the falls in the picture above.

Cane Creek Falls, Dahlonega, Georgia. May 25, 2005.

This trip wasn’t the first time we’ve visited Cane Creek Falls.  We were also there in May, 2005.  At that time the water levels were more normal.  It almost looks like a different waterfall.

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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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Posted in My World | 19 Comments »

Scenic Sunday #139: Dawn’s Early Light

March 20, 2011

Sunrise Point, Mount Nebo State Park, Arkansas. December 4, 2008.

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.

This picture of dawn’s early light was taken from Sunrise Point on Mount Nebo in Arkansas.  The light is reflected on the waters of the Arkansas River in the valley below.

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Posted in Scenic Sunday | 14 Comments »

Skywatch Friday: A Cloudy Mountain Morning

March 18, 2011

A morning view from the lodge at Amicalola Falls State Park, Georgia. March 10, 2011.

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.

When Betsy surprised me with a birthday trip to Amicalola State Park in Georgia last week, we had a room at the mountain top lodge with a view of the mountains.  This picture was taken through the window last Thursday (March 10).  The clouds were threatening, but had lifted enough the at we could see across the valley to the mountains on the other side.

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Betsy at Amicalola Falls

March 17, 2011

Betsy at Amicalola Falls, Georgia. March 9, 2011.

Betsy usually doesn’t like me to take pictures of her.  She doesn’t realize how beautiful her smile truly is.  But I think even Betsy can appreciate the ‘drawing’ of her shown above.  It shows Betsy along the lower part of Amicalola Falls back on March 9.

I’m not an artist, but I did create this ‘work of art’.  Scott, in his wonderful photo blog Finding Another View, had a post about changing a photo into a line drawing using Photoshop.  He said it was easy, and it must be because I got it to work for me.


This is the picture I took of Betsy and which is the basis for the line drawing (don’t tell her I posted the picture as well).  I can’t say I like it any less than the ‘drawing’.  I’m just glad they both show that million-dollar smile.

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Posted in Betsy | 17 Comments »

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