Skywatch Friday: Morning in the Glade

August 27, 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.

I’ve often said that the Glade is pretty just about any time of the year.  It’s also pretty just about any time of the day, even in the morning when the skies are overcast.  You can see the mountains in the background and the fog in the valley.  The sky isn’t a pretty blue, but it will be once the sun burns away all that fog and haze.

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Posted in SkyWatch Friday | 24 Comments »

Down Memory Lane: The Smokies in the Spring

August 26, 2010

My Beautiful Bride is a mountain girl at heart and is one reason she moved to Tennessee from Texas back in 2000.  (I’m glad she did!).  In May, 2001, we visited the Great Smoky Mountains for the first time.  Betsy had been there many times before, but I had only driven through it once.

We spent a weekend exploring Cades Cove, Little River Road and Newfound Gap.  We also added a waterfall — Meigs Falls — to the collection we had just started.  We were even able to experience some good mountain music at the lodge at which we stayed.

We’ve been back to the Smokies many times since then — it’s much more convenient to get there now that we live in the Glade.  But this first trip in May, 2001, was — and still is — very special.

To see these pictures and others, click HERE.

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Posted in Travels | 15 Comments »

Watery Wednesday #102: Campbell Falls

August 25, 2010

Campbell Falls, Camp Creek State Resort Park, West Virginia. April 22, 2010.

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.

In April Betsy and I went to West Virginia on a waterfall hunt.  One of the places we visited was Camp Creek Resort State Park near Princeton, West Virginia.  The park contains Campbell Falls, a pretty little waterfall.  There wasn’t a lot of water going over the falls, and the picture above shows only one branch of the falls, but the water was so clear that the bottom of the creek could be clearly seen.

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Posted in Watery Wednesday | 17 Comments »

My World: We’ve Made Some Changes

August 24, 2010

Our new house in Fairfield Glade, Tennessee. September, 2002.

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 picture above was taken on the day we closed on our house back in 2002.  We fell in love with the house the first time we saw it.  We still love it.

The front of our house. August 23, 2010.

But we’ve made some changes in the yard, as you may be able to see from this second picture.  We’ve added the flag pole (at the extreme right of the picture), the flower beds around the lamp post and the dogwood tree (there’s one more around a redbud tree to the right of the picture), and the three rose beds — two on each side of the driveway and one near the road.  We’ve also added the roses in the containers along the driveway.

This time of the year you are more likely to find us out in the yard or on the deck in back, than in the house itself.  But  that’s the way it is in our world.

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Posted in My World | 22 Comments »

Why We Need to Sweep the Deck

August 23, 2010

Our friendly helper. August 19, 2010.

Betsy has become a very enthusiastic birder over the last few years.  It all started with a Bluebird family in the box in our back yard, but she now has several feeders on and over our deck.  Most of the feeders are located so that she can see them from her chair in our Great Room.

There are now a dozen or so variety of birds that visit our feeders on a regular basis.  And although Betsy has gotten very good at recognizing the birds by sight or by their call, the birds are not very good about cleaning up after themselves.  I hate to say it, but those birds are some of the messiest eaters I’ve ever seen (and that includes two kids!).

Betsy does a pretty good job of sweeping the deck, but one rainy day last week she got distracted doing other things and didn’t sweep as often as she usually does.  So this ‘friend’ decided to climb up on the deck and help with the clean-up effort.  Fortunately it went away without gracing the deck with its ‘fragrance’.

We really do need to keep the deck swept!

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Posted in Glade | 20 Comments »

Skywatch Friday: Quarter Moon Over the Glade

August 20, 2010

Quarter Moon over Fairfield Glade, Tennessee. August 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.

This week has brought clouds and some much-needed rain to the Glade.  But last Saturday evening the clouds parted enough to reveal a quarter moon.  I, of course, could not resist the temptation to grab my camera and try to capture the moon.

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Posted in SkyWatch Friday | 25 Comments »

Down Memory Lane: Our 2006 Anniversary Trip

August 19, 2010

2006 was an interesting year for Betsy and me.  My job ended since I didn’t want to move to Memphis and so I retired instead.

Retirement made it possible for us to celebrate our anniversary by taking a trip, which we did for the first time.  Our friends Judy and Charlie invited us to their cabin near Franklin, North Carolina.  Since Franklin is in the heart of the mountains of western North Carolina and there are many waterfalls to visit, we quickly accepted their invitation.

During our visit to North Carolina we visited  waterfalls near Cherokee, North Carolina, at Deep Creek in the Smokies, in the Dupont State Forest in North Carolina.  We also stopped by a couple more waterfalls on our way home.

All in all it was a very successful trip.

To see these pictures and more of the waterfalls we visited, click HERE.

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Posted in Waterfalls | 10 Comments »

Watery Wednesday #101: Barefoot Landing

August 18, 2010

Barefoot Landing, North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. January, 1998.

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.

I went to my archives to get this winter-time picture taken at Barefoot Landing in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.  This pond is near the center of the shopping and entertainment complex.  I really like the reflections in the water.

The picture above was scanned from a slide.

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Posted in Watery Wednesday | 21 Comments »

My World: New Roses in Our Yard

August 17, 2010

John F Kennedy Rose. May 27, 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 very hot, dry summer here on the Plateau, which means we’ve spent a fair amount of time watering our roses.  Happily I’m still able to bring in a rose for Betsy just about every  day.

These are some of the roses that are new to our yard this year.  Most of them are in the new flower bed we built along the road.

Two of our new roses honor presidents.  The very fragrant white rose above is the John F. Kennedy rose.

Ronald Reagan Rose. June 4, 2010.

The Ronald Reagan rose is not as fragrant, but is a beautiful red-and-white bicolor.

Southern Belle Rose. May 13, 2010.

This cheery yellow is called Southern Belle.  Since Betsy is a Virginia girl, I just knew we had to add this to our collection.

Sedona Rose. May 26, 2010.

Sedona is a magnificent red-orange blend that is Rose of the Year (2010) from Jackson & Perkins Company.

We have a few other new roses, but I’ll save those for another occasion.

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Posted in My World | 23 Comments »

Scenic Sunday # 109: Autumn on the Parkway

August 15, 2010

View from the Fork Ridge Overlook, Blue Ridge Parkway, North Carolina. October 25, 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.

Although some parts of the country have gotten some relief from the impressive heat, that relief hanse’t reached the Plateau here in East Tennessee.  So I’m looking at pictures from other seasons hoping to feel a little cooler.

The picture above was taken on the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina this past October.  I like the mountain ridges receding into background.  The picture shows why these mountains are called the Blue Ridge.

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Posted in Scenic Sunday | 13 Comments »

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