Get Any Bites?

April 26, 2010

Fisherman at Sandstone Falls on the New River, West Virginia. April 23, 2010.

When I saw this fisherman last Friday, I immediately thought of my friend the Fishing Guy.  FG is quite a fisherman living up in northeastern Ohio, although I’m not sure he has quite this backdrop at his favorite fishing holes.

Betsy and I were at Sandstone Falls on the New River Gorge National River.  We had driven up to southern West Virginia to spend a couple of days seeing waterfalls in an area we had visited before.

This picture shows just a very small portion of Sandstone Falls.  The falls is not high, but it is spectacular, extending all the way across the very broad river.

I’m sure Betsy or I will be posting more pictures of Sandstone Falls in the future.  But I hope FG will someday have the opportunity to fish the New River at Sandstone.  I can’t guarantee a great catch, but I can guarantee some fantastic scenery.

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Posted in Waterfalls | 8 Comments »

Skywatch Friday: Cresent Moon

April 23, 2010

Crescent Moon in the evening sky, Fairfield Glade, Tennessee. April 18, 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.

Last Sunday (April 18) evening I was outside putting things away as it was getting dark and I noticed this crescent moon up in the sky.  Naturally I had to grab my camera and get a picture to share with you.

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Posted in SkyWatch Friday | 9 Comments »

Return to Fall Creek Falls

April 22, 2010

George Hole, Fall Creek Falls State Park, Tennessee. April 21, 2010.

As I mentioned yesterday that we would do, Betsy and I went back to Fall Creek Falls State Park (about an hour from our home) to celebrate the ninth anniversary of our date there.  We essentially retraced the steps of that magical day in 2001.

One of the places we visited that day was the green area pictured above.  Back in 2001 it didn’t have a name, but a last year a sign appeared calling it ‘George Hole’.  I have no idea how that name came about, but who am I to argue?

In the afternoon of April 21, 2001, after a day of hiking and visiting waterfalls, Betsy and I spread out a blanket in about the middle of this picture and I proceeded to show her an album of photos from my year in China.  We looked at those pictures, talked about my experiences and some other things.  It was about then that I got that first kiss.

The best part of the day. April 21, 2010.

We didn’t have a blanket with us yesterday, but I did get that kiss!

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Posted in Betsy | 9 Comments »

Watery Wednesday #84: Fall Creek Falls

April 21, 2010

Fall Creek Falls, Fall Creek Falls State Park, Tennessee. April 21, 2008.

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.

The picture above, of Fall Creek Falls here in Tennessee, was taken in 2008.  If you’ve visited here for any length of time,  you know that Fall Creek Falls State Park is the absolute favorite park for Betsy and me.

I’m posting this picture on Watery Wednesday because April 21 is the anniversary of our first ‘big’ date back in 2001.  We spent the day there talking, hiking, seeing waterfalls and getting to know each other.  That day was also memorable because that was when I got my first kiss from Betsy.

We’ve gone back to Fall Creek Falls every year to enjoy the magic and we’ll be going back again today.  Who knows, I might even get another kiss!

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Posted in Watery Wednesday | 11 Comments »

My World: Tiptoeing Through the Tulips

April 20, 2010

Tulips in our side flower bed, Fairfield Glade, Tennessee. April 11, 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.

Well, we didn’t tip-toe through the tulips, but rather alongside them.  We’ve had some beautiful tulips this spring, many of them in a flower bed that Betsy and I built along the side of the house.  We also had a few tulips in the front of the house.

The weekend cold front has passed through without any frost in our area, for which we are grateful.  So I was able to return to regular Spring chores in the yard.  The cooler weather didn’t slow down the grass, so I got to mow the grass in addition to the other chores in the yard.

It’s a good thing exercise is healthy because all of the beauty of Spring also means there is always something that needs to be done in the yard.

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Posted in My World | 13 Comments »

April Is An Interesting Month

April 19, 2010

Pink dogwood in our front yard, Fairfield Glade, Tennessee. April 14, 2010.

April is an interesting month, although not always in a good way.  You know how April showers bring May flowers?  Well, we’ve had practically no rain at all this month.  I’m still hoping for May flowers,  however.

We had summer-like temperatures for most of last week.  We didn’t use the air-conditioner, but we did have the house open and fans running.  So you can imagine our shock and surprise when we got home from running some errands on Saturday afternoon to discover that a frost advisory had been issued for the Plateau.  We moved our container roses into the garage just to be on the safe side.  Fortunately we didn’t have any frost and so we moved them back out yesterday.

Don’t get me wrong — I’m not complaining.  We’ve had beautiful weather and beautiful flowers.  Our pink dogwood tree (above) is about as pretty as it has been since we moved here.

I am finding, however, that I must be slowing down with old age as it seems to take me longer and longer to do everything that needs to be done outside.  So If these postings become a little more sporadic than they’ve been in the past, rest assured that it is because the weather has been good and I have been working outside.  I haven’t forgotten about you and will endeavor to keep up as best as I can.

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Posted in Weather | 14 Comments »

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 »

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