Morning sky in Otto, North Carolina. May 29, 2009.
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.
The picture above was taken in May of this year while we were visiting friends in western North Carolina. It was cloudy and overcast when we got up, but the clouds started to lift as the morning went on. We could definitely see blue sky after we finished breakfast.
(This picture can be enlarged by clicking on it.)
I don’t know what happened to Wednesday. I know the days are getting shorter, but yesterday was ridiculous. We did our weekly grocery shopping and I planted some spring bulbs that came by UPS the other day, but that was about it. Before I knew it, it was getting dark.
Since I didn’t have a chance to get out and take new pictures, I’m giving you another collage of the lilies we had in our garden this year. Our lilies did very well this year and we thoroughly enjoyed each and every blossom.
Today (Thursday) we’re going to Hendersonville to check on my parents. When I talked to them last night they were both in good spirits, but we will help them with some of the things they can’t do themselves anymore. We’ll also run some errands for them and take them out for lunch.
I’ll be away from my computer most of the day today, but I’ll get around to visiting you as quickly as I can.
White Water Walk, Niagara Falls, Ontario. August 29, 2002.
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.
While we were in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Betsy and I were fascinated by both the American and Canadian Falls. But there are many more watery scenes to enjoy. The picture above was taken at White Water Walk, an observation deck 230 feet down in the gorge below the falls. The stretch of the Niagara River here is known as Whirlpool Rapids. It is a Class 6 white water rapid with water moving at about 30 mph.
Needless to say, I was delighted to be on firm ground when I took this picture.
The new retaining wall in our yard. September 7, 2009.
This is my post for the My World meme. It is hosted by Klaus, Ivar, Sandy, Wren, Louise and Fishing Guy. To learn more about our world or to join and share your part of the world, click HERE.
My world this week contains one less problem area to mow. As I’ve mentioned before, the front of our yard had a very steep drop-off from the road. We talked about several ways to avoid mowing that area, none of which seemed very practical. Finally my bride suggested building a retaining wall and leveling the area. You can see the result of her suggestion in the picture above.
I’m not sure when we started this project — it seems like we’ve been working on it forever. The cashiers at Lowe’a got to know us very well. I should have kept track of how many blocks and how many bags of dirt we brought home, but our hard-working Prius carried them all without any problems.
A new flower bed. September 7, 2009.
Finishing this wall and bed was our big Labor Day project and I’m happy to say that we got it finished. Now I don’t have to worry about mowing that steep bank and we have room to plant some more sun-loving plants. They’re already on order.
A Fairfield Glade evening sky. August 30, 2009.
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.
“Red sky at night, sailor’s delight”
We may not have many sailors here on the Plateau of Tennessee, but we have many people who can appreciate a beautiful sunset. I snapped this red sky from the golf course behind our house on this past Sunday evening.
*********************
This is just a short note to let you know that I’m taking a break over Labor Day weekend. I need to labor in the yard and get some other projects done. Have a great weekend and I’ll see you Tuesday morning.
Middle Lynn Camp Falls, Great Smoky Mountains National Park. June, 2007.
There are many popular areas in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park that almost everyone who visits the park have seen or at least heard about — Cades Cove, Laurel Falls, and Clingman’s Dome to name just a few.
Betsy and I have been to all of those places, but some of our favorite times in the Smokies have been when we visited lesser-known areas of the park. One such area is along Lynn Camp Prong.
In southern parlance, a prong is a branch of a river. Lynn Camp was a lumber camp before the park was formed. Lynn Camp Prong is a small stream that runs through the location of that old lumber camp.
To reach Lynn Camp and the hiking trail you have to go past Tremont Institure (off the road to Cade’s Cove) to the very end of the road. The trail heads up along Lynn Camp Prong as it tumbles over several cascades and small falls. Although they are not very big, the falls are pretty. The hike is not difficult, and the chances are that you will have the trail and the cascades all to yourself. There are even a couple of benches along the trail at which you can enjoy the views.
If you would like to see more of our hike along Lynn Camp Prong click HERE.
Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina. May 6, 2009.
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’ve been working on pictures taken when we were at Ocean Isle Beach in North Carolina this past May. We’d been to Ocean Isle Beach before, but the weather this time was absolutely gorgeous. The sky and ocean were both a brilliant blue. It was a perfect spot from which to contemplate our beautiful, watery world.
Berries on our dogwood tree, Fairfield Glade, Tennessee. August 30, 2009.
This is my post for the My World meme. It is hosted by Klaus, Ivar, Sandy, Wren, Louise and Fishing Guy. To learn more about our world or to join and share your part of the world, click HERE.
My world is getting prepared for autumn — at least the trees in the yard are. I’m not sure I’m ready for autumn to come. I have too many things on my summer to-do list that still haven’t gotten done!
The dogwood tree in the front yard is now sporting bunches of red berries. While most of the leaves still have quite a bit of green in them, the picture below shows that some, at least, have become quite red.
Dogwood leaf, Fairfield Glade, Tennessee. August 30, 2009.
But there is a good aspect of autumn getting closer. Our reblooming iris have started to bloom again. The picture below is of Autumn Bugler, which so far is the only one to bloom a second time this year.
Autumn Bugler Iris, Fairfield Glade, Tennessee. August 31, 2009.
I think it may have jumped the gun a bit, but it is still nice to see.
George looking up at About Face rose, Fairfield Glade, Tennessee. August 27, 2009.
Roses need sunshine. Roses love sunshine. Since we have lots of trees around our house, finding enough sunshine for our roses has been somewhat of a problem. We had to move our roses from the first bed we made because there was too much shade, but now we’ve got them in front of the house where they get as much sunshine as our yard can offer.
HOWEVER, one corner of one of the rose beds is shadier than the rest of the bed. To keep the symmetry of the bed I wanted to keep a rose there. I figured that the rose there would be okay.
A few weeks ago a new cane appeared on the rose. It grew and grew and grew. For a while I thought it might be a sucker from below the graft, but it looked like the other canes. It kept growing and growing. When I was about to give up on it, a bud appeared and then a blossom that belonged to the rose bush.
To put things in perspective in the photo above, I’m 6-foot four inches tall and am standing on the same level as the rose bush. And I’m looking UP at the blossom. That rose wanted sunshine and was going to get to it.
The picture below shows what this rose bush, About Face, looks like under more normal circumstances.
About Face rose, Fairfield Glade, Tennessee. June 2, 2009.
The ocean and beach at Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina. May 5, 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.
The picture above was taken this past May at Ocean Isle Beach in North Carolina. It was a perfect morning with clouds on the horizon, a calm, blue ocean, and a clean beach all to ourselves.
