Another Sunday morning in our woods

It's a lovely day here in the woods. My husband and I took our first Cuppa out on the porch. It rained earlier this morning and everything sparkles. Can't take photos as my camera is charging. Sometimes it is nice just to enjoy without trying to capture it on film. (OK, so it is digital and it doesn't use film, how would you say it? Capture it on memory card just doesn't sound quite the same.) Anyway, we listened to the frogs, the birds and our wild bees. It is so peaceful.
The first picture today is of the stream on the far end of our road. It is the destination when we walk in that direction. There are tiny fish in it almost year round. There is enough water in it right now to sound lovely but we could sure use more rain. The walk is just over a mile in each direction and the view changes just a little each day.
Nature is always busy out here, one of the reasons I love it. This next flower is growing down by our mailbox. There are several of them and they are on stems that are about 2 to 3 feet tall. As usual, I have no idea what they are. I just like them. They will probably be gone in a few days and something else will come up.
I think the red bird is a small cardinal. We see them often, the males have crests and are shaped just like cardinals, but they are about the size of a parakeet. They are very fast and a bit camera shy. I have been trying to get a photo of one for quite a while. I took this one the other day on our walk. I took 3 or 4, but this is the only one he show up in. Persistence!
I also attempted to take a picture of our bees going into the base of the column. No luck, my husband tried, better, but not quite what I wanted. The bees, like the
little birds, are just too fast. I will keep trying because they are such a part of summer here.
Our home grown tomatoes are starting to ripen. They have the best flavor. We have two different types, one bush of cherry tomatoes and one of Tommytoes. The Tommytoes are, I believe, an old fashioned variety. They are larger than the others and full of flavor. The only other food plant we are growing right now is my rosemary. We don't use a lot of rosemary but the plant is lovely and they get quite large here. Lander University has several on campus that are waist height and 3-4 feet around.
Our sweet kitty just jumped up on my lap and started to purr. Guess I will have to type with one hand for a minute. She is very affectionate and silly. She was laying in the bathroom sink waiting for me to get up this
morning so she could have a "sink drink". She will drink from her bowl, but she loves to drink water from the tap.
She jumped down, it is a little warm. Now she is laying on her back with her paws in the air. SILLY!

Road Trip to Grandfather Mountain

Yesterday morning, the weather here was beautiful and my Sweet Heart and I were in an outdoor mood. Since I am off work for the weekend and don't have any schoolwork due till Monday, we decided to go check out Grandfather Mountain in North Carolina. It is a bit of a drive from here but well worth it. The temperature up there was perfect and a light breeze was blowing.

It is a good thing my camera is digital. I took 112 photos! Yes, I know, that is overboard. The beauty of it is, I can load them onto my computer and look at them on the bigger screen before I have to decide if I want to keep them or not. It was difficult to decide which to share on the blog. I will scrapbook some too.

The first is the trail on the way to the swinging bridge. It looks much more difficult here than it really is. We saw people of all ages and sizes on the trail. If you wish you can drive to the top and then go on the bridge. We like the hike. The second and third are similar, I had a hard time deciding, so you get both. The third is the bridge. I am a little afraid of heights so it took bravery to get me out there. My Sweet Heart held on to me all the way.

Breakfast is ready, more later.

A squirrel from Savannah and a visitor at home

Good Morning! It has been a busy week. We went to Savannah GA over the weekend. This squirrely guy lives in a park across from the Unitarian Universalist Church. Usually the photos I post here are from my home area, this guy was just too cute to pass up. You just know he is getting ready to say something interesting.
I took several photos of him and my husband took this one. He is a good deal taller than I am so was able to get closer. (Not as close as the picture looks, I have a great camera.) I took a lot of flower photos. The weather was perfect for walking.
It seems so odd to travel without the children. I keep expecting to meet up with them. I don't feel old enough to have adult children. At the same time, it feels like we are on a date. My Hubby is a lot of fun to spend time with.

Now this turtle guy was a visitor at our place. I was about to turn in to our driveway after work and I saw what looked like a big rock in the road. Sure enough, a turtle. I put the flashers on the truck, (dirt road, not used much) and went to get the camera and my hubby. After we both admired the fellow and I took several photos, we put him off the road safely, back by our well. He did not stick around the next day, but we enjoyed his visit all the same.
Breakfast is about ready, more next week or sooner.

More lizards, the project and an organized forest

I have photos of two more lizards, one I am certain is different, he looks absolutely prehistoric. The other may just be a smaller version of the one I already posted. I will post the prehistoric guy. He is cute and a little shy. They are remarkably tame, they will usually let me get within a few feet before they run off. With my wonderful little camera, that is close enough.

We spent the morning working on the project again on Thursday. The wallpaper manufacturer recommends putting down primer over the old paint. I am getting excited, can't wait to see the finished project. My Hubby painted the window and door frames while I was at work.

I have been taking lots of photos for scrapbook page two of the project. I will post a link to my gallery on scrapbooks etc. as soon as I figure out how to do it.

The last photo is one that strikes me as a little odd, it is an organized forest. The trees were planted as a commercial crop. It is pretty but creepy at the same time. Have a great weekend.

Sunday Morning

I have gotten a little behind with this, I can't believe it has been 6 days already. To make up for it, I will post extra pictures. We went camping again last night. I didn't take the camera because of the heat. Our high temps are in the 90's right now and that is not good for batteries. We had a lovely evening and slept well.






This morning when we got home, I was greeted by the most lovely and intense scent. My magnolia tree is going nuts. It is covered with blossoms.



The first photo is a bud, I call them cups because I love to stick my nose in and just drink in the scent. This one is
about the same size as my tea mug. You have to do this
cautiously as we share our home with a hive of wild bees.






I will admit to being afraid of bees, but we have come to
to an understanding, I leave them alone and they leave me alone. We thought about having them removed but apparently, bees are in danger from some sort of mite. Our wild bees are doing well so far and we have been advised to leave them alone. I am still afraid of them, but I like having them around. I like the sound they make when they all hum together. I am even getting quite brave with the camera, although they are apparently camera shy. I had to take several photos to get this one.


I was sitting on the porch with a cup of tea and enjoying the early morning concert from the bees and the birds, when I spotted another visitor. This little guy currently lives in a planter full marigolds on my porch steps. He yawned and posed so sweetly for me. He doesn't make any noise when he blows up his neck sack, I think it is some kind of mating ritual, sort of like putting on a tie.




The last photo is him on the rim of his home. With that, I will sign off for now. My sweetheart says pancakes are ready!

"restorative"

These are tiny little flowers we found on our walk yesterday. No, I didn't pick it, the wind was blowing so my husband held it still for me. No walk today, we spent the day at the bookstore. Well the afternoon anyway. We went to Michael's first. We got some foam core board and painting supplies for our room project. I am really enjoying the work. The paint looks great, now we are waiting for the wall paper.
At the book store, (Borders in Augusta) we drank coffee and I did my homework. It is a nice environment for it. I saw a book that said something in the title about making your house "restorative." I really like that thought, not just restoring your house, but being restored by your home. Sometimes when I have a rough day just coming up the walk to the steps makes me feel better.

Almost forgot to mention, we found a bunch more ripe berries yesterday. We brought them home and had them with our dinner. They were wonderful.

My children are calling and emailing on a semi-regular basis so I am dealing with their absence ok. I miss them a lot. They called tonight and it was so good to hear their voices. Dinner is ready, so off I go.