Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Mid Spring on the Farm


It's been a beautiful spring.  I think the flowers in my garden have
been as pretty as I can ever remember.  The firsts blooms come in 
January, with Camellias in white and pink.  February the Quince 
starts,  but they have all faded away.


March... Brides Vale, Japanese Snowball, Weigela and Azaleas
 are just about done now.



 Roses are blooming and the Rhododendrons,
 Hostas and Lilies  are starting. 




The Korean Dogwood is a show stopper.


and the old Mock Orange 


But, what truly signifies the season,
 is the orange orchard in full blossom.

"Spring on the Farm is Glories"

Tuesday, April 15, 2014

"What A Beautiful Day" on Table Mt.


Tammy Edwards and I hiked Table Mr Sunday, to see the 
Spring wildflowers.  It was my first time to see this annual 
event.  I've been to the top on several occasion but  for 
some reason  never in the springtime.     WOW !

Tammy likes to do photography also and the goal was to 
take photos of what ever caught our eye.  Their are also 
several waterfalls to see this time of year.


It was early morning and not many people about.  Walking atop
the mountain was breath taking.  The green of the grass and 
the blues and yellows of the flowers was almost unreal.  Black cows 
still bedded down, enjoying the morning as much as we were.


The first waterfall we came to, had quite the trail getting into it.
There was a lot of butt sliding, getting to the bottom.
LOL....   "Getting to the Bottom on Our Bottoms"
Just Beautiful!!!   The photo on the right givers you some idea of 
the height .....   see in the top right corner, theirs a men 
and boy standing on the edge, looking over.


After some time well spent at the first fall we headed across the
 top again to the the next. Walking along the cow trails, enjoy 
the beauty of the morning.


Leaving the trail, we cut across a big flat that led us to a good size creek. 
 As we followed the water, Tammy pointed out Salamanders.
That was a first for me also, I had never seen them in the wild before.


It was fun crossing back and forth over the creek and finding 
Salamanders along our way.    


Just where the creek dropped over the edge of the cliff, 
sat this rock and tree.  A man and lady were there taking photos
and told us it was called the "Priest and the Pulpit"


The trail in and out of this water fall was much easier.
So beautiful!  that's Tammy standing to the left.  
not quite as tall as the first falls, but just as impressive.


Heading back to the road, we took our time stopping to take shots 
of flowers, landscape and cows.


There were so many different flowers, these caught my eye by the
waters edge.   The wind was blowing pretty good as we came 
back across the top, so shooting flowers was a little tricky.


Water flowing was sure a wonderful sight, even knowing it 
would be gone in a few weeks.


Tammy had pointed out these little flowers in the rock as we
 started out in the morning, but they were not open yet.  We made 
sure to look for them on the way back and this is what we found.

Had the best day.  The beauty of it all will be gone soon, 
but  Tammy and I are plan more trips for next spring.


Thursday, April 10, 2014

Thursdays Thoughts, April 2014


"Spring"  it takes on a different meaning this year.
Much of the country, can't seem to shake winter and the 
rest never saw it.  At least spring is making a showing.

The rains finally came, filling creeks, but not reservoirs or lakes.
No snow to speak of and no snow pack.  The grass has been growing
 good, but if it doesn't start to rain again, the grass and the state, 
 will be back where it was........ Dry.

The long term forecast shows a chance of rain, "maybe"
at the end of the month, but that doesn't look promising.
The fight over water is starting.  I think Fall is going to be 
the real indicator of how we all make it through this drought.
Lets pray, that the Winter of 2014 is wet.