One Down, Two to Go

One visitor week down, two more to go.  My dear brother left early this morning after spending the week with us.  He jumped right in (as he is wont to do) and helped Hubby and me get a bunch of chores done.  

His truck was very handy in taking a load of debris down to the transfer station.  For us to take it would have required numerous loads and the dismantling of a large cabinet/bar.  

I actually had a list of things I wanted him to help me with and he obliged.  Got my swing put up at last.  Poor thing has been hauled all over the country.  

Hanging under the deck and outside my sewing studio. 

My Uncle Leonard made porch furniture for many years and this is one of his.  He made it in Alabama, shipped it to me in Las Vegas where it sat in the garage for years.  Then I hauled it to Florida where it got put on the porch of the garden house.  Now, it has moved to Georgia.

Brother and Hubby replaced some rotted boards in the walkway.  

New boards with one coat of stain

Then they tackled the edging for the flower bed on the slope.  It wasn't on the list, but.....

We're expecting our first temps around freezing tonight so I've been busy bringing some of my geraniums inside.  I don't know how they're going to do but we'll see.  There's one plant that will do fine and its special.  Was given to me many years ago by an older dear friend who was moving to Maryland as her health failed.  She has since passed away.  This plant is special to me and is gorgeous, to boot. 

Same plant but taken last year in Florida

It'll live inside now until all danger of frost is gone next spring.  

My salvia is still gorgeous.  The hummingbirds seem to have all gone south.  Haven't seen one since last Monday. 

This salvia is just outside my window and I love to sit here at my desk and watch the hummers enjoy it. 

I'll do my best to be back soon. 

Y'all take care.  

Busy Times Ahead

There's busy times ahead for our household.  

I'm off to a quilting retreat on Wednesday, leaving hubby at home to do his thing.  I'm sure he'll get his housekeeping hat on, too, even though he doesn't have to.  I'll be returning on Sunday and then my brother arrives on Monday.   It's his first time up here so it'll be interesting.  He's been in this area before and likes it.  I sure hope the weather cooperates.  There's been enough rain for a bit. 

Just two days after brother leaves, we have folks from Portland, Oregon arriving.  This will be their first trip to this part of the country and its been way too long since we saw them.  It's gorgeous where they live, of course, but its different here.

And, lastly, a couple of days after they leave, another couple from Florida is scheduled to arrive for a week long stay.  I think I'll be ready for a break by then.  

My perennials are winding down.  It won't be long before we have cold nights.  I'll also be emptying pots from the deck and/or bringing them inside soon, too.  I use clay pots and they can't withstand the thawing and freezing cycle if left outside.  I'll empty what I don't want to bring inside and store them out of the weather until spring.  

A few of my pots

I may not post here frequently, but I want all of you to know that I really do enjoy visiting your blogs and having you visit mine.

There've been a couple of new visitors and I really appreciate them.

Y'all take care. 

At Long Last

I finally got around to having some quilt tops finished up and quilted.    The chickens have been sitting around for several years since a block of the month project with my online quilting buddies. 

I made the top for this next one at my little quilting retreat last year.  It's called Tumbling Charms.   Very easy to do while distracted (like when talking at retreat). 

And this one I started last year while still in the RV and up here looking for houses. 

So, that's three down and a stack still left in the cupboard. 

Y'all take care. 

Perfect Day in the Mountains

Oh, my goodness.  It is the most beautiful day here in the mountains.  About 68 degrees, sunshine, some puffy clouds floating high above and a bit of a breeze.  It's as close to a perfect day as I've ever seen. 

The hummers are still buzzing around, although not as many of them as in the past several weeks.  I've tried and tried to get pictures of them on the salvia but no luck getting anything I'd show to anybody else. 

My new flower beds put in this year have done nicely.  I'm hoping for even better results next year. 

I'm a nut about coneflowers.  They just keep on and on with their loveliness. 

A lot of the flowers have done their deed for this year but there are a few that are still blooming away.

Hubby pulled out the tomato plants this morning.  They produced fine but something just decimated the tomatoes before we could enjoy them.  No horn worm but something would bore a hole in the top of the tomato and there'd do.   I doubt we'll plant any next year.  I'll just devote that space to more flowers!!!

Hope everybody is doing well.  I've been keeping up with you guys but have had a really hard time coming here to post.  Please forgive me. 

Oh, we went over to a neighboring town last night for a songwriters' showcase.  We figured on a two hour show.  Wrong.  By.  A.  Lot.  The music stopped 4 hours after it started.  Poor performers were pooped.  That was our first time at that performance hall and it's a jewel, especially for such a small town.  

We're headed to another small town in the opposite direction next Saturday night to hear a jazz guitarist.  Good stuff. 

Y'all take care. 

Time Flies

Twenty-five years ago today my Daddy died.  I can't believe it has been that long.  Where does the time go? 

Daddy at granddaughter's 3rd birthday

Look at those hands in the picture.  That's my brother leaning on the back of the chair.  I'm amazed at how much their hands look alike.  

The hummingbirds are swirling around like leaves outside.  There must be 10 to 15 of them diving and swooping.  

Keeps me busy refilling feeders.  I don't fill them all the way up so that I can keep them fresh.  The weather is such that the sugar water will mold easily if left in there for more than two or three days.  

Y'all take care.  

There have been feathers and flowers in my life

I've been so remiss about posting.  I've certainly enjoyed everyone else's blogging but I've been missing in action. 

I did make my annual trip to the south Texas coast during the spring bird migration.  It took a while longer to get there because we drove through rain for about 90% of the trip.   I think we had thunderstorms every night of the week we were there and our house was rockin' and rollin'.  Since Hurricane Ike, all houses rebuilt on the Bolivar Peninsula are raised on pilings.    Days included some rain but we were able to be out and about most of the time.

Scissor-tail flycatcher

I did all the driving on this trip as we were on my vehicle, although my buddy Larry would have helped out had I asked.   The three of us have birded together so much that we all know how to move along or linger so that we're all happy.  We did trek through a lot of mud and puddles on some days.  My hiking shoes weren't the waterproof ones so my feet got wet.  I always wear wool socks with those shoes anyway so my feet didn't get cold.

Because I was driving and the drippy woods, I didn't take many pictures. 

Purple Gallinule 

Here on the homefront, I arranged for a local nursery to put in a new flower bed and a new raised bed.  Took for-ev-er to get it all done. 

New perennial bed newly planted

One month later

Of course, it looks differently now.  All in all, I'm pleased with it.  I thought there would be less weeds but I'm finding that we have to crawl up that hill every so often to pull grass or weeds.  Not fun, at least to me. 

The new raised bed at the end of the house is still a work in progress.  I have a few plants waiting to go in here and it'll need mulch once that's done.  

New raised bed

I can see this bed from my sewing room downstairs.  That was a primary reason for having it put in, so that I would be able to see flowers from there.  Although, I can see the other perennial bed through the side window.  I have a bird feeder out there and some days there are so many birds flitting around it looks like yellow snow.  Goldfinches.  And lots of other things too. 

Hope everybody has been well and is having a good summer, even with the weird weather all around. 

Y'all take care. 

Hello and Thanks

I'm still alive and well.  Seems my posts only appear in my head and never on here.  

I'll be back soon to try to catch up.   Thank you to all of you who have hung in with me.  

The view from below (on the walkway downstairs)

My knockouts came roaring back after being pruned severely.  Now, I'm afraid the Japanese Beetles have found them and I'm fighting that.

Y'all take care

A Room With a View

It's that time again and I'm loving my first spring as a resident of the north Georgia mountains. 

View from the front deck/porch

Hubby is suffering from the pollen levels but I'm not having too much trouble with it.  We both agree that its a small price to pay, however, for living in a place we love. 

The azaleas really put on a show.  Too bad the don't last longer. 

The hostas seemed to just burst from the ground. 

Hostas on April 9

Hostas on April 21

With spring comes the migration of little feathered friends, too. 

Flying little pigs 

First Rose Breasted Grosbeak of the season 

We're having a good number of Indigo Buntings but no picture worth sharing yet. 

Yesterday I counted fifteen different species of birds from either my sewing studio or the living room upstairs.  And I wasn't even looking toward the feeders farther out in the yard. 

Y'all take care. 

And here she is.........at last.

Hey, everybody. 

I've been fussing about my landscaping the last few week.  There are things I want done and the folks I've called are s-l-o-o-o-o-ow in getting back to me.  Finally, the nursery guy came today and started on the new raised bed I want.  

Please forgive the pictures.  It was dusk when I took these. 

I'm also going to have creeping phlox put on this bank near the mailbox. 

This'll serve as my before shot.  The hostas there along the wall are coming up nicely.  They were gorgeous last year and I'm hoping they'll be the same this year. 

I had a hard time holding off so long, but over the weekend I finally broke down and planted my garden.  A whole three tomato plants!!! 

They're in a narrow bed right beside where my husband parks his car but they get full sun there. 

We're seeing more buds and some leaves but we're still waiting for the big burst. 

Winter view 

I noticed tonight that the azaleas have buds and will be bursting out in a few days.  There are a few rogue clumps of creeping phlox around the yard and they're looking good. 

I've been sewing a bit but nothing I can show you at the moment.  I've been slow getting back in the groove.  The month of April is a very busy one for me and I'm in and out of town the whole time.  Poor hubby has to stay home.

I'll be doing fun stuff the next while and I'll try my best to take lots of pictures so I can share them with you. 

Y'all take care. 

More Maui

I fell in love with the island of Maui when we were there.  Can't really explain why I like it so much, but I do.  We stayed in a lovely little free standing cottage just about a block and a half from the beach.   We could actually sit on the lanai out back and see the ocean in the distance.  We spent a lot of time out there looking at the birds and whale watching. 

High stress living

You could walk to the beach easily if you didn't want to drag along your chairs and stuff.  As it was, we drove down and parked in a PUBLIC parking lot next to a PUBLIC beach park.  What a surprise that was.   The other lovely surprise was there were trees along the beach and beachwalk.  If you wanted sun you had it.  If you wanted shade, you had that too.  Couldn't ask for better. 

I sat in the shade most of the time and watched the whales.  Never a dull moment for me. 

We took a day to drive the Road to Hana.  The actual distance is something like 60 miles but it took us more than four hours to drive it.  We stopped frequently along the way and due to the curves, we could only travel at maybe 20-25 mph most of the way.  

While there were breathtaking sights along the way as these photos attest, there were also long stretches when you saw only the curves of the road and the dense jungle like foliage on each side.

We did stop for fresh banana bread at one place and it was still warm.  I think that was a highlight of the road trip.  Now that we've made this trek, I don't think it is something I'd repeat.    We left our cottage at 7:30 a.m. and we got back home around 5 p.m.  

We couldn't go to Maui and not take a whale watching trip.  We booked an outing with the Pacific Whale Foundation on a rigid bottomed raft.  The raft held a maximum of 31 people and we were down near water level for the trip.   There were humpback whales everywhere!!  The strait between the islands of Maui, Lanai and Molokai is a primary breeding and calving location for humpbacks.  Thousands of them come there every winter.  In the summer they travel back to Alaska to feed.  They do not feed at all while in the Hawaiian waters.  

Coming back into Lahaina Harbor 

This was our second trip to Hawaii and I loved it.  The trip itself is a real bummer due to the length of it, though.   If you've never been, I'd highly recommend saving the pennies and going there at least once in your life. 

Y'all take care. 

Sun and Surf

I'm back!! 

We were fortunate to spend a couple of weeks in Hawaii and missed the whole winter storm affliction for our area!  We've had a very mild winter, actually, and it was merely a fluke that we were gone when the only bad weather of the winter came to town. 

Instead, we spend a lot of time in the sunshine.  It sure felt funny to put on sandals and capris instead of jeans and sweatshirts.   But, after a day or two it felt just right. 

Hubby in the surf

The first week, we were on the big island of Hawaii and stayed in a condo.  It was nice enough but it did not have air conditioning.  Since it faced due west and the daily temperatures were in the high 80's, it got hot in there every afternoon.  Thankfully, it did cool off at night and we slept with the windows and sliders open every night.  Loved that. 

We had wonderful birds come right to the edge of our patio and I added a couple to my life list. 

Saffron Finch

These guys are truly this bright and there were lots of them around.  I also saw Java Sparrows but could not get a picture of them.    In addition to these two, I saw Pacific Golden Plovers on several occasions. 

Pacific Golden Plover

I also saw Gray Francolins but, again, no pictures.  That made four life birds for me on this trip.

I'll be back with more.   Y'all take care. 

Time is Flying

Where does the time go???  Seems every time I turn around another week has gone by. 

My birding pals, Birdlady and Larry, spent a few days with me.  We had a wonderful time.  Every day was filled with birds.   It was so good to see them.  We wandered all over the place, up mountains and over mountains and over to Tennessee. 

We took a day and went over to Hiawassee National Wildlife Refuge which is northeast of Chattanooga, Tennessee.  There we saw thousands of sandhill cranes.  These are just a few.  

Sandhill Cranes, photo by Larry Goodman

In flight, photo by Larry Goodman

Sandhill crane, photo by Larry Goodman

Both of them were just astonished at the number of birds that come to my feeders every day.  

Mourning Dove, photo by Larry Goodman

Carolina Chickadee, photo by Larry Goodman

White breasted nuthatch, photo by Larry Goodman

Northern Cardinal, photo by Larry Goodman 

Another of our forays was up to Brasstown Bald in search of ruffed grouse.  We hit heavy fog on the way up the hill but punched right through the layer and found bright sunshine up top. 

Sunshine and Ice 

It was bitterly cold due to the brisk wind.  The sun tried valiantly to warm the air but with no success.  The birds had better sense than to be out and about on that morning, so after a short stop, we headed back to the warm car.  

Lovely scene, but brutal

The warm was melting the ice just enough that the brisk wind had the ice coming down constantly. 

I'll be out and about the next couple of weeks, so may not be checking in too often.  Meanwhile, Happy Valentine's Day to all of you. 

Y'all take care.