Christmastime came and went....

I think the holidays come and go quicker each year. I hardly know where the time went! It's been a  different kind of year, and I can't say I'm sorry to see it go. Some years are just like that, I guess. I didn't get the Chex Mix made, or the Cheese Straws. But I still have a week before returning to work, so I hope to get myself in gear and accomplish SOMETHING! I hope you have had a lovely Christmas. The New Year is just around the corner! I can't wait!

November

What a strange month November has been! Record breaking cold, then a week later, record breaking warmth! Crazy!  We had a lovely rainy day on Sunday, with a steady drizzle and even some thunder now and then. Seems like forever since we've had a good rain, months and months! We just missed a snow event, the cold was only a few hours away from the rain.

Thanksgiving is fast approaching, and I am ready and willing. Grocery shopping today so I'm all prepared. Can't wait to have those aromas spreading through the house. I love the smell of the onions and celery sauteing and pies cooking and turkey smoking! I figured out long ago to enjoy the preparations, because the actual eating is over in less than an hour! We are not a family that lingers over the table, so I try to make the leading-up-to a fun and enjoyable time. Of course we start the day off with the Macy's Parade! I love the marching bands and balloons. So fun!

Hope your week is going to be a good one! Thanks so much for stopping by!

Sweet Autumn

Isn't it just the most delightful time of year?! I so love the changing leaves and temperatures. I love the low light and the misty mornings and the garden quietly going to sleep. I'm inspired! I want to craft something or cook something or sew something. I've actually done none of these things, brah! I really don't know how people work and get stuff done. I tend to expend all my energies from 7:00 to 3:00 and then come home and vegitate until 9:00.  I miss my needlework (the year long Christmas at Hawk Run Hollow) which requires very little energy but gives lots of satisfaction. I have plans to make a linen table runner and really need to get-with-it because I want it for Thanksgiving. I have the fabric, now I just need the Can Do attitude. I did play a tennis match yesterday and win! Great big Whoop on that!  Wonderful, beautiful November! Your days are lovingly enjoyed and you know it's just a hop, skip and a jump to December - the really sweetest month!

I hope you're having a great Sunday, thanks so much for stopping by!

Autumn Time

I'm welcoming autumn with open arms, the cooler temps this week have been such a delight.  I see next week's calendar shows some 80's...sigh.  We have not had a pretty fall, not yet. I always think our color comes in October, but in truth it is November that our golds and reds begin to paint our hardwoods.

A little changing up around here. I've tried to get something on the mantel that I like, but haven't found it yet. Perhaps this weekend will dawn with some inspiration. I brought out mom's pine cone wreath. It must be about 35-40 years old. It's little cone leaves are fragile and I try to be gentle with it when I remove it from storage and hang it. It's just so special to me.

September and October are busy months, with birthdays and a fun day trip. For the last few years I've gotten a day or two off in October and we use it to visit the mountains, all of us together, laughing and enjoying some much needed family time. We hit the gold rush town of Dahlonega, quaint and pretty in the North Georgia mountains. It's a whirlwind of a trip, but the memories last us until the next year!

Nature wise, it's been pretty quiet around here lately. None of the pretty fungus or mushrooms. We haven't had our rain yet, so I'm thinking we'll get them soon enough. The geese haven't been doing their autumn flights. So strange to not see them taking up their V and testing their fortitude.  I guess the geese know we are having a mild fall, with cold temperatures not really expected until January.
I hope you are having a lovely autumn and Friday! Thanks so much for stopping by!

Abandoned but not Forgot

Overgrown.

Sitting silent.

Something pretty still lingers.

The path I could extend into the old shade garden.

Below: Remnants of the once pretty shade garden. Still had it's shape, it just needed to have a little time spent clipping and such.. All gone now

I'm blessed/cursed with a large yard. When I first started gardening (over 20 years ago), I had a shade garden on one side of the yard and a somewhat sunny garden on the other side. The shade garden had a huge Rhododendron and hostas and lots of pretty native plants I moved from my woods. It was very pretty, but eventually it was left on it's own to survive, which it did quite well. Unfortunately, last year we had to have our drain field redug, and in the process my shade garden was demolished. I came home from work with not a stick standing and tons of red clay exposed , giving me heart palpatations.  I simply didn't have the energy to do anything and there it's sat for almost a year. Weeds growing and sapplings, a pretty, but running amok, groundcover. So overwhelming. I still don't know what to do. They didn't smooth the soil so it's uneven ground with large rocks here and there. I'm thinking this fall we'll just put all the leaves over there, hoping to keep the weeds at bay and maybe during the winter I'll have some doable ideas.  One thing bouncing around in my mind is a fire pit. I could continue the gravel over there and create a circular sitting area with a fire pit in the middle. I could get my young and strong men to flatten out the area and in the Spring when we get another load of gravel for the garden, and  apply some there too.  What do you think?

The Lake

That top photo was one of the prettiest pictures I ever took. I love everything about it. But it hurts my heart to see what's become of that beautiful lake. I know it will be back one day, but now it is a sea of green grass. It looks very much like a low land swamp. I guess even the way it is now has it's own beauty. They drained the lake so people could fix whatever they needed to fix around their edge, but when they started to fill it back up they realized there was a problem and had to stop. Now it's just sitting there. I go over that bridge 3 times a week at least and I've not seen anything being done. I hope they start mending whatever needs to be mended soon!

This lake is on the way to my father's house. It's a beautiful drive, even though it's dead in the center of "town". But it is so beautifully planted for all seasons. It's where I go out on the golf cart and enjoy the Cherry trees in Spring, and smell an unknown vine in fall that is sweet as honey. Get movin' Peachtree City!!!

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you've got a great weekend planned!

Summer Garden

 June

July

July is here! I'm having a love/hate relationship with my garden right now. The Mondardo bloomed beautifully, and for a very long time. Once it's blooms were spent I chopped it all back, which left just a bunch of sticks. It had covered a rather large area, so now there is a pretty big bald spot. I stuck an impatience in a pot there, but I miss the impact of all that Monardo!

I have loved the gravel. I had one bad run of lots of rain and the grass came up heavy. I finally sprayed with Round Up and have been able to stay on top of it. I am on a heavily shaded lot, and I am surprised at how many sticks and leaves fall every! single! day! You don't realize it unless you have to go out and pick them all up, (oh my aching back!).

I really hate the urn planting (the tall one in the garden). The flowers are just too small, and they're mostly white. I had a caladium in there too, but it was not growing so I removed it and put it in a pot. I also have Bacopa in it, and it's not doing much either. I wanted to plant Dichondra, like I had last year, but I got such a late start this year and I missed out. Darn! This will be all for the garden this year. I didn't plant many annuals and the ones I did plant didn't do anything.  Now I'm already looking forward to fall and tulip planting for next Spring! I can't wait to see the pretty blooms surrounded by the pea gravel instead of red mud! 

Thanks so much for stopping by and looking at this photo heavy post! I hope you've had a great Thursday.

Making the Most of Summer Days

Finally! Out for Summer Break, and I am trying to make the most of my time. Previous summers have been pretty much spent sitting in a chair looking at what everyone else is doing (fb, blogs, tv). This summer I am determined to have a productive summer. "Productive" meaning out of the chair. Another difference this summer is that we joined the local gym. I've enjoyed swimming and exercising on the machines, and playing tennis on the many tennis courts. The heat of summer has arrived, making an early start necessary for the tennis. The unhurried days allow leisurely breakfasts, especially with all the beautiful berries available now. Goodness! Already a week down! Only 4 more to go. It's amazing how fast the time will fly!

I'm also in a sewing mood. I started the Farmer Wife Quilt for my daughter and it is quite the project - a little more involved than I like, so I'm not sure if I'll do all of the blocks. I may just choose the easiest ones and do them several times. I need 50, I think, (they are 6 inch blocks). I've got about 10 made, so still a ways to go. I would like to complete the blocks by the time I have to return to school in late July, and have the quilt completed by the first cool fall day. That doesn't allow much sittin' time!

I hope you're having a great Thursday, thanks so much for stopping by!