Bluff Mountain Mud Creek

Up at 5 am to get the dogs walked and fed and on the road by 6:15 for a 3 1/2 hr. drive to Bluff Mountain for our Nature Conservancy hike to see the bogs on the Appalachian Trail.  Unfortunately, got a call about an hour in that it had to be cancelled due to incoming storms.  Now set for May 26.

The peonies are open!

Yesterday, up at 5:30 am to get in line early for the Mud Creek Yard Sale.  Not as many finds as last year, but can't complain.

Love this vintage lantern, it's a keeper!

Coleus waiting to take the place of pansies in my pots.

Sweet Williams in bloom.

Thursday Mindy took me to lunch for my birthday (I know, my bday is December, but this is how it rolls with so much to do and trying to get together) before my haircut at Honey & Salt.  Yummy!

At lunch Mindy told me about the house in town she and a friend are flipping and that all the huge azaleas were dug up and if I wanted some to go get them.

Got 3 huge ones into the back of my car.  Another chore that was not on the list this week, but how could I pass them up?!

I now have them waiting to be planted along my wooded garden path once the rain stops.

So since the hike is cancelled and we are back home, I will continue to brush out the dogs' undercoat.  Princess got a bath yesterday and is blowing her coat all over the house.  Yes, this is only one of many bins of fur I will get off of four dogs.  It takes weeks to get them all brushed out.  Never a minute to spare!

Rose Breasted Grosbeak

Just passing through.  Male Rose Breasted Grosbeak posing for the camera!

A group of deer feasting on kudzu in the pasture.

Indigo Bunting

Look who was at my feeder this morning . . . and was there again this evening!

The Garden Benches

Two very old, very heavy concrete garden benches came with the house and are so heavy that the legs have sunk deep into the soil.

This one is up at the main house in what I now call the wisteria garden.  Behind the bench is covered with small wisteria "bushes" that I am shaping and sculpting and will eventually produce spires of purple come next spring.

Bob unearthed the legs to the bench behind the farmhouse and could barely carry them since they weigh a ton.  Looks like we'll be hiring some high school boys to move these for us up to the house.

I thought there were just cinder blocks under the top seat, but turns out these have roses on the sides as do the ones up at the main house.

The top is still in the bamboo forest and will stay there until we get some help to move it.

That time of year again, the pasture is full of thistles!

With lots of hard work, the azaleas get better each year.  I have removed vines and fed them and transplanted.

Up close, this variety looks like an orchid.

The specialty honeysuckle is coming in strong, just in time for the hummingbirds who arrived just the other evening.

I never was a fan of azaleas, but these old varieties and being such large bushes have made me a fan.  And the smell awesome!

Now that Bob is a traveling attorney, he finds piles of afghans and I'm having trouble finding places to put them!

So this weekend Bob will be in Atlanta at a concert and I will be brushing dogs who are blowing their coats.  The birds love this stuff.  I have nests all over and they all have some dog fur in them.  These wire hangars are placed around the grounds and are being used!