I was taking a walk around the pond one morning, and I saw this fabulous hedge of giant holly bushes.  Well, growing up the trunk of this particular holly bush is Poison ivy (my favorite subject for blogs.)  I told you I can spot it 100 yards away at 45 mph, NO, really.  I have an eye for the stuff.  

 

Look in the middle of the picture and you can see poison ivy showing its fall color.  The leaves turn yellow and red, then fall off.  The Urushiol is still there, on the vines, so be careful.  You need to know where it is, especially in your yard, so you don't touch it, even in the winter.  Urushiol is an oil on all surfaces of poison ivy:  leaves, stems, roots, and causes a dermatitis reaction in most people.  Trust me on that, I am an expert at poison ivy related dermatitis.  That's why I want you to be able to identify it, so you can avoid it.

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

 

 

While we were pruning Elaine's Fatsia, we kept seeing these little frogs.  They were all over the bushes in her garden.  Touch your index finger to your thumb:  that's how big they are.  SO stinkin' cute.  

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

I hope you remembered to fall back an hour to Eastern Standard Time.  

 

This picture has nothing to do with that, but it is a pretty picture, and I love the rainbow.

 

 

HAPPY FALL Y'ALL!!!

 

This is the patio just below the pot full of parsley.  See the baby parsley coming up in the cracks?  It does the same thing in my garden.  In the second year it goes to seed, and those seeds fall off, and start new baby parsley plants.  

 

Grow parsley;  it's very fun:  it attracts black swallowtail butterflies to your garden, it regrows itself, and it is great in the kitchen.  Win/win/win.

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

I love this picture.  Linda grows parsley to support her black swallowtail population.  As you can see, they love her parsley.  We are hoping that there is enough for them to eat until they cocoon.  

 

 

FINGERS CROSSED!!!

 

I was in Manteo this year in June, and my Waterlily friend took this picture. I remember a dear old friend, Tommy Tillett, talking about the sign that read "Manteo to Murphy 563 miles."  There was also one in Murphy that read "Murphy to Manteo 563 miles."  Well, the sign has changed a bit, but you get the drift.  

 

Next time you are on 64 coming back from Chattanooga, or the Ocoee:  after you enter North Carolina, look for the sign.  Manteo 563.  I don't know why this tickles me, but it does.

 

HAPPY FALL Y'ALL!!!

 

Another beautiful morning in the Outer Banks.  Well, not exactly the Outer Banks;  I saw this sunrise over the Currituck Sound, near my friends' house in Waterlily.  If you enlarge the picture, you can see the Currituck Lighthouse in Corolla.

 

To get to the Outer Banks, you have to go over the Wright Memorial Bridge.  If you travel north, you get to Duck, then Corolla, where the Currituck light is, and then Corova, where the wild horses are.  Farther north you are in Virginia.  If you travel south, you get to Kitty Hawk, Kill Devil Hills, and Nags Head.  From Nags Head you can go west on 64 and get to Manteo, where there is a sign.  Hey, maybe I'll show you that tomorrow.

 

I'm still here in Virginia Beach, for a few more days.  

 

HAPPY FALL!!!

 

 

 

I also visited my friend in Waterlily, and went for a walk every morning.  The sun was just coming up this morning, and the sky was so blue.  I could see the Currituck Lighthouse in Corolla across the Sound.  It's on that strip of dark land, just below the clouds.  I also saw an osprey on her nest, but she flew before I could get her picture.  

 

I thought you might like to see another beautiful part of North Carolina, the Outer Banks.

 

HAPPY TRAVELS!!!

 

And while I was taking the picture of the egret, this Great Blue Heron was watching me, or maybe watching us both.  Maybe it was just looking for a good fishing hole.  I love it.

 

 

HAPPY, HAPPY!!!

 

I am here in Virginia Beach, and every morning I walk up and down the pier.  At one end is this beautiful golf course, and at the other end is the marina for our condo community.  It is a lovely walk, and I get to see lots of birds.  This egret was fishing just across the way, and didn't mind my being close.  I guess he knew that I wasn't a threat.

 

I love seeing these huge, beautiful water birds.

 

 

HAPPY FALL Y'ALL!!!