We are keeping our fingers crossed:  it might snow tonight.  

 

So we went down and painted over Santa and added the giant snowman hat that Patty made.  

 

If it snows, our snowmen will be there to watch it fall.  If it doesn't, then we still have snowmen.

 

HAPPY WINTER!!!

 

Hoping you all have a happy New Year.  

 

Love, Gerry and Jon

 

Bye bye Mr. Turkey, Hello Santa.

 

This is what we do for fun.  Yesterday afternoon Mike took the turkey parts home, and Jon and I repainted the haybale.  I can't help it;  I wake up in the morning thinking about this stuff:  How to turn a round bale of hay into something to make you smile.

 

It worked too, didn't it.

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

 

 

 

Just to let you know that life here on the mountain is still good.  But I am out of ideas for a blog post.

 

Just give me a little time, and I'll come up with something cheerful to write about.  But for now, I'm going to take a little break.

 

Love to you all;  check back occasionally;  I'll be back!!

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

 

Have you noticed any rhododendrons sporting their flower buds?  These are the flower buds for next spring.  So don't get all busy and prune them.  

 

We lived in a condo community in Virginia Beach, and the grounds crew invariably chose to prune our azaleas and rhododendrons in JULY!!!  The plants had already set their flower buds, so they NEVER got to bloom.  

 

Don't make the same mistake.  The blooms are so beautiful; you don't want to deprive yourself of them.  

 

Go ahead and prune blueberries and fruit trees; they will thank you for doing it now.  But leave the Rhodies alone.  

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

The Bradford pears are somewhere between this and naked.  They are so pretty when they change color, but it doesn't last that long.  

 

This one is just above Al's house on Stonebriar.  Better go see it before it drops all those beautiful leaves.

 

HAPPY FALL Y'ALL!!!

 

When I count my blessings, this is where I start:  with Momma and Daddy.  Then Nanny and BeeBee, then, it goes on for a while.

 

My list of blessings is quite long, but if you are reading this, YOU are probably on that list.  

 

I hope your list of blessings is long too, and you have a very

 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

 

I love the Beech trees.  This one is at Meeks Park, but our neighborhood is full of them too.  

 

Right now, the leaves are a beautiful color between yellow and brown, and they shimmer in the wind.

 

In our area they hold onto their leaves all through the winter, until the new leaves push the old ones out.  That's how you can spot them in the woods in the winter:  deciduous trees with these beautiful brown leaves still attached.  

 

Be on the lookout, there are probably some in your neighborhood too.

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

Clifford's hill sure has changed in the last week.  This is what it looks like now.  A different kind of pretty.  

 

HAPPY FALL Y'ALL!!!

 

What you're seeing is the last of the garden for the summer, except for a little arugula, which will last up til the first frost, which may be tonight.  Everything else is about done for the summer garden.  

 

I did plant some kale for a fall crop; I hope they survive, we'll see.  I also have leeks and garlic that actually like the cold.  

 

And I love that the hickory trees have offered all their leaves for mulch.  

 

OK, that's it for the garden.  Time for all of us to rest.

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!