Yep, I want to be a cat in this house!!!!   

 

This is Ranger, he is 14 years old, and moves from sunspot to sunspot.  

 

HAPPY KITTY!!!

 

We brought this Lily with us when we moved here 14 years ago.  And it survives to make us smile every year!!!!

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

Just before that rainstorm came through last weekend we saw a most unusual pollen storm. The pines had one last expression for us to enjoy as the wnd came ripping through the ridges.

 

Check out the pollen storm in this picture.

 

How did we know this yellow cloud was from the pines? The one right next to our deck generated a thick cloud when that wind started. Here is the culprit....

 

Mark

 

 

Yesterday I posted a picture of the Borage in bloom, and today it looks like this!!!

 

Funny, the difference just one day makes.  The whole garden seems to be showing this trend.  One day it's little, and the next day...taking off!!!!!  So exciting!!!!!

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!!

 

 

 

Yep, the flowers are really that BLUE!!!!  They look like shooting stars.  Sometimes, it's called starflower.

 

Borage is an edible herb:  both flowers and leaves are edible.  They taste like cucumbers.  We put the flowers in salads, but the leaves are hairy, and feel funky in your mouth.  But...you can eat them and they won't kill you.  (See my article about edible flowers, back in August.)  Just go to Searching the site, and put in edible flowers.

 

Borage grows easily from seeds;  they actually self-seed in the garden.  We keep them in the garden to attract pollinators, and to deter Tomato hornworm.  Works GREAT!!!!  And they're pretty.  

 

We LOVE borage.

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!!

 

This beautiful vine is growing at Nancy and Pete's.  It is Trumpet Honeysuckle, Lonicera sempervirens, also called Coral Honeysuckle.  You can buy it at most garden centers, or you could talk Nancy into a few cuttings; she has lots!!!!  

 

It's related to the familiar Japanese Honeysuckle that we see growing in the wild.  It is almost as vigorous as the wild, but can be trained more easily.  It is beautiful trained on an arbor or trellis. 

 

Best of all, the hummingbirds love it!!!  So do i!!!

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

 

 

Everybody knows ox-eye daisy;  it is so common. It's in the genus Chrysanthemum.

 

They could be called weeds, especially growing in unwanted places, like farmer's fields.  But where they grow in  our neighborhood, we call them wildflowers.

 

I love seeing them all over the hillsides.

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

 

 

 

The fabric is still in the dryer, so I have no picture.  Oh, wait, here it is.....

 

 

Floyd and Lois need our prayers right now.  For health and strength and optimism.  Bonnie bought Texas blue bonnet fabric at the quilt shop, and I'm making a prayer quilt for them.

 

Every minute I spend at the sewing machine making one of these quilts, I try to focus on our friends, and send them good thoughts.  Each quilt takes about 20 hours to complete.  That's a lot of LOVE. 

 

I've sent one to Bill and Carol Starmer, and one to Ken and Amy Cicala.  You can see I've spent a lot of time in prayer.  That's a good thing, but I'd rather be spending this time with these friends having HAPPY HOUR!!!!

 

GET WELL, MY FRIENDS!!!  I love making quilts, but I'd rather do it for happier occasions.

 

HAPPY QUILTING!!!

 

How beautiful is the Mountain Laurel!!!!  Especially NOW!!!

 

Kalmia latifolia.  This is a close-up picture of a single blossom cluster.  To put it in perspective, it is an evergreen shrub between 3 and 15 feet tall, and it blooms all over the bush.  

 

Native to our mountains, it can be seen as far north as Quebec, and as far south as Florida.  It lives in open forests and rocky places.  Since it is an acid-soil lover, it really loves pine forests.  It is somewhat shade tolerant, but blooms better with some sun.  We have lots in our neighborhood.

 

And it's just starting to bloom.  We should see them for the next couple weeks.  You can see them on the Creekside trail, and along the roads.  If you go up to Brasstown Bald, you'll see them everywhere!    

 

It is beautiful, but POISONOUS.  Not that you'd be tempted to eat it, I'm just sayin, so you know.

 

I read an interesting thing today:  when stem-killed by fire or drought, it can regrow vigorously.  That's great news, since so much was killed by our 2016 drought.  Let's keep an eye out for new growth.

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

I hope you have checked out the Titmouse nest.  There are four hungry babies, and one very busy Momma bird!!!!!

 

Here's the link:   https://wbu-yorktown.click2stream.com/

 

Go look before they fledge!!  It could be soon.

 

LOVE THE BIRDS!!!