Weekend of Camping and Photography

Path through the woods leading to my camp site.

Friday night I spent the night in the woods, by myself except for my dog Duke.  I, the 'fraidy cat.  It was really dark out there.  The bugs were loud, and some lights kept going off -- bright enough to shine through the roof of my tent.  At first I thought it was a plane going overhead, but it was really fast.  Growing up on UFO stories, that was my next fleeting thought.  Yep!  Then I realized it was only lightening bugs, and a lot of them.  Wish I would have thought to try to photograph them.  

Anyway, this was my first experience camping alone, and I wanted to do it somewhere safe. So I asked my parents if I could borrow their woods (unknown to them, if I got scared, I could make a five or ten minute run through the dark to their house!  Except they let me borrow their chuck wagon that has headlights, so the trip wouldn't have been so long or so bad).  Really, I wanted to make sure I was in a semi-familiar area where it would be okay if I forgot something. And yes I forgot something -- my bug spray!  It fell out of my bag in the car, and today I am feeling the after effects.  Ouch!!  I think the next time I go camping I'm going to have to pack an air mattress.  I kept tossing and turning, but I did sleep.

Yes, I really camped here.  By myself.

Camp site in the woods.

My camping buddy, Duke.

One of the benefits of camping at my parents' place is feeling safe to walk through the woods.  There is no chance of getting lost back there.  And although they have seen coyotes, foxes, deer, turkey and bob cats, it's still relatively safe.  Unless you want to count the snakes we've seen (Mom and I killed a big one earlier this year -- I held it down and she killed it).  Hence, my dog/warning system.  Unfortunately, because of my dog there was little chance I would see any wild life, but that can be saved for another time.

Beautiful weed in the woods.  So -- who determines if something is a weed?

Along the edge of the woods.

Tissue thin mushroom in the woods.  Perfectly pleated.

One of the things I enjoy most about my parents' place is being able to take and share photographs.  I can take pictures of the woods, the fields, and the flower beds around the house, as well as the pond and the creek.  The choices are almost limitless.  And early Saturday morning that's just what I did.  You know, I find it hard to understand that some people believe everything happened by chance.  When you are out in nature it's quite obvious that there is a master design going on!  As an amateur photographer, all I do is try and capture what He designed.  

There was a path of morning glories growing in the woods.

Love the design -- perfect star shape.

Morning glories.

In the woods.

Mushrooms growing in the woods.

Fungi growing behind a tree, alongside the road.

Saturday morning I took my grandmother (who will be 85 this fall) for a ride on the four wheeler.  We had to stop for a gaggle of geese crossing the road.  She pointed out the geese on both sides. There were forty or fifty geese spread from the field, across the road and into the neighbor's pond.  My dog soon found the geese, and off they flew.  Too bad they don't come with a warning system to tell you they are about to fly away, I would have loved to have gotten some better pictures!  

My grandmother and I saw this gaggle of geese.  So did my dog...

This is the result.

Thunder storms had been predicted for Friday evening and again Saturday evening.  And although we didn't have any, there was a lot of cloud cover.  Which made for beautiful skies.

Clouds equal a beautiful sky.

My mother is an excellent gardener.  She likes fullness and variety, as evidenced below.  She takes after her grandmother who was also an avid gardener (she always saved strawberries for me).

Lantana, salvia, and roses.

Mom asked if I had any butterfly pictures.  I told her I didn't have many because the butterflies flew away too fast.  She made a suggestion, and this is what followed:

Butterfly in the lantana.

I can't get over the color of these day lilies!  I love them mixed with the mini roses and grasses.  The best part is that when it's time to divide the day lilies, some of them go home with me!

Mom's day lilies, with mini roses and grasses.

My parents know the importance of taking a break every once in a while.  This is one of the shady spots they created by Daddy and my brother's building the arbor and hanging the ceiling fan, and mom's use of plants to make a cool, inviting place to relax.  It was nice to sit here and work on the computer some.

Wonderful place to relax anytime of the day.  Here in the steamy hot South, it's better with the ceiling fan on!

Hope you had a wonderful weekend yourself!

Reese

Weekends in the Country

Before my sons and I moved to town, we had five acres of land in the country. We had a barn, horses, dogs, cats and even donkeys at one time.  A pond was in the front, we had lots of oak trees, plenty of shade, and peace and quiet.  I thought I would live there forever!  Then came divorce, extreme tension between parties, and it was advised by my dad that we move to a safer area, along with a better school system.  What I thought I was giving up, I found was made up in many ways.  I no longer had the sole responsibility of keeping up a large piece of land.  I was able to focus on maintaining a much smaller lot in a subdivision, and have been able to do extensive gardening and landscaping.  What was once a chore has now become a pleasure.  And I still get my jaunts into the country any time I please.  I just get on the Interstate and travel about 30 minutes south to my parents' place.  There they have everything we had, plus more!  I love sharing photos and tales of goings on in the country, and I hope you enjoy them, too.

This past Friday night I spent the night with my grandmother, whose home adjacent to my parents'. Mom called and told me to be up at 7:00 so we could go take pictures. We both woke up late! I couldn't imagine what we were going to photograph so early in the morning, but I was ready before she was. We climbed in her car and set off down the road in search of -- something. She was looking for a field of wild lilys that was growing near the railroad tracks. We never found them, but I found lilys in her garden and in the pastures surrounding the house, which I photographed later in the afternoon. 

This wisteria is only a few years old. But it has grown so well over mom's pergola covering her patio. Wish you could have smelled it this weekend! And the bees -- constantly humming... 

While I was waiting on Mom I took pictures of the sunrise.  There was  a soft glow coming from behind the woods to the east, and I wanted a picture of that with Mom's garden in the front.  I got several, which I might share later.  


I also wandered around the house and took in the sights and smells, especially the smells coming from the wisteria that grows up, on and over the huge pergola over the patio.  There was an intense buzzing going on from the countless bumble bees.  The smell was incredible!  And not only was there beauty from above, the fallen petals on the patio floor were pretty, too.  I picked up a handful to see if there was any scent left to them, thinking if there was they would make a nice potpourri, but the smell was gone.  Every time I walked anywhere close to the wisteria that day the scent was amazing!


Of course I didn't take pictures all day!  By 8:30 after sharing morning coffee with my parents, my Mom and I were out in the yard.  First on the list was a wheelbarrow full of compost.  If you live on a farm you know you can get some really good compost.  Such excellent dirt!  And it's needed in Mom's garden, because she has CLAY, and nothing you want to grow will grow well in clay.

Mom not only likes the traditional flowers you see in a garden, but wild flowers as well. Her garden is not formal, just relaxed and inviting. 

After Mom and I finished the yard chores for the day, I grabbed my camera and wandered around taking pictures.  

Lilies of the field -- doesn't that remind you of verses in the Bible ...(Luke 12:27)?  Mom brought it up, and she's right.  Lilys were  growing in the wooded area of the flower beds, where I took pictures of them nestled against an iron rabbit. Then I walked into the pasture.  I was specifically hoping to get some shots of the horses and ponies in the middle of the lilies, but they wouldn't have  anything to do with it.  So I took shots of what I had.  

I had to keep moving so this little pony would be far enough away to photograph.  
Curious little thing!

I was tired after working all day in the yard with mom, so I just plopped down on the ground and decided to get some ground level shots of the horses and ponies. Quite a different perspective.  The dark pony was inquisitive, probably wondering what I was doing sitting on the ground.  I turned my back to him once to get the above shot of the single lily, and felt something woofing and nibbling on my feet.   

This is Cherokee, mom's horse. She is absolutely beautiful, with a personality to match! 

I'm looking forward to what I might see in the upcoming weeks.  Hope you have an enjoyable and relaxing weekend!

Reese

Come Take a Walk in My Garden...

This past Sunday afternoon I spent an hour or so walking through my yard, enjoying the beautiful  shapes, textures and colors of the fall garden.  Want to see what I found?  Wish you could have been there.  The weather was great!  Here in the South (middle Alabama) the weather is just starting to cool off -- to the upper 70s and lower 80s.

We have a large sycamore tree in the back yard that gives cool shade during the summer.  The leaves have just started to fall.  When the tree is bare of leaves, and if we haven't raked up to that point, the leaves are several inches deep.  Of course that's understandable if you know that each leaf is nearly as large as my two hands put together!

These zinnias have really taken off since the temperatures have tapered off.  During the middle of the summer the were leggy and drying out.  Now they are so perky.  I understand why they are one of my friend's favorite flowers.  As you can see, they grow up through everything!

This tiny plant is called a tickseed and comes back every year.  It's resting beneath the celosia's and cannas.  And that's one of those giant sycamore leaves beside it.

Celosia or cockscomb.  This plant and all it's sisters living in my garden, came from sees given to me by one of our clients at work.  Really, he brought me the flower heads (they're soft and velvety in texture) and these teeny tiny black seeds kept falling off.  When the flower heads started drying out I put them in a bag and shook out the seeds.  That was about four years ago, and now I have so many of the things they've become almost like weeds! This year I let them grow up where they wanted, then moved them. Some of these plants have grown as tall as me this year.  As you'll see later, the bees love them.

Some more zinnias. I thought these had died!

This little plant can be a real pest.  I am constantly pulling it up but this vine spreads like crazy.  It's even climbing my roses and some of my bushes.  My Papa used to call it hummingbird vine.  But it's pretty, and for some reason it reminds me of Christmas.

Here are a couple of pictures of my roses.  These are knockouts.  There's nothing to growing them, except pruning.  One of them is nearly as tall as my outbuilding -- it grew several feet this year.  I'm going to hate pruning it, but if I do the blooms will be all over the place next year.  I have had these four years now, and no problems at all.  One of my favorite things is to go outside and get cuttings for around the house.  Unfortunately these knockouts don't have a fragrance.

 

I couldn't leave out these three beauties!  These are all vinca, and come back every year.  This year I did with them what I did with the celosia, and transplanted them when they were large enough. They have just about taken over my garden, but the color is wonderful!

This year I planted some dahlias.  They make beautiful cut flowers, especially since the flowers are very large and full.  Several in a vase make a stunning arrangement.  I have some on my dinner table right now!

See the bees?  They were humming something fierce Sunday.  They didn't like it when I started cutting some of this celosia for drying.  I was amazed to feel the breeze from their wings when they passed.  I've always thought of bees as being a spring and summer insect, but the mid October weather wasn't holding them back.  There were hundreds of them in the yard.

Finally, one of my favorites, the sage.  This plant came from a cutting from one of my mom's plants a couple of years ago.  Last year we had a couple of dogs running through the yard and I thought they had killed it.  Came back with a vengeance this year.  I have it at the edge of my patio, and when you brush up against it or pinch the leaves, the smell is just heavenly.  And yes, red is one of my favorite colors.

Hope you enjoyed the pictures!  Isn't God's design incredible?

Reese

Flowers from my Garden

Daylilly -- this is a descendant from my great grandmother's garden.

The flowers in these photos remind me of this verse from Psalms:  Psalm 139:14
"I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well." 

Hope you enjoyed these first photos from this year's garden!

Reese