This and That and the Other Thing

I hope you had a wonderful weekend! It was such lovely weather here the last few days. It's getting hotter, and forecasts say we'll get to around 90 today! But the humidity is bearable, and out here on my back deck, with the umbrella blocking the sun as it goes down in the west, and the fan and mosquito coil keeping the bugs at bay, it's really very nice.

Saturday afternoon and evening were very nice. I just kind of played around in the kitchen, sat out here on the deck and read a bit, and then made our dinner. The London Broil was very good! I was afraid I would burn it before the center got done enough (a little pink in the center) but it ended up really nice. A while after dinner we cut another watermelon for dessert. This time of the year we almost live on watermelon and peaches - we love them both . . . a lot!

Oh, and before I forget, I wanted to share a picture of 'my girls' with you from last Thursday. On Monday - Memorial Day - we noticed Bailey was limping a bit, and when I got to investigating, I found one of her back claws had curved under and was biting into her foot. So, I took her to the vet, and they clipped and filed and clipped and filed some more, and got it short so it wasn't going into her foot any more.

The vet (Dr. Sue) wants me to bring her back in a few weeks so she can work on it some more, and hopefully keep it from curling back up like that again. Anyway, it was bleeding a bit, so they put some gauze on it and wrapped that in that stretchy, stick to itself gauzy stuff in a brilliant neon pink. Dr. Sue said I could take it off in a while, but most likely Bailey would take it off before I would have a chance. But not my little Bailey Sue! Dainty little diva that she is, didn't even attempt to take it off. As a treat, I put both Bailey and Bessie in one of the rockers on the front porch with new rawhide bones and let them sit out there with me for a while, and of course I had to take pictures!

Yesterday (Sunday) we packed up a picnic and hit the road! We wanted to ride up into North Carolina and check out the campground we had planned on spending out week's vacation at beginning 6/13. Trailer Life Directory had given it pretty good ratings, but we were going riding anyway, and decided to go see how it stacked up.

It didn't! It was awful! The campsites were right on top of each other, there was absolutely zero private space or even a place for a canopy and picnic table, nowhere to really walk the dogs, and worst of all, even though I'd told her the size of our camper, the campsite was barely long enough for it, with no space for our truck. In a word, it was a dump!

(Note: I won't tell the name on here, but if you are planning a camping trip to the Blue Ridge Mountains in the western half of NC, e-mail me and I'll tell you the name in private.)

So, we headed out to look for another place to camp - in less than two weeks - in June. We rode and rode and rode! We got on the Blue Ridge Parkway and thought maybe one of the campgrounds right on the parkway would work, but none of the ones we saw had water and electric service, and I can live without all the other frills, but I want my water and electric right at my camper! We ended up going east of Asheville to Mount Mitchell's pinnacle. Mount Mitchell is the highest peak in the eastern United States at just over 6,600 feet. The views from up there were amazing!

On the way to Mount Mitchell, I kept asking hubby if he was sure he wanted to go that far, because it was a really long way. And he kept saying sure, let's go. So we went. We were away from home approximately 13 hours 15 minutes. We drove 475 miles. We got home a little after ten pm, and I for one was exhausted! And in that whole trip, I took 9 pictures! Because we didn't stop anywhere much where I could take pictures.

But the day was a lot of fun, and relaxing for the most part. It's amazing how comfortable it is to be with one you love, and talking when you want to, but being quiet when you don't have anything to say, and just enjoying being together.

This morning we had a Doctor's appointment for my dad, so before I left I looked up on the hill on the 'front 40' and saw this lovely sight . . .

I'm just loving these heavenly blue morning glories!!!

And when I got home this afternoon I got online and found us another place to camp. It's much closer to home, which isn't a bad thing considering the state of mind my dad was in today, and we go a week later than we had planned, but that's just because I'd rather wait a week than share the campground with a Goldwing motorcycle rally - yikes! But it's on a pretty lake where we can take the canoe and paddle to our hearts content, and there's lots to do in the area surrounding it. And a special treat is that they have free WiFi, so I'll be able to take y'all along on the trip to Hiawassee, Georgia!

And that's my few things I wanted to share today. Blessings friends, Becky

Floral Friday - I got good news, and I got bad news . . .

. . . so which do you want to hear first? Oh, let's start with the bad news - after all, there's just a little bit of that, and lots of good news!


The bad news? Well, my pretty sunflowers that were up to about 3 feet or so tall . . . they are now only about six inches tall.





A couple of days ago I caught a squirrel trying to climb one of them, so I'm thinking they had a little 'sunflower climbing party'!





I had two, and both are totally broken and dying. So I guess there won't be any beautiful yellow sunflowers, and no seeds for the birdies (OR the squirrels) this fall. I'm either going to get a trap . . . or a gun. Any suggestions???


Oh well, on to the good news! The goldfinches are back. I don't know where they've been, if they've been nesting or just took a vacation, but I'm so glad they came back where they belong!





All my feathered friends are enjoying the bird bath - even a cardinal and a dove bathing in harmony!





And this pretty fellow watches everything that goes on!





The chocolate mint is growing like gangbusters!




The day lilies are brightening up their corner of the yard.

So are the 'Emerald Mist' roses.

The foxgloves are sending up their buds,

and some are even blooming.

This little beauty is what we (in my family) call 'Mama's Rose' because it's been handed down from my grandmother - my mother's mother. Even my aunt on my dad's side has one, and is so proud of her Mama's Rose, too! The blooms are small and short lived, but are a pretty pale, pale, almost white, pink, and have a sweet scent.

The pink peony is blooming now.

Although the rain hasn't done the blooms any favors - they are a bit washed out.

The clematis that ate the chrysanthemums is doing swimmingly.

And the zinnias that came up volunteer, apparently from seeds from last year's blooms, are really up and at'em!

And before long they will be blooming in their bright colors, attracting more butterflies and bees. And in late summer, the goldfinches just LOVE to eat the zinnia seeds.

The betony is gorgeous in their frilly pinky-purple blooms. The bees and butterflies love them, too.

And the lavender . . . . . ahhhhhhh, the lavender!!!

Do you smell that????? Heavenly!

And for today, this is my pride and joy! The obelisk is the framework for a moonflower, a hyacinth bean, and a heavenly blue morning glory. I have planted the morning glories every year for the last 5-6 years. The first few years, they took over, and bloomed from August until frost in October. The last two years, because of the drought I suppose, they didn't bloom. And they've never bloomed this early. This plant is just full of blooms, and I look forward to a summer of this beautiful blue color in my yard!

Isn't that just gorgeous???

So, while there was some bad news, and I really hate that my sunflowers are gone, I can deal with it and move on, looking forward to a summer of other beautiful bloomers in our yard, here at Camellia Cottage. Blessings, Friends! Becky