We had another wonderful weekend in the North Carolina mountains starting on Thursday. The weather was perfect- warm and sunny during the day and cool at night and in the early morning.We took several of our usual rides over the mountain and through the Christmas tree farms (with permission.) Here is the bridge over the creek at Grizzly Glenn's, where we saw the little fawn last weekend.
It is high summer in the mountains, with explosions of color and flowers everywhere you look.
Here is my personal contribution to the colorful flora and fauna. I planted three mums last fall in eight inch pots. They are now big, fat, towering bushes. I also put in some zinnias and marigold seeds and stuck in some impatiens and ferns when the mums were still dormant, and they are totally dominated now by the mums. Do you see Maggy greeting you at the back door?
Speaking of back doors, look what was lurking between the back steps. This is an insect called a "walking stick," hard to spot due to their great camouflage. This one appears to have lost a leg. I wish he had been there munching insects two weeks ago- I was pulling out the grass behind the steps and got stung by a wasp.
Although it mostly looks and feels like summer, there are some changes coming on: look at the red maple leaves below our cabin near the pond.
And these are at the edge of the woods in my back yard.
These wild-looking fuchsia seed pods are from a native magnolia next to the cabin. They look like they belong in the rain forest.
Our plans for Saturday were supposed to include a pig-picking at the home of our college friends, Tom and Vickie in West Jefferson. We ended up not going, because my brother-in-law Kenny and his brother Ricky decided this was the day to build a dock on the pond next to our driveway. Poor Charlie spent the afternoon standing in cold mountain water holding the posts. They had a brilliant idea to use the pressure washer wand to drill down into the silt at the bottom of the pond to sink the posts. It worked!
Once the posts sank in a couple of feet, Ricky hammered them in a little deeper with a sledge hammer. Now we have a solid dock for fishing, sunning, or just climbing out of the pond without sinking in the muck.
The rope across the middle of the picture is where they have hung a deer feeder. It is filled with fish food and is timed to go off twice a day. We stocked the pond with baby bream, river bass, catfish, and two koi. The fish now follow us around as we walk around the pond, hoping for a handout of fish food.
Of course, Charlie was hoping to capture a photo of a big trophy buck, but if there was one around, he was camera-shy. Except, for some reason, we think one of these might be a boy!
It is high summer in the mountains, with explosions of color and flowers everywhere you look.
Here is my personal contribution to the colorful flora and fauna. I planted three mums last fall in eight inch pots. They are now big, fat, towering bushes. I also put in some zinnias and marigold seeds and stuck in some impatiens and ferns when the mums were still dormant, and they are totally dominated now by the mums. Do you see Maggy greeting you at the back door?Speaking of back doors, look what was lurking between the back steps. This is an insect called a "walking stick," hard to spot due to their great camouflage. This one appears to have lost a leg. I wish he had been there munching insects two weeks ago- I was pulling out the grass behind the steps and got stung by a wasp.
Although it mostly looks and feels like summer, there are some changes coming on: look at the red maple leaves below our cabin near the pond.
And these are at the edge of the woods in my back yard.These wild-looking fuchsia seed pods are from a native magnolia next to the cabin. They look like they belong in the rain forest.
Once the posts sank in a couple of feet, Ricky hammered them in a little deeper with a sledge hammer. Now we have a solid dock for fishing, sunning, or just climbing out of the pond without sinking in the muck.The rope across the middle of the picture is where they have hung a deer feeder. It is filled with fish food and is timed to go off twice a day. We stocked the pond with baby bream, river bass, catfish, and two koi. The fish now follow us around as we walk around the pond, hoping for a handout of fish food.Speaking of deer feeders, Charlie put one up near the stealth camera that he installed last weekend. Friday morning we checked it and were thrilled to find 68 pictures of deer, squirrels, and raccoons enjoying the free corn. We checked it again Sunday, and found 175 pictures, mostly of does and spotted fawns.
It is pretty cool, because at night the camera takes infrared pictures. It also tells the time and date, and records the temperature.
It is pretty cool, because at night the camera takes infrared pictures. It also tells the time and date, and records the temperature. Of course, Charlie was hoping to capture a photo of a big trophy buck, but if there was one around, he was camera-shy. Except, for some reason, we think one of these might be a boy!
That's it for this week's edition of mountain fun. We are probably staying home for Labor Day weekend to get ready for some remodeling at home, so these pics will have to last me a while!
3 comments:
I don't know how you make yourself leave there.
Those are lovely and funny (it must be a boy) pictures. That's entertainment I think I'd like to have.
"for some reason, we think one of these might be a boy!"
You crack me up, Mom. Good stuff!
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