Chores in the sunshine

We have finally had a few days of sunshine! So, hubby and I have been out in the garden planting plus he has been bush hogging while I use the little riding mower. For those of you who don't know what bush hogging is, and believe me, I didn't until I met him, it is an attachment that goes on the tractor to cut really tall grass or an area that needs to be cleared.
My hubby's son is staying with us for a short time; well we were empty nesters for a little while, so when he has some free time in between job hunting I'll get him out there so he can help shovel mulch from the two big loads that we got this spring when the electric crew was going around. I keep saying every year we don't need that big of a garden, but we still continue to do so. Last year no one's garden did well around here or at least not the ones that I heard from. Then before that we would have too much rain at the wrong time or like every where else we had a drought. Maybe this year I can finally buy that canner!
Here are a few pictures from this garden in Germany around the corner from my aunt's house.

Does that not look gorgeous! And the black dirt! I'm jealous, here we have red clay.

Another holiday gone by

There goes another holiday weekend....whoosh! I think time goes by faster when you are older! As kids you never thought much about it except when summer vacation started and ended!!!! It is getting ready to storm here so I'll leave you with a picture of the sunlight in the woods behind the house from the end of another day.

Camping German style

As a child when my father would be stationed somewhere for a year or longer we would go to Germany to visit our relatives. One year we went camping on the North Sea. That was so much fun! Germans love to camp as of course do the Americans so I felt right at home. There is a difference though at least in my family. My father would make roads where there were no roads, and we would be off in the boonies somewhere on the river! In Germany we had these big fancy tents and other people had these campers. What reminded me of all this was when we were on the Rhine River cruise. Far better to look at the picture than for me to tell you.

What a way to camp! With a castle in the background! If any of you are out camping this holiday weekend, Enjoy!

Day trip on the Rhine

One of the very first things hubby and I did when we got to Germany was go on a Rhine River cruise. Crystal and her husband had done it before and said that it was a lot of fun. This was taken from the Rheinstein Castle. It was very early in the morning.

One of the other cruises going by a small village.

This is a shot of the tunnel entrance on the side of the river. Look at the small tower to the side.

A castle on the hillside. I took so many pictures of castles. Hubby was fascinated!

There are a few more, but I'll leave them for another time!

Outdoor cafe

It's the start of a three day weekend. Our forecast here is for on again off again rain. At least we can sleep in a little bit, I don't know about you, but for us when we have the time to sleep in we are wide awake! It is time to get up and do things! I guess the one thing I would really like to do is sit down at a little cafe with a cup of tea in hand and a delicious german pastry!


Hope all of you have a good holiday weekend!

The beauty in an Iris

Here are a few photos taken of some irises while up in the mountains. The great aunt that passed away was a big collector of irises and she gave quite a few of them to me many years back. I love plants that you can share!



The orange one is an iris that my grandmother just bought. At 91 she is still planning next year's flower garden!

Huge bee hive

Here is one of the bee hives that we robbed for the spring. We had a few die last year plus we had one hive swarm about 2 times. One good thing though we were able to make 5 more hives since they were busy making queen cells.

Here is one rose bush that the bees can visit. It is huge! The fragrance is divine, but alas, it only blooms in the spring although the blossoms are there for a good month or so.

The garden calls among other things!

Boy! Has it been busy around here!!! All the plants that I have bought need to go in pots or in the ground. Then we have had on again and off again rain. Last night we got down to 45!!! Now I know that doesn't sound like much to others, but for us this time of year was down right cold! Especially when you have the windows open!!!
I always wait until a little later in May to start planting my garden which is late for around here some people think. Yet you never know what the weather will do. I wish our garden looked as nicely plowed as this one in the mountains...

Ours looks like someone went and dumped a dump truck full of grass seed!! Hubby plowed and tilled, but I think we will have to do it all over again! He talked about getting one of those torches to burn it off, and I am seriously considering it.
Well, while I contemplate my garden here are a few more mountain pictures. Oops, this azalea is from my house. With all the rain this year it was gorgeous!

Memories of special people

Last week was a sad one in my family. My grandmother's sister, my great aunt passed away last Wednesday, and then on Friday the great uncle that we were visiting quite regularly passed away too. He was 93 and she was 89, almost 90. Then my aunt's husband's brother-in-law passed away at work last Saturday from a massive heart attack. He was 58. It is sad that people pass so young. When they are in their late 80's or even early 90's we say that they had a full life. Yet if you think about it they would have loved to have lived longer. They hold a wealth of stories to be told if anyone would take the time to listen. When you are younger you don't want to listen, and then when they are gone you wish you had. One of my German cousins lost both her parents when she was young. She told me the other day that there is so much that she would still like to know and learn. So, when you are running around with a hundred and one things to do, take a moment, if only a moment, and listen to a friend or loved one, young or old, for that moment can become a treasured one...........for both of you.

Sting of a bee

Yesterday evening hubby gets the idea of adding another hive body onto the hive to give them more room. Now I can stand out there helping him wearing a tank top, shorts and flip flops plus no hat. Hubby, well, he has toned down a bit, he will put the hat and a white top on. Before it was the whole outfit! For some reason I did not think they would be too happy doing this when they were coming home from working so hard, and I was right. One stung me on the arm and hubby was stung 3-4 times including one on the neck. Now it has been at least 4 years since I was stung and only because I put his cap on!!! Of course did I mention I also hold the smoker?!!!! This morning hubby looked like he had a fat neck and I had an extra "Popeye" muscle!!!!
Here's a previous picture of him holding one of the bee frames. I'll have to take a picture of the huge hive later before we rob it for spring honey.

Little red car

My uncle has this sitting in his barn. A beautiful 60 something mustang! Ahhhhh. Maybe one day!!!!!

Hummingbirds

I caught a couple of snapshots of this one hummingbird at my uncle's house. They are so amazing!

Birdhouses

I love looking at different birdhouses. Some people have some very unique ones. Another uncle of mine up in N.C. had these in his yard. One he made from a tree that was hollow in the middle.

Sping in the mountains

My parents and I went back up to the North Carolina mountains to see my great uncle. He is back at home now so I thought that I would share the view around his home. This would be peaceful and tranquil to anyone!!!

Dogwoods are still in bloom in the mountains.


Check out the holly tree shape

Front view

You see this view out of the picture window. There are large mountains in the background, but it was a little rainy that day.

Have you ever seen a money plant in bloom? My cousin dug up several of these for me. He said once you have them they will reseed like crazy so you will always have "money"!!!!

A few plants and shrubs in bloom


As kids we use to walk all through this area, but then it was a dirt road. This road goes around the valley, and we used it often in the summer.