Triumph!

At our friends place in North Carolina the pond has a (very tippy) inflatable canoe to ride around in. So I did - managing to not tip it over as I got into it!

Country living!

We watched the peacock walk up the road again only this time there were two lambs watching it also!  Country living at its finest.

Bird Time

When we arrived home all of the nectar feeders were empty and had been for some time. The hummingbirds I was not worried about as I knew from past experience that they would return quickly and they did. I've had no experience with the Bullock's Oriole so was not sure whether they would return or not - well they did!  Thank you!
Here's an unknown bird that tried to use the oriole feeder, then jumped onto the railing and look askance at me as I took it's photo through the window!  Then a female oriole!
Moments of beauty!

Flowers everywhere!

When we arrived home from North Carolina and went out the next morning to see how our plants were doing we were greeted by an amazing plethora of flowers...day lilies, wild flowers, roses, and many smaller plants just flowering their hearts out! What a welcome home!

Wild flowers to the north of us - we never thought anything would grow there!  Surprise!

Diana brought about 150 day lilies from our Kensington gardens and they are doing well here!

Shimmer - underneath the Bristlecone Pine

Looking Back

Going through travel photos I found a few more to share - sculpture at a gallery by Grove Park Inn, the art deco county building in Asheville, windows on McIntyre Books, and a field of Adirondacks at Fearrington Village.

Monday Musings

Last night there were a few fireflies lighting up so I captured their light in a time exposure - doesn't look like fireflies but more like the Cheshire cat who has become invisible except for his grin and an eye!!
We had lunch at Fearrington Village just down the way a bit...it is an old favorite of all of ours and we visited it fairly often when we lived here. They may be best known for the 'Beltie' a cow with black at both ends and white stripe around the middle. This time they had 'Beltie goats"!!
Very relaxing there and we wound up in our usual place, McIntyre Books which is a wondrous bookstore.

Fireflies emulate the cheshire cat!

Slim in the bowl again!

Heaven in a flower.

Our lunch spot!

The inspiration for the sign above!

Two Carolina natives - the Cardinal and the Carolina Wren - made themselves known as I wandered through the grounds.

Walking the property at SouthWind Farms

I've been walking the property here and capturing some of the beauty that I see.  Uncaptured are the fireflies that come out each evening to fascinate us with their lighting display. The dragonflies love the small insects and the butterfly followed me around till I could photograph it!

The red-topped building is the classroom - a timber frame building that I assisted in building many years ago. It faces this 50 acre meadow with a pond.

Morning at the hacienda.

The next four were taken during a walk around the pond just below the hacienda.

You have to wait most of the day for the sun to hit these gorgeous day lilies.

Our friends school.

This wonderful old International dump truck was of great use during the construction phase. Now it mostly sits in the field dreaming of past experiences.

Miscellany from SouthWind Farm

We're enjoying a relaxing time here on the 150+ acres of SouthWind Farm with our friends.  Here's some photos of some miscellaneous items....

A flower from my friend Carey for Father's Day...

Passenger on the boat ride I took in the pond

Flowers at the marketplace

Southwind Farm

Back on the farm Carey rushed us out last night to see the moon, Jupiter and Venus shown below.  Their cat, Slim, sleeps in the bowl - like many other cats I have known. And this dragonfly was an eye catcher.
Enjoy!

A few random shots

Here's some random shots from Grove Park Inn.

Logo for The Spa at Grove Park Inn.

Looking up at the Inn from the Spa entrance.

Hanging out

We spent the day hanging out at the Grove Park Spa after a scrumptious breakfast that lasted until dinner. At the spa we were in and out of the water and sauna's and steam rooms and cold pool and whatever until I needed to nap.
Tonight dinner in Asheville with friends of Rick and Carey who we are traveling with - good food and good company.  We ate outside and suddenly the street became loud with street musician and protestors and lots of people around.  After dinner a round of good chocolate and then home.  Massage in the morning for me and then back to South Wind Farm for the rest of our trip.

Here's some shots from the day - loving the new pano feature in Lightroom, so easy and quick and saves a lot of photo ops.

Makes you think, right?

a beautiful place.

Spa entrance with waterfalls.

A very cool car!

Rockers at the entrance, we sat in them tonight for a while before coming in.