Garden/Rain/Drought

Second picking of Zucchini and Crook Neck Yellow Squash.

Sunrise in the garden and a row of white sweet corn with a row of Zucchini plants next to it..the corn is now 6 ft. tall.

Three rows of Blue Lake Bush Green Beans and to the right two rows of Red Watermelons and just to the left, a row of Onions...note I had to leave some grasses and weeds between the rows to hold the soil while were were experiencing torrential Spring rains.( each row is 150 ft. long)

A row of staked and caged Big Boy Tomato plants(15), next to it, a row of Bell Peppers(36), next to that, a row of Yellow Sweetcorn(coming along after the second planting due to getting flooded out by too much rain).

Finally, a row of Indian Corn, this is the third time I planted it this year due to too much rain, finally it grows.

One of the Red Watermelon plants that is now growing after the third planting. There are two rows of Red Watermelon plants each 150 ft. long....On the far left side of the garden I have two rows of Orange Watermelons, also growing after the third planting.

Poor Gourds plants...this is the third time I planted them and they are just now sprouting, I have my doubts as to getting much of a harvest from them this year as only half of what I planted for the third time have sprouted and now we are having drought again as you can see by the cracked and dry soil around the plants even with hand watering them.

Sunrise over the newly cut and baled hay field next to my garden, the hayfield is about 35 acres.

Flowers around the cabin, amazing growth on the Cosmos and Impatient's, due to watering nearly every day by me.

Some Pink and White Yarrow growing in our flower beds.

Close up of some of the Pink Yarrow

This is a Trumpet Vine or Bush around our Propane tank in our yard, wonderful colorful blooms, the Humming Birds just love it and House Finches nest in it.

A close up of some blooms of the Trumpet Vine.

I keep up the struggle here with the garden and flowers because drought or no drought, I love to plant and grows things, it gives me a chance to be one with Nature and I must say...maybe I DO have a Green Thumb.. lol

Storms/Clouds/Sunset/Amazement

June 21,2009, another day with evening thunderstorms,as the storm started to pass I noticed the most unusual clouds and clouds patterns as the sun started to set and develop into an amazing sunset.

I went in and got the camera to record the awesome sight to share with you my readers. I will let the photographs tell the story..as usual you may click on the photographs to enlarge and get a life sized view.

Passing storm clouds to the North West.

Clouds to the West.

More clouds to the West.

Clouds to the South West.

More to the South West

South West

South West

Clouds in the West

Flute Making/"Birds"

I am again making some Flutes, 11 more to be exact, 5 Aromatic Red Cedar and 6 Black Walnut Flutes.

I started hand carving the Blocks(also called "Birds"), which goes on top of the flute and channels the air from the slow air chamber to blow across the sounding board hole, each Block("Bird") has a small channel cut in on the under side to pick up air and channel it forward over the forward hole cut into the sound chamber .

Most often craftsmen make the Block in the shape of an Animal or Bird, thus the reason most times the Block is referred to as a "Bird".

I started carving the Blocks ("Birds") using Aromatic Red Cedar and carved the 4 pictured above, and finished the 5 th one today...each taking about a day or two to hand carve, depending on the amount of detail involved.

Below I am picturing all 5 now completed Blocks ("Birds").

Click on each to enlarge for a better detailed view.

A friend who is of the Crane Clan (Native American) asked me a short time ago if I could do a Crane.....of course loving a challenge..I decided to do one and here it is.

This is an Eagle Head I carved for a Block("Bird").



This is a Buffalo (American Bison) I carved.

My version of a Howling Wolf.

In keeping with loving a challenge ,I carved this Symbolic Bear with an inlaid Heart Line of Turquoise, which I cut and inlaid and then ground down flush with the Cedar wood and then polished, it has the Turquoise Heart Line on both sides.

All the carvings have both sides carved as identically as possible, then they are sealed with Danish Oil Finish and given a coat or two of Paste Wax.

I have the Eleven Flute Blanks (2 inches Square by 24-28 1/2 inches long) all ready to rout out the Sound Chambers and Slow Air Chambers,which will be a One Inch Bore, I will then drill the fingering holes in the proper places and tune the flute and shape it and then seal it with Danish Oil finish(several coats) and then give them a few coats of Johnsons Paste Wax and buff to a nice soft glow to bring out the beauty of the wood used.

When I finish a flute or two I will post photographs of them for you to follow the progress of the 11 flutes I am making.

Garden Visitors and Lizzards

It is amazing the number of visitors we have to our garden,Coyotes,Bees,Butterfly's ,an occasional Groundhog,Rabbits, and yes, even an occasional human...lol.

First photograph is of a very pretty Butterfly I saw flitting from one wildflower to another and just had to take it's picture...if you click on any of the photographs it will enlarge for a more personal and better view.

A close up of this wonderful Butterfly.

A Bee visiting a Dandelion bloom.

One of the Lizards that visit our garden here...I call him "Big Daddy" and he is rather friendly and allows me to get quite close.

This Lizard is one of the several young ones that frequent the pallets that I have stacked at the center portion of the garden for stacking the Gourds on to dry after harvest.

Wonderful Wild Daisy's that grow all around the garden, some of which I have transplanted in our flower beds.

Beautiful Pink Day Lilly's in our flower bed.

Close up of one of the Pink Day Lilly's.

Some Pink Roses that I plan on getting a start of to plant over in the newest flower bed that I made this year, they are at the border of our property and the neighbors property, and they gave me permission to get a start from it.

I never cease to be amazed at the wonders that Creator gives us to see and enjoy.

Bald Rock Falls

There is a place nearby where we live that the locals call "Bald Rock Falls" because of the huge bald rocks, and a sometimes waterfalls that comes down the rocks when there has been enough rain to make it run down the rocks, it starts from the very top, "waaaaaay" up there,and cascades down the rocks and then drains into a small stream at the bottom and goes under the road through a culvert to the other side of the road and down the mountain.

The source of the water is from a spring at the top of the mountain.

Click on the photographs to enlarge for a better view.

This is a photograph of the cascading water coming down the rocks.

All around the base of the waterfall and beside the road there are wonderful wildflowers.

A close up photograph of some of the beautiful Wildflowers.

Garden Mountain Views

This is the stairs to the garden up behind our cabin, it is so steep I had to cut into the bank and place cement blocks to make steps to get up there as it was too slippery when wet, and I am getting old too...lol. I placed in 14 steps to make it easier to get up there.

Just a partial view of the garden showing Beans,Onions.

Another view of the garden showing Beans,Onions,Tomato's,Bell Peppers,and some of the cucumbers.(also the neighbors cabin behind us).

It is a pleasant view from up in the garden at the surrounding mountains.

Another view from the garden and the mountain vistas.

This is just a small portion of the garden as it is about 3/4 of an acre.

As usual you can click on the photographs to enlarge for a better view.

Living On The Divide

Today I will take you on a short tour of our little part of Paradise here in the Western Mountains of North Carolina, we live right on top of the Eastern Continental Divide, although at a lower elevation than most spots on the Divide, we are at 2236 Ft. Elevation and the Garden behind the cabin is up a steep bank and somewhat higher than the Cabin.

The photograph above is of our log cabin here.

A view of our "Circle Garden" of flowers, consisting of a variety of flowers.

A view of our newly expanded flower bed along the side of the cabin.

Another photograph showing some of the tall Cosmos flowers and some of the 10 flats of Impatient's that I planted,also some Day Lilly's, and some Iris and ferns.

A view of the flower bed from up on the hill behind the cabin.

Now don't laugh...I am experimenting with growing some tomato's in hanging pots and hung them from the eaves of the cabin.

Another view of the wonderful and colorful flowers we have planted along the side of the cabin.

Aren't the Cosmos flowers tall and delicate.

A lonely Chinese Day Lilly tucked beneath the Trumpet vine bush that surrounds the Propane tank.

Close up of the Chinese Day Lilly....beautiful isn't she?