Pretties in our Yard 10/16/16

Our Home on 10/16/16;  The pink dogwood in front (on left) is doing great --since it gets water from our sprinkler... We are also trying to keep the grass as green as possible in front.

Before we left for a short trip to the Smokies and Cherohala (pictures to come) this past week,  I took some pictures around our yard (10/16/16)  to share with you today... With the drought,  our colors in this area are not as good as they usually are (lots of brown and dead leaves)---but we do have some pretty things blooming to show you.  Hope you enjoy!!!!  You can click on them to see enlargements.

I love watching the DOGWOOD change colors in Fall.  The leaves will eventually be a dark burgundy color.  

APRICOT NECTAR ROSE  (Our Roses have done great thanks to all of the attention and watering which George gives them.)

From our deck,  we enjoy seeing the colors change along the GOLF COURSE Fairway.

I love our MAPLE Tree in Fall.  I think Maples are some of the prettiest trees in Autumn.

Maple Leaves --up close and personal;  So many pretty colors!

CLARENCE IRIS  blooming in our yard;  I love our Re-Blooming Irises when they bloom again in Fall.

The AUTUMN JOY SEDUM is now a RUST color... (Remember that these start out white,  then turn pink,  then a brilliant red --and finally a rust color.)

Another picture of our home on October 16, 2016

DOLLY PARTON ROSE

Another picture showing our pretty PINK DOGWOOD in Fall

My son and daughter-in-law (Jeff and Dawn) gave me this gorgeous hanging basket for Mother's Day ---and we have watered it almost daily to keep it alive... Isn't it pretty?

LEMON REFLECTION ROSE

A NEW IRIS in our yard this year;  This one is named LEMON DUET.  Isn't it pretty?

Finally,  here's a close-up picture of the front of our home  all decorated for Fall!!!!

Hope you enjoyed seeing some pictures of our little home on October 16, 2016...  We love living in this area of Tennessee ---and as much as we love to travel,  it's ALWAYS nice to come back home!

I will share pictures from our two October trips soon...

Hugs and Blessings,

Things I LOVE about AUTUMN

I love all of the COLORED LEAVES of FALL.

I did a blog post on this topic several years ago ---and it's surprising how similar my choices are,  even now!!!!!   I challenge you to do a blog post (or Facebook post) talking about some of your favorite things about Fall!!!!!  Hope you enjoy my choices ---and I'll bet that some of you would choose some of the same ones!!!!!  NOTE:  Some of the pictures are from the internet --and some are my pictures!!!!

It's FOOTBALL time in TENNESSEE.  Oh--how I love Football in the Fall!!!

I love sunrises and sunsets year-round --but the SUNSETS in FALL are very special.  

I love homemade CHILI in Autumn.

I love decorating the yard in Autumn.  

Oh how I love HoneyCrisp Apples in Autumn.  (However,  they are SO expensive this year --so we haven't eaten many... Sniff Sniff.)

Meet Mr. Gobble,  our Havest TURKEY... He smiles while sitting on our dining room table until Thanksgiving Day,  when he stops smiling and then cries and cries since we are eating his brother for dinner!!!!!! ha ha 

Oh how I love hiking/walking on the crunchy leaves in Autumn.

Here's a closeup of TOBY,  our front porch decoration.   Toby says HELLO to you. 

All of my family/friends who know me well know how much I love the RED trees in Autumn... I enjoy all of the Fall Colors ---but RED is my favorite.

YES---I LOVE raking and blowing leaves in Autumn...  Hard to believe,  isn't it?  It's good exercise for this ole woman---and for a few minutes after finishing,  I actually see some results... ha ha  (Now--don't ask me if I enjoy picking up nuts/acorns in our yard in Fall.....  I do not.  ha ha )

I love my little Harvest Quilt... It was meant to be a wall hanging --but I use it on my dining room table.  

Not only do I love Apples in Fall--but I also love HOT APPLE CIDER. 

Meet  Penny and Patrick,  my little Twin Pumpkins.  They protect my fireplace in Autumn (as you will see in another picture)!!!

Oh how I love PUMPKIN FUDGE in Fall... BUT--as most of you know,  I seem to like anything made with Pumpkin.  George and I enjoy Pumpkin Pancakes almost every week.... YUM.

One of the BEST things about AUTUMN to me is COOLER temperatures,  sweatshirts,  and FIRES in our FIREPLACE..... How awesome is this...

AND---my favorite thing during ALL SEASONS  is being with the Love of my Life,  George.  We love just being together --but in Autumn,  we enjoy doing some traveling to see the gorgeous Fall Colors.  This picture was taken in 2013 at the Peaks of Otter,  Virginia.

Well--- I'm sure I could go on and on listing what I love about Fall/Autumn.  Our Roses are still gorgeous and the Autumn Joy Sedum is putting on a show --along with the Vinca.... It is hard for me to choose a favorite season --but overall,  Fall is definitely a favorite...  (Summer is my least-favorite--especially this past Summer when it was miserably hot and dry here.)

I'll bet you have some other favorites of Fall depending upon your interests.  Some of you  creative people probably love the Fall Craft Shows.  IF you have kids around,  you probably love Halloween...  There's just so much to do in Autumn..... Great Season.

Hugs and Blessings,

The GOOD, The Not-So-BAD, and definitely The UGLY

The GOOD:  Our Front Yard:  (10/3/16)

My sweet hubby posted the picture above recently on Facebook.  By the looks of this picture,  one would never know that we were in a HORRIBLE DROUGHT here... You know that I have mentioned it MANY times since June...  For 'yard workers' like us (who love our flower, shrubs, plants, etc),  this has been hard...  It has even been harder due to the unusually HOT summer temperatures we have had...Also, financially,  it has about killed us--with very high water bills the past couple of months... AND--there's no end in sight for us since we are now in the 'dry season'.... BUT --we have tried to save as much as we could afford.

We are watering what we can (and our front yard truly isn't bad at all)... George keeps the roses watered --so they are fine.  The front yard grass and plants are okay since they do get some water.  The biggest problems are the BIG shade trees,  shrubs --such as our Rhododendrons,  Azaleas,  and Forsythia,  and grass--everything except the front yard.... Even the English Ivy (which usually does fine in dry conditions) is struggling in sunny areas of our yard.   AND---if you want to laugh,  even the WEEDS (which usually thrive in ALL conditions) are struggling!!!! ha

But---it's not all DOOM and GLOOM... There's a lot to be thankful for.  I'm thankful today that the weather is now a little cooler --which helps tremendously...  AND--I'm thankful that we DO have the extra money to water the yard as much as possible...   I'm thankful that we are not in a hurricane zone --since I feel so sorry for people who lost lives and whose property was damaged due to another Mother Nature situation...Prayers for all of them....  After seeing what has happened on the East Coast,  I have no right to be complaining about this!   I tell myself this over and over.

Today---I put together a post so that you could see our yard in October...  Hope you enjoy the pictures.... Click on them for enlargements.

The Not-So-BAD:  We do have a little color on some of the trees... Hope we get lots more color --and have a pretty FALL here.  (10/7/16)

The UGLY:  Our sweet little Forsythia Bush (even though we do water it some) is really struggling.  We bought that bush about 4 years ago when it was tiny.  It grew and this past spring,  it bloomed and was so happy.  NOT sure of its future... Sniff Sniff..  (10/9/16)

The GOOD:  Cantana IRIS  (10/3/16);   We love having our Re-blooming Irises bloom in the Fall.  We don't have too many so far this Fall --but what we have are pretty.

The Not-So-BAD:   The workers at the Golf Course behind our home are having to work very very hard to keep the fairways and greens in good shape this year.  I'm sure they have spent money above what is in their budget just to keep the course in good shape.  BUT---they have done a great job!  (10/7/16)

The UGLY:  This is our lower side yard.... The Periwinkle has done okay through the drought,  but the GRASS has not.  Hopefully,  the grass will come back when the rains come back!!!!  (10/7/16)

The GOOD:   ALL of our Beautiful ROSES;  This one is St. Patrick's Day...  SO pretty!!!!  (10/3/16)

The Not-So-BAD:  Our pretty VINCA;  George built me a small flowerbed in front of the big Rose Bed--and the Vinca (and our Pansies in Spring) have enjoyed this area.  (10/2/16)

The UGLY:  Our poor little AZALEAS;  We have 4 Azaleas in the backyard  which may not make it.. We also have 3 Rhododendrons --which we are trying hard to save.. Believe it or not,  but this Azalea is getting watered... It just needs DEEP water ---which only comes from lots of RAIN.    (10/7/16)

The GOOD:  A new Iris in our yard this year --and it has bloomed a lot this FALL.  Its name is  "My Friend Jonathan"... (10/3/16)

The Not-So-BAD:   Our Autumn Joy SEDUM has been GREAT for several months.  It started out almost white in color, then changed pink,  and is now a rusty/red....  (10/2/16)

The UGLY:  Our beautiful back yard!!!!!!  YIPES...  (10/7/16)

WELL Friends---that is enough.  You get the idea!!!!  None of the "Not-so-Bad" pictures are bad at all... In fact, they could be in the GOOD category... SO---out of the 12 pictures,  only 4 are what I'd call BAD...  Again I say that we do have so much to be thankful for... Weather is something we all have to contend with  sometimes...  (Remember the horrible Ice Storm we had here a couple of years ago????? Yipes)....  This too shall pass!!!!!

Blessings to all of you.

Hugs,