Welcome to JOYFUL REFLECTIONS. Also welcome to MARCH!!!! My header picture this month is a photo I took of the pretty Crocus blooms in our yard... The Crocuses and Daffodils are the first signs of spring here in Tennessee. I am definitely ready for SPRING...

Monday, August 27, 2018

ROSES and COOLER WEATHER Go Together

A Very Happy Lady enjoying our COOL Weather early one morning 
Hi There from WONDERFUL Tennessee.   We have had some cooler, less humid and AWESOME weather the past few days...  The picture above was taken one early morning when George and I were enjoying some special time on our deck...  The temperature that morning was about 57 degrees. That is why I was dressed in my sweats and even had a blanket, some hot tea,  and my Sweetheart to keep me warm!!!!!    Gotta Love It!!!!!!

I had been contemplating as to what to write for this week's blog post...  There were lots of possibilities  (Mammoth Cave Trip,  Pisgah Inn Trip,  and more Day Lilies)...  I just couldn't come up with one that I wanted to do...  SO---what did I do instead????????   I went outside  and 'walked-the-yard'.... WOW---we have had a burst of color and our Roses are showing off all of their beauty.   (I am sure that the Roses enjoyed the cooler weather also!!!!)

SO-------my blog post this week is all about our ROSES....   I took ALL of these pictures on 8/25/18...  Hope you enjoy the burst of colors today!!!!  Some are still in bud form;  some are partially open;  some are almost finished blooming.  But---I hope you enjoy each and every one of them.



BRIGADOON Rose 8/25/18



LOVE AND PEACE  Rose 8/25/18



SEDONA Rose 8/25/18



PERFECT MOMENT  Rose 8/25/18



SOFT WHISPER Rose  8/25/18



ROYAL WELCOME Rose 8/25/18



SOMETHING SPECIAL  Rose 8/25/18



TIFFANY Rose 8/25/18



ALEC'S RED Rose 8/25/18



ST. PATRICK'S  Rose 8/25/18  (This yellow rose does have a GREEN tint--so the name is appropriate!)



TROPICANA Rose  8/25/18



BEWITCHED  Rose 8/25/18



DOUBLE DELIGHT  Rose 8/25/18  (always a favorite of ours)
The Day Lilies are all gone  (until they bloom again in the Fall) ---so now the ROSES are showing off,  don't you think?    Do you have a favorite from this group????

Have an awesome week, my Friends.  And remember to take time to "smell the roses"....

Hugs,

Monday, August 20, 2018

DayLilies in our Yard --Part I, Summer of 2018

Day Lily Bed---6/25/18
Dear Friends,   I've talked briefly about how pretty the Day Lilies in our yard have been this Summer...  I think they have been prettier (and many more of them) than previous years...  I actually have two more blog posts besides this one ready to share sometime with you.   AND these 3  posts only feature about 42 of our 70+ varieties located throughout our yard.  I had to pick and choose which ones to share --and that was hard since they all are so pretty.

The picture above show what one of our Day Lily beds looked like on 6/25/18...   Hope you enjoy seeing all of the ones I have chosen to feature today.


Blushing Summer Valentine Day Lily --6/8/18



Paper Butterfly Day Lily ---6/11/18



Custard Candy Day Lily---6/13/18



Bahama Butterscotch  Day Lilies ---6/15/18



Dancing Shiva Day Lily---6/15/18



Strawberry Candy Day Lilies---6/16/18



Fooled Me Day Lily ---6/16/18



South Seas Day Lily --6/16/18



Persian Market Day Lily ---6/16/18



Wineberry Candy Day Lilies---6/17/18



Indian Giver  Day Lilies ---6/18/18  (one of my favorites)



Lavender Vista Day Lily---6/20/18



Frankly Scarlet Day Lilies ---6/20/18



Eye Yi Yi Day Lily---6/21/18
As you can tell,   this group represents some of our JUNE DAY LILIES.... We order our Day Lilies from Oakes Daylilies right here in TN...  AND--we only buy re-bloomers  (which bloom again in Fall).  They are all perennials --so they come back again,  year after year!   Click HERE to check out Oakes  Daylilies!

Hope you enjoyed seeing these..  I love seeing them in big groups --but I also love to feature them individually so that you can see the details...They are all different --one from another,  but so pretty... Do you have a favorite from this group?

Have a wonderful week.
Hugs,

Monday, August 13, 2018

Birthday Trip to the PISGAH INN in North Carolina

Two people very happy to be here  (August 6-9, 2018)
Dear Friends,   It is hard to describe in words how much I (we) loved our little trip last week...In order to celebrate my 76th birthday,  my adorable husband,  George,   took me back to one of my favorite get-aways,  the Pisgah Inn --on the Blue Ridge Parkway,  about 25 miles southwest of Asheville,  NC.  This will be our 3rd visit here  --and we already have one scheduled for next year.

For four days,   we not only enjoyed just being at the Inn,  but we also enjoyed traveling on the Blue Ridge Parkway,   doing a little hiking,  checking out waterfalls,   eating plenty of great food at the inn restaurant (including Blackberry Cobbler with Ice Cream;  Oink Oink!!!! ha),   driving across the Cherohala Skyway,  checking out the Newfound Gap area of our Smoky Mountains (on the way home)----AND   visiting  Biltmore where we enjoyed seeing the Chihuly Glass Sculptures...  I have so many pictures and so many possible blog posts...

BUT--today,  I'll begin by showing you a little from the PISGAH INN...  (If you want more information about the inn,  click HERE.)    If you are ever looking for a wonderful and peaceful place to visit  (especially in the summer --if you are looking for some cooler weather),  AND if you love being in the mountains--then this is the place for you!

Hope you enjoy the pictures.  First of all,  I'll tell you where we were!!!!!!   Sit back and enjoy!


Look careful below the arrow --and you'll see PISGAH INN!!!!!   Do you see us --way up there????  The elevation up there is about 5700 feet...   AND --it was so COOL  (in the 60's-70's)  for August which I loved!!!!!



I took these pictures with my long lens from another overlook along the Blue Ridge Parkway!!!!   Now --you can see us a little better!



Another Overlook  along the parkway;   You can see us even better!!!  



AND ---here's one even closer!!!!   Our room was in the building you can see on the right.  We were on the top floor near  the middle.  There are at least 2 more buildings to the right of ours not visible in this picture.  



Our room was in this building  (Building 2)



The front of our building;  I took this picture from the front of our room late in the afternoon on August 6...  I love seeing the sun peaking through the trees.



The grounds at Pisgah Inn are so pretty...   (Glad the deer haven't eaten their Hosta)



Talk about peaceful!!!!  Get a cold drink (or some hot tea) --and sit outside and enjoy the gorgeous view!!!



Look at the mountain views we had from our room (balcony) ---or from the rocking chairs in the picture above.



We saw so many beautiful WILDFLOWERS this week.  I took this picture from our balcony!!



They recently built this terrific platform near the restaurant  --where people could sit or stand and enjoy the views.



Here's George doing what we both did all week---taking a picture!!!!  This was from our table in the restaurant  one cool morning.  NOTE that we wore our sweatshirts several times during the week, especially in the mornings!!!!! 



My photo of the view from the table at the restaurant that morning;   Isn't it amazing????



Our Balcony  ---as we were taking pictures of a beautiful SUNRISE;  We got up about 6:30 and enjoyed the sunrise all three mornings.



A Panorama of our SUNRISE  which I took with my iPhone on August 7, 2018



We enjoyed seeing the fog in the mountains below us...   This was taken one morning at sunrise...



Even though we couldn't see the SUNSET from our room ---we enjoyed seeing a beautiful sky as the sun set in the west.



A VERY VERY happy lady --just enjoying the views and glad to be there...
WELL my Friends,   I could go on and on and on  ---but this will give you a taste of beautiful Pisgah Inn...  We dodged the rain most all week --but never had much at all where we were...  Seeing rain all around us made for some beautiful pictures....    SO---be ready for some more another time!!!!

Thanks to all of you for the wonderful birthday wishes,  and for your thoughts about my health situation.   I had a wonderful week ---and even though I am now 'slower than Christmas',  we did do some hiking  and I did good!!!!   I have the most awesome husband in the entire world.   He is so helpful and so caring...   I am one lucky lucky woman.

Hugs,