LILIES in our Yard 2022

Dear Friends,   Hope all of you are well.  Both George and I are doing fairly well now with no major health issues as of today. We are very sad and upset about what is happening in/to our country (inflation,  cost of everything going up up up for all of us,  etc.)... Since we are retired and on a fixed budget,  we have to be more careful with what/how we spend our money. 

Personally, the saddest thing we've gone through this Summer is the fact that the DEER have eaten about 90% of our Day Lilies and Roses in the front yard.  We have lived here since 2002 and have NEVER had problems this bad.  Nothing we spray/dust/use this year has kept them away (like it has in the past).   People have given suggestions to us which we have tried.  NOTHING  has worked! 

I'm not sure what is different this year to cause this --but I will say that the deer are 'protected' here---so our population of deer continues to GROW.  Also,  many new homes are being built in our area --and the deer are losing their 'homes' and eating areas.  They are now going to where they can find food ANYWHERE.  You can thank US for feeding them this year! ha  

George has moved all of the Container Roses from the front to the deck  (we need a bigger deck) --and is now trying to save the Roses in the beds in front. So--we are now trying a new repellent (using water) --and it is working so far.  I'll keep you posted.  It's too late for the Day Lilies this year --but the Roses will come back IF we can keep the deer away...  I'll keep you posted!!!

TODAY though,  I'll show you our beautiful LILIES this year.  (They are on the deck.)  Hope you enjoy seeing them.

Montenegro Lily 6/1/22

Tinos Lilies  6/4/22

Patricia's Pride Lily  6/13/22

Rosella's Dream Lily  6/14/22

Pink Lemonade Lilies  6/14/22  (a favorite among my Facebook friends)

Pink Perfection Lilies  6/24/22   (Our very very tall Lilies; I am looking UP to get this photo!!!)

Frisco Lily 6/24/22  

Muscadet Lily 6/27/22

  

Mt. Cook Lilies 7/4/22

Purple Prince Lily 070422

Dizzy Lilies 7/7/22  (a favorite of mine)

Garden Party Lilies  7/7/22

Stargazer Lilies  7/9/22  (an all-time favorite of mine) 

Casa Blance Lily 7/16/22  (This lily is so unique.  Look carefully at the little white dots in  her. They reminded me of Dotted Swiss... Do you remember that fabric?)

Casa Blanca Lilies 7/16/22

Frisco Lilies 6/16/22

The last 3 Lilies  (Casa Blanca) are the last ones which bloomed this year.  They have been so gorgeous --with about 14 blooms.    Stargazer also had many blooms.  Most of the remainder have had fewer blooms but were equally beautiful.  It is/was a great year for my LILIES. Do you have a favorite in this group??? As you can tell,  I have MANY!!!

Hope you enjoyed the photos and are having an awesome day. As I heard on TV,  if you aren't having a fabulous day, then change it!!!!!!

A big Happy Birthday to my oldest son,  Bert.  I cannot believe that he is 59 today!!!!  How can that be????? ha

Hugs,

Betsy💝💛💚💕

ANNIVERSARY AT PISGAH INN, NC --JUNE 21-24, 2022

Dear Blog Friends,   Hope you had a fantastic 4th of July weekend.  We spent the 4th with some great friends, eating and laughing and enjoying the hot summer day ---while celebrating our country.  

But today,  I am going back a few weeks to share some pictures from our 21st Wedding Anniversary trip to the Pisgah Inn which is along the Blue Ridge Parkway west of Asheville, North Carolina.  We have been to Pisgah for several years at this time. It's a tradition for us which we both love. And this year it was even better since Pisgah Inn sits at an elevation of 5000 feet, and was MUCH cooler than it has been at home this summer.   If you love mountain retreats,  we highly recommend this wonderful place.

I hope you enjoy seeing pictures from our trip.

One June 21st,  we arrived at Pisgah Inn just in time to walk down to this lookout point at the Pisgah Inn Restaurant after having a delicious dinner.

After dinner,   we went back to our room and enjoyed the mountain views from our Balcony.

I see a cute little Smiley Face sitting on the deck, enjoying the marvelous view!

On  June 22,  we headed west on the Blue Ridge Parkway stopping at overlooks along the way.  The higher we got in elevation,  we started seeing the most beautiful  SPRUCE TREES 

George even took a picture of me in front of those Spruce Trees on 6/22/22.  (They smelled so good!!)

I took a picture of George at the sign telling people that they are at the highest elevation (6053 ft) along the entire Blue Ridge Parkway.  (6/22/22)

One of my favorite higher elevation wild shrubs/bushes is the FLAME AZALEAS in bloom this time of year.  I have five favorite high elevation blooms  (Catawba Rhododendrons--purple, Rosebay Rhododendrons--white,  Mountain Laurel,   Flame Azaleas, and the beautiful flowers of the Mountain Ash).  Every year we see some of these beauties in bloom.  This year we missed seeing the Rhododendron and Mountain Ash --but loved seeing the Flame Azaleas and LOTS of Mountain Laurel...GORGEOUS.

Two people in love enjoying the mountain scenery along the Blue Ridge Parkway,  6/22/22.

On our Anniversary,  Jun 23, 2022,  we drove EAST on the Blue Ridge Parkway.  Our first destination that day (after stopping at many overlooks) was CRAGGY GARDENS  (elevation 5500 ft).  The clouds made it look like rain was near --but luckily,  we didn't get any!!!!  What made us very happy about being there this year was the fact that this is an area which is usually very FOGGY...  We were there on a perfect day!!!! Yeah!!!!  (The green plants in the picture are the Mountain Ash.  We missed their big white blooms this year --but if we go back in FALL,  we may see the red berries on those plants... SO pretty!!!!  

Some of the gorgeous MOUNTAIN LAUREL which we saw most everywhere we went this year;  Some of the Laurel is white and some pink.  So pretty... (June 23, 2022)

Picture taken looking northeast from the Craggy Pinnacle,  6/23/22; (I love seeing all of the interesting clouds we saw that day.)

Our next stop on our Anniversary was Mt. Mitchell State Park (a short drive off of the Blue Ridge Parkway)... The elevation at the top of the overlook at Mt. Mitchell is 6684 feet --which makes it the highest peak in North Carolina and east of the Mississippi River in the United States. Here's an interesting bit of information for you:  These big evergreens look a lot like the Spruce Trees found at the highest point along the Parkway.  However, at close observation,  these trees are not Spruce trees but are BALSAMS.  I had to read about the two --and truly,  there are differences... NEAT trivia for you today!!!

After a wonderful day on our Anniversary,  here's what God gave us that evening as we sat on our  balcony back at Pisgah Inn...  Don't we have a marvelous God?

George and I got married at ages 59 ---and as we begin our 22nd year together,  our love for one another just keeps growing and growing.  As I've said many times,  I am one BLESSED woman! 

Well---I'd better stop since I'm already on Picture Overload.  I'm sure I could share about 200 more pictures with you... ha ha...BUT---You might not appreciate that!!!!!!

We did have a marvelous Anniversary ---and I hope and pray that we can celebrate at Pisgah Inn for many more Anniversaries to come!!!!!!

Love you and miss all of you... I wish you would join me on Facebook since I usually post every day there!!!!  

God Bless America!!!

Betsy💝💛💚💕