Our Yard ---Then and Now

2006

Most of you know how much George and I LOVE yardwork.  When we bought our home in 2002,  the yard was basically bare (except for grass and some shrubs)--and there were only a few container flowers sitting around in front.   We moved into the house permanently in the summer of 2003 --but George worked fulltime until 2006... SO --most of the major improvements in our yard took place after 2006.  Since that time,  we have worked hard (George --much more than I)---and it's fun to look at the 'then and now' photos....

Today,  I will share some of the 'then and now' photos I have found...  Be sure to click on all of the photos for enlargements.  Above is our front yard as it looked in 2006.  We did have our 3 round flowerbeds built before 2006.  You can see two of them in this photo--but no ROSES yet!!!!

2012

This is what our yard looks like today from a similar angle.  (Picture taken on Monday, 6/4/12);    Doesn't look like the same yard,  does it?   (See George there using the edger?)

2006

Here's another picture taken from 2006.  We did have our flagpole up by then...  And we had done quite a bit of work on the two rock beds and our sidewalk...  But --the yard basically still looked bare!

2010

This picture was taken in 2010 ...  Can you see some differences????? ha...  Lots of work was accomplished between 2008 and now.... YEAH!!

2012

This picture was taken on Sunday, June 10, 2012... Compare it with the two above!!!! Unbelievable!

2008

Here is a picture of our Ivy/Periwinkle side (upper side) of the yard, taken in 2008...  It started out as a rock garden with Autumn Joy Sedum,  Siberian Iris,  Daffodils and Hosta....  Then we started planting some Ivy --and Periwinkle to have a ground cover along that entire area....  See the next picture for what it looks like today.

2012

And here is what that area looks like today!!!  Quite a change, don't you think?   Note that the tree trunk/stump is now gone...  We still have Autumn Joy Sedum,  Siberian Iris and Hosta in that bed ---but the Ivy and Periwinkle have really expanded in two years.  We wanted an area with groundcover (especially in areas which are hard to mow) ---so this has worked out perfectly.   (Picture taken on June 4, 2012)  NOTE:  The lighter green ivy is the new ivy growing now...  It has really taken off this year!

2009

This picture was taken in 2009...   Many of you will remember when George built our 'Road Flowerbed'....    He built it because that was the only really sunny area left in our yard...  In that bed,  he planted more Rose Bushes,  Irises,  Lilies and Daylilies...

2010

Here is what that bed looked like in 2010.  Things were beginning to GROW.....

2012

AND---finally,  here's that flowerbed in 2012. (Picture taken on June 4, 2012);    OH---the joys of gardening!!!!!  YES--it's alot of work,  but we love it...

Hope you enjoyed seeing some of the 'then and now' pictures of our evolving yard!!!!!

Have a wonderful day ---and get outside and play in the dirt... It's just downright healthy and joyful!!!!

Hugs,
Betsy

Hikin' in the RAIN

On May 22nd,   George and I went hiking in the Smokies.   We went on a 4.3 mile hike to Huskey Branch Falls ---near the Elkmont Campground.   I have teased you with a couple of posts from that day.   If you missed the last post,  click HERE to see it.

Today,  I will show you another set of photos from that RAINY day.... We got about a third of the way up the mountain  when the skies opened up...  Luckily,  we did have our nifty rain jackets on --which helped keep 'part' of us dry --including our cameras.   BUT--the bottom half of us got VERY wet ---and muddy!!!!!

However,  we never let a little rain stop us from hiking...  (Sometimes,  it seems as if rain follows us around when we are hiking!!!! ha)   We kept on walking --and even though we were EXTREMELY wet,  we enjoyed our day...  As you can imagine,  I turn into a little child when I can splash around in the mud puddles!!!!!!

WELL---here are more of our photos.  Above is a picture of the gorgeous Little River as the rain began to come down hard.... It was hard pulling the cameras out of our jackets and clicking a picture quickly --so that the camera could go back into the jacket...

Thought you might want to see a picture of our path that day... This is a great hike since we do go up in elevation --but it's gradual!!!!!!   The path follows the Little River --as we hike up the mountain.

George took this picture of me on the path...  I'm glad this was not a 'cold' rain...  AND--we did have a little protection under the trees along the way.

Here's another of my "Swirling Water" photos... I really love seeing the water pour down that mountain in all sorts of directions...   The farther one hikes up that mountain,  the larger the boulders in the river are... SO GORGEOUS---even in the rain!!!!

I love this picture of George.  He's still smiling even though he looks like a drowned rat!!!!  He wanted to take pictures ---but as long as it was raining hard,  he kept his camera hidden.

Thanks to a good blog friend,  we now know that camera sleeves can be ordered to keep a camera dry in this kind of weather.    We have already checked them out ---and I'm sure they will be ordered soon!!!!!!

I must share one more of George's 'silky' water photos ---which he was able to take before the rain got heavy.

We finally made it to Huskey Branch Falls---and the rain quit for a few minutes for us to take some photos... In fact,  George was able to climb up to the side of the falls to get this great picture of the top which cannot be seen from the trail.  Isn't this a beautiful waterfall in the mountains--even on a RAINY day???

Here is a picture I took of the waterfall as it traveled on down the mountain.  I took this picture from the path, whereas George took the one above near the top of this part...  Like I said,  Huskey Branch Falls is a beautiful little waterfall.

Finally,  since the rain had stopped (temporarily) ---we were able to get some pictures of us at Huskey Branch Falls  with our tripod....   You can see how wet our jackets are---but they did keep us fairly dry---on TOP!!!!!

I have one (maybe two) more sets of pictures to share from this hike---but hope you enjoyed seeing a couple of crazy OLD people ---out playing in the rain!!!!   Can you hear us singing:  "Singin' (Hikin') in the Rain" ??????   OR---"Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head..."  SO MUCH FUN!

The hardest part of the entire trip was going home in the car with wet pants and wet shoes and socks...  We had to have the heater on in the car --in order to keep from chilling.. It felt so good to get home and take off those wet clothes!!!!

Have a wonderful weekend and I'll see you on Monday.
Hugs,
Betsy