Around the Yard from 4/4-4/12/2015

George and I 'walk the yard' most every single day this time of year seeing what is NEW.   I went through all of the pictures I took between April 4th  and 12th, and chose  some to share with you today... Hope you enjoy seeing Spring begin and just grow and grow in our area.... This is truly a wonderful time of the year.

This was the time when we had both Daffodils still blooming and Tulips beginning to bloom.  The picture above (taken on 4/8/15)  is our big Rose Bed (without Roses this time of year).  You can see both Daffodils and Tulips in that bed...

George taking a picture of some of our Tulips --taken on 4/4/15

Bleeding Hearts --taken on 4/9/15

A Friend  (thanks, Marcia) gave me this Bleeding Hearts bush two years ago.  It has done GREAT this year ---and I love those little 'hearts'.  (taken on 4/9/15)

This is another gift from friend, Marcia... I LOVE Hostas and have many plants around our yard.  This is definitely one of the prettiest ones!!!!!  (taken on 4/9/15)

Our home on 4/9/15;  You can tell that there were still no leaves on the big shade trees... Things were turning green --and the Daffodils and Tulips were beautiful,  even though the trees made it look 'wintery' still!!!!

Pink Dogwood blooms (taken on 4/10/15);   Dogwoods in our area, due to our icy winter,  did not do as well this year as in most years,  including our dogwoods..   The leaves popped out before there were many blooms.  Because of that, I don't have a picture of our entire dogwood tree.   But---the blooms we did get are pretty,  don't you think?

Another picture looking up at some of our Pink Dogood blooms,  taken on 4/11/15;   When the sun hits the blooms,  the pink almost turns to red... Amazing!

Our Groundcover,  Periwinkle (Vinca Minor);  This is a wonderful ground cover --and the little blue flowers in Spring add so much to our yard!  (taken on 4/11/15)

The bad winter didn't do any damage at all to our REDBUD trees.  I was standing under the tree looking up.  The BEES love that tree. 

One of our REDBUD trees in our yard (taken on 4/11/15);   That is the empty lot in the distance... It is always hard trying to get a good picture of that entire tree --but you get the idea of how large it is and how pretty the blooms were.

The tiny flowerbed beside the house and the sidewalk leading to the backyard;  I have Hostas and Autumn Joy Sedums in this bed. (photo taken on 4/12/15)

In the big Rock Bed (near the lower side of the house and driveway),  the CANDY TUFT and some PINK PHLOX are blooming.   (taken on 4/12/15)

Our Home (on 4/11/15)

I'll close with another picture of our home and front yard.  You won't believe the difference from that day until today.  We now have LEAVES on our big trees, and it looks totally different.   Hip Hip Hooray!!!!!!

Today is my BABY BOY's 44th Birthday... Happy Birthday, Jeff.

Hope you enjoyed seeing EARLY Spring in our yard...

Have a wonderful day and week.
Hugs,

Emoticons

OH---How we LOVE the BEACH

George and I spent last week (May 2-7, 2015)  at our favorite beach area,  Ocean Isle Beach,  North Carolina.  I am a 'mountain-gal'  and love living in  the mountains.  However,  I also LOVE going to the beach once or twice a year --just for my 'beach fix'.

When we can,  we go to Ocean Isle in both December and in May.  Even though it's the same beach and same inn (Islander Inn) and even the same room (we request it),  things are very different in December than they are in May.

In December,  we can enjoy seeing both sunrises and sunsets from our balcony.  Because of the movement of the sun--we cannot see this in May.  BUT---this May we got to see something just as good,  a full moon over the water.

In May,  we take our beach chairs and can sit and enjoy the sunshine.  Obviously,  we cannot do that in December.  However, we can walk (and we do) a lot on the beach both in December and in May.

Most of you know that both George and I LOVE good seafood---and we think that Calabash Seafood (DOCKSIDE RESTAURANT in particular) is the BEST.  SO--I'll admit that another reason we love going to the beach is for the seafood!!!!  But--as I told my Facebook friends last week,  we walk and walk and walk each day --so that we can ENJOY that 'fried' fish without gaining weight... Works for us!

Today,  I am sharing a few pictures from our week at the beach.  Hope you enjoy the photos..  Be sure to click on them for enlargements.  The picture above was taken on 5/3/15 from our balcony ---showing the waves at sunset...

We just HAD to get out and take a walk on the beach the first day we got there (5/3/15).

In the picture above,  George has on his new shirt (which I gave to him --actually to us) for his birthday in March.  The shirt says:  "Money Can't Buy You Happiness,  but it can Buy You CAMERAS, and That's Kind Of the Same Thing"..... Cute, huh---and appropriate?????? ha

Fishing Pier near the Islander Inn (where we stay) ---taken at sunset (5/3/15)

Full Moon over the Water  (How romantic is that!)  --5/3/15

We lucked up that week to be there during the full moon... AND---even luckier was the fact that it rose over the water.  We could see this beauty from our balcony.   WOW!

Look at the reflections in the water --from the pier!  (taken 5/4/15)

Islander Inn,  Ocean Isle,  North Carolina  (5/4/15)

We've talked about the Islander Inn quite a bit through the years.  It is the perfect place to stay IF you want to be RIGHT on the beach.  For a good price (off-season price),  you have a comfy king bed (or two queens),  TV/free wifi,  small fridge, microwave, coffee pot,  etc..... We love it and it's perfect for us!

Clouds and Waves  (5/4/15)

Each day is always different..  Sometimes we have gorgeous blue skies and no clouds;  sometimes we have clouds like this picture;  and sometimes ---we get rain clouds!!!   The same is true of the WIND--sometimes, no wind  and sometimes,  a lot!

Kites ALL around us  (5/5/15)

This was another surprise this year besides the full moon.   A man came and flew his four kites near where we could enjoy them.  This picture was taken from the beach --looking UP at three of the four kites.

We walked the beach on 5/5/15 ---and of course took pictures.. The tide was going out ---so we had LOTS of beach to walk on!

One day George wore his Chicago Cubs shirt ---so on this day (5/5/15),  he had to wear his MICHIGAN Wolverines shirt... He always get comments on his shirts from others.

An Angry Ocean  (5/6/15)

We had fantastic weather this year with no rain at all --until the morning (5/7/15) when we left for home.  BUT---we could tell on the 6th that a storm was coming.  We had already planned (thank goodness) to leave on the 7th ---but a tropical storm hit that area --and they had nothing but clouds and wind and rain for the next several days.  SO-as usual,  we were lucky to have chosen the days we did --since our weather was PERFECT while we were there.  Thanks be to God!

On our last night there,  even though we couldn't see the sun going down,  we enjoyed a fabulous sky AFTER sunset.  Aren't those colors awesome?  (taken on 5/6/15)

Us  at Islander Inn,  Ocean Isle Beach, 5/6/15

We bought these new shirts on our last trip to Amicalola Falls State Park  (Georgia) in April.  I love the color ---so I thought they'd be great to wear while we were at the beach.

I cannot thank those of you who came to my two Tulip blog posts last week,  even though I was on a blog-break and didn't respond to your posts.  That meant SO much to me ---and I'm so glad that you didn't give up on me.  I keep lists (because I'm a 'nut-case') of who visits ---and I was thrilled to note that so many did visit last week.  Thanks from the bottom of my heart!!!!  YOU are special!  I promise to visit your posts this week. Much Love to ALL!

Hope you had a fantastic Mother's Day Weekend... I certainly did!!!
Hugs,

Emoticons