Gorgeous Blooms

The Camelias are blooming in North Carolina.  This one came from a bush in my daughter's backyard.

These orchids were gifts from my daughter's friends to celebrate her birthday.  They were so beautiful, I just had to share them with you.

And last but not least, one of my all-time favorites -- hydrangeas.  These are dried on the bush from last year, but there are tons of buds just waiting to burst open.  I can hardly wait!!

Going to Carolina

In my mind I'm goin' to Carolina 

Can't you see the sunshine 

Can't you just feel the moonshine 

Ain't it just like a friend of mine 

To hit me from behind 

Yes I'm goin' to Carolina in my mind

These words just keep turning in my head after my trip to North Carolina last weekend.  Their spring is definitely ahead of ours.  There were daffodils blooming and wildflowers starting to bloom in the fields.  I even saw a redbud decked out in beautiful pink flowers.  There's something about the spring there that always makes me feel euphoric.  I can't keep my eyes on the road because there are too many things to see -- donkeys, barns, chickens, cotton fields.  I also listened to an audiobook on the way down and became so engrossed that I missed my exit!  Good grief!  


Then of course I had to stop and take some photos of one of my most favorite things in Carolina -- the old farmhouses.  

This house was a real gem.  I imagine you could raise a good sized family here or maybe have a bed and breakfast or just live by yourself and fill it up with gorgeous antiques that you use every day.

You could definitely have some goats and chickens here.  It's already fenced off and has a really nice barn behind the house.

 For some reason, I'm always drawn to the little family cemetery plots that exist on the property behind the barns.  I imagine that it's comforting to have your loved so close.

There are all wonderful little farmhouses that I see every time I drive down there.  I long to live in one of them and imagine myself having sweet iced tea while sitting on my porch on a sultry afternoon.  Or throwing feed out to my chickens as they free range in my yard.  

Here's another sweet farm house that i could totally be happy in.  Notice the wrap around porch fo entertaining and taking off muddy boots.  Notice the tin roofs on all of them just to help you sleep when there's a little rain going on outside.  See the delectable barn in the backyard.  I know that one of these houses or a house like them will someday belong to me.

Here are my donkey friends.  There's somehing very calming about donkeys.  They never seem to be in a hurry.  It seems like they just want you to come visit and hang out with them for a while.  These two never seem to be in a hurry.

I loved this photo just because of the tree line.  Just a simple tree line  separating some fields. 

The photos above are typical Carolina fields that are sprouting wildflowers after they've been mowed down of whatever crop they held.  Some of them were cotton fields.  You can still see the pieces of cotton left behind like snow on the sides of the field.  I think Carolina in the spring is my favorite time of the year.  The air is really sweet.

Happy Birthday

My second oldest celebrated her 38th birthday last week.  I CANNOT BELIEVE she is 38 years old.  I mean, I remember when I was 38.  I remember still feeling like I was 38.  I know I'm not supposed to be shocked at my kids' birthdays, but really. . .I CANNOT BELIEVE she is 38 years old.  That makes me -- ancient!  She's just as beautiful at 38 as she was the day she was born and more accomplished than I was when I was that age.   This is my beautiful girl today.

But this is what I see every time I look at her.  

Why is it she doesn't age for me?  It reminds me of the scene from Father of the Bride when Annie tells George that she met a man and fell in love and she's getting married.  He looks across the table and sees a tiny girl in pigtails.

Happy birthday, baby!  

Mosaic Monday

Linking with Little Red House for Mosaic Monday:

When God Made CatsWhen God made the world, He chose to put animals in it, and decided to give each whatever it wanted. All the animals formed a long line before His throne, and the cat quietly went to the end of the line. To the elephant and the bear He gave strength, to the rabbit and the deer, swiftness; to the owl, the ability to see at night, to the birds and the butterflies, great beauty; to the fox, cunning; to the monkey, intelligence; to the dog, loyalty; to the lion, courage; to the otter, playfulness. And all these were things the animals begged of God. At last he came to the end of the line, and there sat the little cat, waiting patiently. "What will YOU have?" God asked the cat. The cat shrugged modestly. "Oh, whatever scraps you have left over. I don't mind." "But I'm God. I have everything left over." "Then I'll have a little of everything, please." And God gave a great shout of laughter at the cleverness of this small animal, and gave the cat everything she asked for, adding grace and elegance and, only for her, a gentle purr that would always attract humans and assure her a warm and comfortable home. But he took away her false modesty. Lenore Fleischer

Secretariat Revisited

I was SO excited this afternoon.  I got my copy of Secretariat in the mail.  I loved this movie when I saw it at the theater, and now I can watch it any time I want.  Of course, I had to pop it in the DVD player and watch it again.  It made me cry, again.  Of course, we already knew what the outcome was.  He was probably the greatest racehorse of all time.  No horse has matched his speed at the Belmont -- ever.  The bonus of having the DVD is watching the interviews of the people who actually watched him win the Belmont.  They said his conformation was perfection, and that his intelligence was only outmatched by his speed and his love of running. He loved attention and actually puffed up his body and posed for the cameras.  What a horse!


At the very beginning of the movie and again as Secretariat finishes the last of the triple crown races at the Belmont, Diane Lane who plays Penny Tweedy, his owner, recites several lines from the Book of Job, Job 39: 19-24.  I didn't hear these words when I saw the movie at the theater because the movie was so emotional.  I don't know how I missed the quote because it is so absolutely beautiful.  I wanted to share it with all of you:


            Do you give the horse his strength

or clothe his neck with a flowing mane?

Do you make him leap like a locust,

striking terror with his proud snorting?

He paws fiercely, rejoicing in his strength,

and charges into the fray.

He laughs at fear, afraid of nothing;

he does not shy away from the sword.

The quiver rattles against his side,

along with the flashing spear and lance.

In frenzied excitement he eats up the ground;

he cannot stand still when the trumpet sounds.

If you get a chance to see Secretariat, take the time.  You will love it.

Original photo taken by Ken Mist at Kentucky Horse Park

Snow Days

The snow started Tuesday evening.  The ground was lightly covered when I woke up at 4 a.m. on Wednesday but then the freezing rain began.  As the day went on, the temps went up and it rained, sometimes adding little bits of sleet.  About 3 in the afternoon, it started to sleet, small pellets of ice building up on the ground.  

An hour later, it had begun to snow, large soft flakes spilling from the clouds.  It was beautiful!

By 6 p.m., there was a surprising amount of snow on the ground and covering the trees.  It had built up on the crepe myrtle outside my window like frosting dripping on the top of a cake.  

The next morning, the snow had stopped.  What was left behind was a foot of shining winter wonderland white.  I LOVE snow.  Of course I had to go out and shovel out my driveway.  I worked up a sweat and had to take a shower.  Now I'm a little sore and stiff, but I don't mind shoveling.  My theory is that if I had to do it more often, I'd be in much better shape.  This is what it looked like the next morning.

Have I said yet how much I LOVE winter?

Anticipation!

"Anticipation.   Anticipation is making me late.  Is keeping me waiting. . ."  We're due for a snowstorm!  I'm so excited.  They're saying we're due to get 4-6 inches of the white stuff.  This will be the first significant snow we've had this winter, and I'm so anticipatin' it.  I've got my camera charged, the Weather Channel tuned in, my snow shovel fired up (haha), and chicken soup stocked on my shelves.  I know this is premature, but I just had to post some snow photos that I took last year to start the process.  

Can you tell I'm excited?!