Good Things Happened: Summer

Just a quick post.  I snapped this photo on Sunday morning when the sun was shining down so blindingly, that I just pointed my phone and shot.  That plant seems to like its spot.

Hope you all are well!

So long Summer! - Part 2

It's been such a busy week that summer departed on Wednesday with little fanfare.  See below for more photos that celebrate this past summer:

- I first posted about this garden belonging to my aunt's sister-in-law and brother in July.  There are so many photos of it that I could have posted about it 10 times.  The thing that is so interesting about the gardener - she had never gardened before or done any sort of artwork until later in life, when her talent just emerged.  Those fields you see in the distance belong to a working farmer - strawberries and such.

- I smiled at this sign, leaning against the wall in the potting shed - I don't think she'll ever need it.

- She also creates mosaic art pieces.  This was a vase on the kitchen counter and you can see the mosaic back splash there in the background (click to enlarge.)  She collects old china to make these pieces.

- I titled this photo "A good place to sit" - taken along the river walk trail in Murphy, North Carolina.  There were spots like this every now and then along the trail.

- Here was another good place to sit - from the same walk.  That's a stone that one can perch on.

- And ending with Lake Chatuge on Labor Day weekend - first of September.  I began the last post with a photo from here in May, taken just about a quarter mile to the right.  This one is more somber and serene.  I love the thought of this spot as it says goodbye to all the summer visitors, knowing we'll be back again in the spring.

Have a lovely weekend, my friends!

So long Summer! - Part 1

...aka, photos I haven't posted.  We seem to go straight to summer weather here in the spring, so I include a photo from May here, too.  I always resist hot weather, as much as I know that it's coming, whether I like it or not.  And now I'm missing it already, as it draws to a close.

- Summer always kicks off for me on Memorial Day weekend, when I visit the cabin in western North Carolina for the first time every year.  This is a favorite walking spot (which you've seen many times) - Chatuge Dam in nearby Hiawassee, Georgia, on a perfect morning.

-My glorious flowering plants on the front porch are getting leggy now, but sure were beautiful in June.

- A neighbor's display of patriotism at the condos in July, with an accompanying sunbeam, on a Sunday morning, at the end of my walk.

- My sister spotted the antique porcelain figures in the flower bed in front of a used book store we visited at the end of July.  Click to enlarge if you can.

- And make sure you read that frog sign in the front window of my aunt's foyer at her home in Franklin, North Carolina.  Click to enlarge.  It's cute.  :)

More July, August and September - Part II - on Friday!

Butterfly, bee and magnolias

- A butterfly bush, and its special visitor.

- And their friend, the bee.  So much activity on one bush!

- A nearby magnolia blossom.  Summer in the south.  Lovely.

Tastes of summer, all aired out and winner

- Burgers on the grill and fresh corn. Tastes like summer!

- Sure feels like summer. The southern US had about one week of spring and went straight into summer temperatures. But the air this early morning is cool with a slight breeze blowing. It was a mercifully lower humidity night. My outside air conditioning unit is on the fritz, but with friend Tim to the rescue it should be repaired today. And having my place aired out with all of the windows open didn't hurt a bit.

- The spontaneous applause at the Vacation Bible School dinner when it was announced that a young church member has won three gold medals at the Special Olympics games in San Diego.