Tennessee Countryside

Sometimes all you need is a mid-week drive down a country road.

 

 

 

 

 

Timeless Treasures

My grandmother used to spend her down-time embroidering.

Tablecloths, runners, hand towels, and the likes.

It takes a lot of patience to work the needle, especially in fading eye-sight and many times after a long day of work.

I love using these tablecloths when setting the table, they remind me of gentler times, and the love and pride our grandparents took to make the lives of others more uncommon.

 

 

Weaving Their Way

The Morning Glories have finally made an appearance.

This Grandpa Ott variety returns year after year, without any assistance from the gardener.
The vines wrap their tendrils around the weathered-wood fence and grace us with beauty all summer long., the flowers are a sumptuous Royal Blue trumpet with a contrasting purple star.
A Strikingly beautiful combination.

I can't help but smile each time they catch  my eye.

THE MORNING GLORY

Was it worth while to paint so fair

Thy every leaf - to vein with faultless art

Each petal, taking the boon light and air

Of summer so to heart?

To bring thy beauty unto perfect flower,

Then, like a passing fragrance or a smile,

Vanish away, beyond recovery's power -

Was it, frail bloom, worth while?

Thy silence answers: "Life was mine!
And I, who pass without regret or grief,
Have cared the more to make my moment fine,
Because it was so brief.

"In its first radiance I have seen
The sun! - why tarry then till comes the night?
I go my way, content that I have been
Part of the morning light!"

~ Florence Earl Coates ( 1850-1927 )

Seeing Spots

If you are a regular visitor to my blog, undoubtedly you know we share our property with White-tailed deer.

Several years ago I counted a herd of forty, regularly co-existing on our little green space, happily munching away on anything they set their mind to.

Nowadays the numbers are more like seven, three of which are new fawns, a set of twins, and one other.

They visit daily, and live in the surrounding bush and woods, drinking from the birdbaths, and have become quite tame.

I've moaned and carried on about the flowers they eat willy-nilly, but I can't help but smile each time they appear.

 

A Slice Of Sunshine

If you're looking for a quick, unassuming dessert one of my favorites is Frozen Lemonade Pie.....Refreshingly cool, and what could be simpler to make !

Ingredients:

1 deep graham cracker pie crust or two regular sized ones
1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk, chilled
1 6-ounce can of frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed
1 12 ounce container of Cool Whip, thawed
candied lemon peel for garnish (optional)

Preparation:

Beat together condensed milk and lemonade; fold in Cool Whip.
Pour into pie crust. Freeze for at least 3-4 hours until firm.
Enjoy !

Summertime Blues

The Balloon Flowers are gracing us with their prolific blooms.
Also known as the Chinese Bellflower, they are a herbaceous perennial native to eastern Russia, China, Japan, and Korea.

They start out as little puffy, balloon like buds, before blooming into beautiful star-shaped flowers.
Considered low maintenance, that last throughout the summer, and are deer resistant.
*smile*

Summer Days

The summer heat has kicked in.
Hot and humid days, and evenings most often filled with a thunderstorm or two, cooling the night air.
Parents have begun shopping for school attire and supplies, since it's not too long before the children return to their scholastic schedules.
More new fawns have made their appearance, two does, with three babies between them.
Daddy deer, made a quick dash through the field, he doesn't linger long, being as he's a traveling man.
The rhythm of life continues.

Sweet Land Of Liberty

   “Freedom has its life in the hearts, the actions, the spirit of men and so it must be daily earned and refreshed - else like a flower cut from its life-giving roots, it will wither and die.”

~Dwight David Eisenhower

http://www.bluehighwaysrevisited.net/

Wishing you a safe and Happy July 4th dear friends.