Forward - From the Heartland of Carolina

This is a continuing story of the journey Forward shared by 2 people, Lynne and Tom. Both love to LIVE life to it's fullest, which currently means spending lots of time outdoors, working on various projects from gardens to patios, flowers to vegetables, sunrises and sunsets, birds and woodland critters, and spending time with family. Don't forget to check the monthly archives, and please feel free to leave us a comment so we know you stopped by.

Sunday, August 24, 2008

June and July

Well, early June started off on the hot side... 4 days over 100. That sure did a number on some parts of the gardens, but we have a cactus plant that didn't seem to mind.

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Wonder what they were watching and smiling about????

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Mom, Dawn, and Lynne were enjoying the antics of a hummingbird at Mom's new window feeder ;-)


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Even though we're still in a drought here in NC, the overall temperatures haven't been as unbearable as last summer. Some new plants thrived, some struggled, some failed. Here's several pics of some new daylilies Lynne has planted in a starter bed to be moved out to a permanent location in the fall.










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I like playing with the zoom feature of the camera :-)




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Once again, Thanks to our niece Tracey, and Kenny, Lynne and I were able to get away for our annual 2 day trip to Charlotte to meet up with a gathering of internet friends we've gotten to know over the years. Of course, this always means another family get-together whenever they get down to visit. We also took the time to celebrate another niece's birthday, her sister graduating HS and headed off to join her 2 sisters at NC State, and, this year, Mom's 93rd Birthday!!! Happy Birthday, MOM!!!








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When we got back from Charlotte, Kevin and Jenn, along with Celeste, were able to get down for an afternoon. Kay ( y'all should remember her- she's the one who took most of our wedding pictures WAY back in this blog) drove back this way after the Charlotte weekend, just to spend a little time visiting with Mom. Alli once again spent the weekend with us before and after Charlotte. Sure was good seeing them again this year.





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Here's Mom relaxing after the Hospice aide had given her a bath and washed her hair.

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Plants on the back porch

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Around the yard






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Random closeups






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The veggie garden has managed to survive long enough to can up some tomatos and make some pickle relish and salsa.


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Here's a Downy Woodpecker at the suet feeder, grabbing a little lunch to share with one of his babies, that can bee seen to the right of the feeder.

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Thanks again for stopping by our little corner of the world here at Heartland Gardens, where all is well.

'Til next time...Peace and Love...

Sunday, August 10, 2008

We're back, with LOTS of pictures

So many pictures, so little time. Well, not really, but it sounded cute (again, not really...) :-)

We were able to get away a couple evenings early in the Summer (thanks to the Hospice volunteers) to see some of Brad and Andrew's Civitan League baseball games.

Here's Brad, at the plate, and then beating out an infield hit for a single.



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A couple of Andrew, who also was selected to the All-Star team this year.



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One big change we made this year was removing this Holly bush/tree. It had originally been planted way too close to the house, and was getting way too large to maintain where it was.

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Amaryllis around the yard






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Mom's room usually has a fresh boquet of flowers that either Lynne or Ruth pick and arrange. Here's just one of many she's had this year from the yard.


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Some random May flowers






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Once a week, usually, (if it's not too hot) Mom gets outside on the porches after the Hospice aide has been here and given her a sponge bath and washed her hair.


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More flowers




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We had a rare hailstorm on May 20th. The cool thing about the hailstones is that most of them were donut-shaped. It's not unheard of, but not very common, either, we've come to find out.



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And more flowers.... it seems that people who visit this blog like our flowers ;-)











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And more....










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Well, that's it for now...next up, June gatherings with family and friends... Birthdays, celebrations, and, of course, more shots from Heartland Gardens.

Thanks for taking the time to stop by and visiting us. Leave us a note so we know you were here...

Peace, and God Bless...