Digital Photographs - The Rabbit Hutch...

The Rabbit Hutch

Driving to and from the beach I like to take a little detour through the coastal plain.

Thousands of years ago this was just a swamp.

The soil is black and cotton and tobacco are the crops. This one farm I like to go by has this great barn. It is now a huge rabbit hutch. It started out with a few black bunnies. Now they are everywhere. Lots and lots of bunnies.

Bunnies!

The farmer lets them free range. The barn is their nesting site. They do not wander too far from the barn/hutch. There are now about over fifty of them. I think some of the locals have moved in too. It is quite a sight to behold.

A few bunnies deciding whether they should stay out or not.

It has been about two years since I first spotted my first couple of bunnies here. Now it is like a bunny farm. I have often thought that this would be fun. I do think you would have to keep them out of your vegetables and flowers. It is pretty amazing. I just thought I would share with you one of my road trip sights!

Cemetery Finds...Digital Photographs

One of the most unusual headstones I have seen.

Close up of the babies face.

The setting is like out of a movie with the swamp behind it.

Here in the South we know how to honor the dead. Whether it be a small country graveyard, a private cemetery, or a big city cemetery. Our dead are sacred.

I developed a love of cemeteries in high school. I dated a boy who lived next door to one. We would often hang out there as teenagers do like to "hang out". This particular cemetery had Anne Morrow buried in it. Her story was so sad[she was Charles Lindbergh's wife and her son was kidnapped and killed]. My boyfriend gave me a book of her poems and I would sit in the cemetery and read them. Oh, to be young and innocent.

Once I was done reading the poems I actually looked around and realized there were a lot of different headstones. Some were shaped like trees, some had little lambs on them, others were obelisk shaped, or had different things carve on them. I had to know what they meant. So, a life long interest was started. You can tell a lot about a community by their cemeteries.

This incredible monument to a lost daughter can be found in Magnolia Green Cemetery in Charleston South Carolina. They have a beautiful cemetery with old Magnolias and Oaks dripping in Spanish Moss. Quite the mood setter. I have never seen so many unusual gravestones, headstones, monuments to the dead. Each one trying to over power the next.

I really enjoyed this cemetery. I hope to go back and take more pictures. Until then I leave you with these photographs.

Digital Photograph - A Walk in the Woods

We are having warm weather here in the mountains. It is almost 60 here today. Yesterday I took a walk in some nearby woods. It was quite lovely, just me and the woodland creatures.

Being outside like that can make you feel so small and insignificant. Sort of puts you in your place, It was a welcome respite from the cold and the boxes. It always gives me a time to think and put things in their place in my head.

I sat down on a log for awhile and sorted things out in my mind. A gentle calmness came over me. The forest had been quiet then came alive. Filled with the sounds of those who lived there. I found several of these little bird homes. So neatly pecked out. Reminding me what a home is for - warmth, shelter, and a place to make memories.

Before the Storm...Digital Photographs

The Road to Tennessee

 



Here are a few shots I took late
Sunday afternoon looking toward
Tennessee. I am very close to the
Tennessee/North Carolina border.
You can see the swirling clouds.
Soon warm air is going to be touching
Arctic air. Lots of snow in the
higher elevations are expected.
One of my boys who lives closer
to the Eastern Continental Divide
is expecting a foot or more.

Hurricane Sandy is one of the
reasons I left the beach after ten
beautiful years. I just could not
face the destruction and the impacts
associated with these storms.
After living almost a lifetime of
watching them come by up close and
personal I decided no more. I do
understand that snowstorms can be
dangerous. However, with a little 
planning you can get through them
pretty unscathed. There is no
running from Mother Nature.
I guess it is a little like
picking your poison - earthquakes?
tornadoes? snow storms? hurricanes?
I chose snow!
 

Digital Photographs - Birdhouses

 

 

 

 

 

On Sunday I went to lunch with a

friend and then we did the local

Art Safari tour. It was cool, brisk,

and at times rainy. We were given

a map with the various artist's

studios and homes on it. Off we

went to discover all sorts of new

places, new artists, and just to

enjoy the day.  Along the way

I spotted a lot of bird houses.

I really enjoyed what each artist

had as visual treats before

we even got to the door. So much

creativity. Here is a sampling

of some of the bird adobes

we ran across. Enjoy!

Digital Photograph - Cornfield

Cornfield

I love the weekends. They are comforting.
An excuse to do nothing or everything.
Today started out all bright and
shiny. Then the clouds arrived.
Even here in the mountains we can feel
the arrival of the first bands of
Hurricane Sandy. Hold on to your hats
this one could be rough East Coast.

Digital Photographs - A Yarn Bombing

 Outside the Library

Bench with yarn

 

I went to the Library the other day and

the outside of it had been yarn bombed.

Also, the few stores and resturant

next door had also been bombed with

yarn. It was a lot of fun to see what

they had done. I particularly liked

the library. The librarians were

not sure what to make of it. I liked

the way they covered the bench

and the teddy with the book.

At the pizza resturant they had made

yarn tomatoes and hung them from

the outside railings. Very imaginative.

Digital Photograph - Look Closer at that North Carolina Red Barn

A Furry Watchguard

 

 

When I first spotted this barn I thought "Oh nice barn." I got out and did my thing taking pictures. Then I noticed that there was something in the doorway. Zooming in - looking closer - I found this guy. Seating in the doorway enjoying a bit of a breeze, king of all he surveys, watchguarding his home. Sometimes it is good to look a little closer at things.

Digital Photographs - Local Grafitti

This is happy Grafitti

 

Love the bike and bright colors

 

Like the bike

I am trying to get out and take some

pictures every week. I like to get up

really early before everyone starts

their day. The mountains have this

mist over them moving about. It

makes everything feel mysterious

and clean in a strange way. I

found these on the West side of

town near a bridge and railway

tressel. I like the happy colors

and the bike them they have going

for them. It looks like a place kids

would hang out on hot summer nights.
 

 

Digital Photographs - Up in the Mountains...

I have been up in the mountains most of the week looking at houses.  When not looking at houses I have been enjoying the mountain roads. The leaves have started putting on their colors.  The higher elevations have the most color right now. Every morning I get up and it is a new world.  A deeper orange, more red, and  who knew there were so many yellows?  The air is crisp and clear.  Everyone walks with a bit more purpose in their step. Strangers talking to strangers about how nice the weather is. Everyone enjoying the last few weeks of falls.

Digital Photographs - Fall Leaves...

I have been up in the mountains of North Carolina the past couple of days visiting my boys.  It has been cool and filled with beautiful scenery.  The trees are beginning to turn colors here in town.  On the mountain sides it is still various shades of green. The rain started yesterday which means the color of the leaves will be good.
I thought I would share these photographs I took yesterday of a couple of Maple trees.  They were so red.  Even the stems to the leaves were infused with color. It made my heart skip a beat. I love the colors of fall, the smell of burning leaves, and apple cider. Yum.

Morning Glories

glowing

Just opening to the sun
Fully opened, beautiful color

the end and the beginninga single bloom

I have been getting up really early every morning at my son's house. The heat as been something fierce here. The only time to be outside is in the early morning. After my morning walk, along my son's drive is this fence with the most beautiful morning glories. After a week or so they have completely seduced me with their color and form. Some mornings they are literally glowing in the sun. They have such a short bloom cycle. Only for a few hours in the morning are they in full bloom. I hope you enjoy these photographs. Stay cool!

Summer Flowers - Hydrangea's

Sisters

Pink and Dirty

Blue and Green

Hydrangea's are some of my favorite flowers. Everyday they are a little different. They last for weeks, always changing and evolving. I love them through every phase. Here are a few photographs I took of three different clusters of blossums from three different bushes. The last photograph - blue and green - is the one I used in the digital collage Memories of Home. Hope you enjoy these as much as I do![please make sure you enlarge them to get the full effect!]

A Few Things I Saw This Week...

A Mountain Farm

Mountain Lakes

Mountain Pastures

Here are a few of the beautiful scenes I have feasted on the past week. The farm was found in the mountains of Tennessee. I love the little creek meandering through the pasture. The mountain lakes border Tennessee and North Carolina. It is cool and quiet. Generations of families have vacationed there through the years. The mountain pasture is off the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina. The two trees are a favorite of my older son and I. I love how they merge into one. Hope you had a good week and a better weekend!

A Few Days in the Mountains...

A beautiful view is around every corner in the mountains.

I stopped here to eat lunch and stretch my legs.

A dam at one of the many lakes in the mountains of North Carolina.

This North Carolina waterfall is called Dry Falls.

The view from about half way down the waterfall.

The Mountains are where I like to go to renew my soul in the summer time. The light is so beautiful. The sounds of the birds and running water is everywhere. For me that is instant relaxation. It is definitely a place to realize just how small you are and what a vast place the world still is. I am always amazed that there are roads, train tracks, and bridges. Tunnels through mountains. Wow! The effort it must have taken. I hope you enjoy these. That they bring you peace when you see them. [I was so proud that I was able to hike all the way from the top to the bottom of the waterfall.]

The Tobacco Warehouse...Digital Photographs

I found this old warehouse in a small mill town along the Virginia-North Carolina border. I had gone there to look at some historical homes that were for sale. Instead, I fell in love with some of the old warehouses and a mill that were there.


This is a huge tobacco warehouse. The large windows were to let the sunshine in and when opened allowed air flow. This way the tobacco continued to dry and did not get moldy. I particularly like the way they used the dyed black bricks to write Tobacco along the street side wall of the building. Above, must have been the company name. This place is huge.

Here is a close up of one of the windows. They are almost as large as a door. I love the thick, rusted mesh screens they have on them. It is like another layer of skin.

Along the back of the warehouse you can get a feel for the real size of the place. The train would pull right up and the tabacco would be loaded on the cars. Most of the tobacco would go to Richmond where it would be processed, packaged, shipped, and sold. Once upon a time this place was so busy it looked like an ant hill. Now it is all memories...