Dam fun

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The dams' in the creek that were built when Adam and his Mom and Dad visited are holding nicely, even through all the rain we've had. This one below Adam built himself. Nice job, Bud !
The dogs have a deep pool for cooling off thanks to his hard work...

The one that we all built collectively is also holding...

Jiggs loves to run with a toy in his mouth. This particular time it was the stuffed squirrel, and that seems to be a sore topic with Belle. She lives to chase down the elusive squirrel, and Jiggs running with one in his mouth was too much. A 'tug-of-squirrel' ensued. Penny backed off when the growling began...

My brother Clay and I have been running the dogs every day, and most days twice. We have seen a few turtles, and that makes me happy. I was sure the logging killed them all, but not so.

Notice the abandoned squirrel on the front of Clay's machine. The dogs must have been distracted by the real deal...


We have been having dinners with Clay and Jan at their house, or having them here. The trade off is fun, and a nice break for each of us as no one has all the work. Today we did breakfast, and they did dinner. Lunch was at the river, actually in the river on the 4-wheelers. We met the neighbors down there and had a nice visit. A snake showed up, a Northern Water snake ...according to Clay...and it was amazing how fast Melissa, her neice Jenn and son Logan and Samantha all piled into the Rhino ! Troy held his ground, but only because he had to seem macho with me, Clay and Bob all being interested in the snake and not afraid. Melissa said if we were not there he would have been standing on the seat!!!

Another nice day with family...

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Coy Dog citing

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Today my neighbor and writer friend, Becky, picked me up for the bi-monthly Lake Writers meeting. While traveling down my road we spotted what appeared to be a coyote or a coy dog. The animal was trotting quickly through a neighboring field where cows and their young graze.
It was a fast sighting, but we were both certain what we saw was either a black coyote or a coy dog. I went to the internet and Googled coyote.
Below is one image of a coyote that looked exactly like the animal we saw earlier, except that the one we saw was black.



After Googling 'coy dog' there were several images of different colored animals with varying sizes, but most had the distinct coyote look. Below is a similar likeness of the black coy dog we saw , but this coy dog has been killed. Actually there weren't any images of live coy dog. Evidentally they are a menace and are hunted down.

That would explain the nervous look on the animal we saw...

I feel lucky to have seen it, and then again, I hope it stays away from my cats, dogs and mini horses !

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Ground control

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My gardens have exploded once again...I give up trying to keep order..mother nature, you win!
I relinquish ground control...

Bleeding hearts and ferns...

This wigelia was cut back so far a year ago, I thought it might not survive...HAH!

Peonies...can you smell their sweet fragrance?

Below are the new fruit trees added to replace ones lost through the years...a nectarine, a granny smith apple and a macintosh..

These little strawberries come up everywhere...I wonder if they were planted, or just came up as the ones in my front garden did because of me throwing old fruit to the birds...

Flag iris' of yellow and some the darkest blue, almost purple..
large iris', of wierd browns and light purple..

pink rhodies...

...... bottle tree...needs no water!

The rhodedendron survived the cutting back, and the roses ( around the corner) are starting to bloom after their move..

As I said, I have given up trying to control what blooms, it seems that the violets and daffodils start out, replaced by the coneflowers and black-eyed susans and paper flowers and phlox...and so on, each layering over the other. It's wild and fragrant and the birds and butterflys love it and so do I.

Grow crazy garden, be wild and free...no ground control here...

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Cherokee NC and Blue Ridge Parkway

We just returned from a trip to Cherokee N.C.
We have now travelled the Parkway end to end, from Virginia where the Skyline Drive connects, to the end in Cherokee N.C.
http://cherokeenorthcarolina.com
It was our 12th anniversary so we took a couple days to travel the Parkway and stay in Cherokee, where we honey-mooned. My sister-in-law Jan was here and took care of the critters for us. Thanks Jan!
Cherokee is a spiritual place. The hills that surround the flowing waters were hide outs for the Cherokee people. Those who escaped the government's removal of Indians to reservations, are the very people who now live in the area. The Indian people and the land both pull at my heart strings.
The whole atmosphere of Cherokee, is calming and stirring for me, odd for both as they are opposites. I am a Gemini. Maybe that explains that. I also have some Indian blood, although not Cherokee. Maybe it is that, but I beleive it is the spiritual nature of all native Americans that moves me.
This board explains the statue that comes next in the photo's.



The Cherokee Veteran's Park is a tribute to all Cherokee people who have served in the military. The Bears are everywhere throughout Cherokee. I know there are seven clans, but I am not sure if that has something to do with these bears. I think they are symbolic of other things, as there were more than seven.

This is the 'Fair' bear...they are all painted back, front and sides.

The pottery bear....

Eagle Dance bear...

This is a shot of the river just outside our hotel patio door.

A glass of wine and some cheese and crackers started our unwind process...

We travel the Parkway as much as possible, and as always the tunnels cut through the mountains, awe me.

My thoughts...

We sailed a sea of mountains, skimmed the crests, dipped into the hollows.

The shades of blues and greens and browns, the colors of the earth, sea, sky and mountains.

The sunlight played tag with our truck as we wound our way through the endless miles of forests and sky held in place by this man made trail.

The winds nears the peaks, bent the stubby, lichen covered evergreens.

The clouds scudding up and over looked like smoke and felt as wet as rain.

The descending rock walls spewed the top-gathered water, and sent it cascading down around us, delighting our senses and making us eager for the next waterfall.

The forests were decorated in spring..magnolia, dogwood and azealia lit up the pale green of the new leaves, and the brown forest floor was littered with trillium and violets.

A partridge in the road slowed us to a crawl as it took its time to the edge, slow enough to study but too fast to get the camera. The deer popped their heads up as we rode past...we felt like the animals in the zoo, and they the people lookers.

If you have the chance, travel the Blue Ridge Parkway. Each season is spectacular.

http://BlueRidgeParkway.org

It is well worth the time it takes to meander the miles. If you are in a hurry, however, don't bother. You will get annoyed by the lookie-lou's like me !

If you are paying attention, you might recognize the mistake I made with this picture...

Any idea???