Mountain Wildflowers

"Country road, take me home......"

I grew up in the mountains of

North Carolina, and my Smokey Mountain

memories came flooding back as I walked

the road in front of our Tennessee cabin.

The beauty of it all was a little

over-whelming and thankfully,

 I had all the time

in the world to enjoy it.

The Mister and I were on a vacation

like no other before.....

On this day, I looked down at

the ground, and

found all sorts of beautiful plants. 

 An old tree stump

caught my attention and I could

still see beauty here,  even in death.

I saw a small tree sapling,

new and fresh to the world.

I likened it to a small child,

imagining the older  trees

sharing stories of folklore and

their  mountain world.

"Bachelor Buttons".....

 were everywhere,

or so it seemed.

They were  tiny tiny, and so lovely.

Sweet Clover,  growing

sporadically along the road

brought memories of my

childhood summer play in our

mountain valley.

In grasses covered

with clover, on hands and

knees we searched for the

four-leafed clovers.

How lovely this mountain

paradise,  sprinkled with beauty.....

a perpetual experience of

pleasure.

"He restoreth my soul with His

creation giving me feelings of

completion....."

"Walk on walk on with hope in

your heart......."

Remembering all the beauty of

the mountains makes me want to

sing His praises. Just can't help

myself.

Glad you stopped by......Dee Dee

click on photos to enlarge

A Rose Garden

"I beg your pardon....

I never promised you a Rose garden....."

~Lynn Anderson

Our walk in Gatlinburg Tennessee,

was for exploring, seeing all the sights

and just plain ole having fun.

  The mountain air was fresh

and crisp and we felt our world

was perfect!

We were named "tourist" for a while

and we behaved a certain way. 

We stopped and posed in front of

attractions that were ridiculous

and made us laugh.

 We listened to young musical groups singing

country music.....clapped our hands and

moved our feet.

And.....we peeked through a wrought-iron

fence into a beautiful Rose garden.

"Along with the sunshine, there's

got to be a little rain sometime.....

I beg your pardon, I never promised

you a Rose garden...."

You have a real nice day, now!  Dee Dee

Click on photos to enlarge....they look amazing

Our Hometown's Transformation

The nice thing about a road trip

is that you can change your route

and go in any direction desired.

Such was the case when we were

driving through South Carolina

and turned in the direction of

our first hometown as man and wife.

This year, marking a very important

wedding anniversary, we

came back to the  Mister's place of birth and

where we began our lives together.

Barnwell South Carolina is, and

always will be dear and special to us. Our

first two children were born while living 

in this small southern town.

Those early precious memories

are still fresh in our minds.

Barnwell's downtown area is

 a circle.

While driving round,

 we could not believe our eyes.

Every building had been

completely restored to like new.

How and who had done this?

Our old bank was  now,

transformed and had a whole

new appearance as

Barnwell's City Hall.

The landscaping throughout

the city was new and beautiful.

 Barnwell has a brand new library....the old one

is now a historical museum.

According to the 2000 census there

were 5,035 people residing in this

little town. I did a little research and

found the whole community has been

completely transformed.  Seems

the folks in charge now,  have put

a whole lot of love.... and money into

 "our town."

The Mister and I felt as though we

had been given a very special

anniversary gift, and we're so happy

for the people that have lived

there all these years.  I'm thinking

what has happened is a miracle, and a true

blessing from God.

-

These were the last of our vacation

photos and some of our favorite.

Click on them to enlarge,  and be

amazed at the charm of this very

small southern town.

Have a sweet ole day......Dee Dee

Favorite Mode Of Transportation

Put a city girl on a train

and watch a big ole

smile appear on her face.

Dollywood's train seemed

to be just about everyone's

favorite mode of transportation.

The Engineer had a great

sense of humor and kept

us entertained with all

sorts of interesting stories.

 For added excitement,

he blew the train whistle

over and over again.

"Can you hear that whistle

blowing, it's coming down the track......"

~Johnny Cash

Passing by this small

log cabin, I wondered if

this might be a replica of 

Dolly's childhood home.

"Life is as peaceful as a baby's sigh.

In my Tennessee mountain home,

crickets singing in the fields near by....."

"Watch your step, and come again!"

Dolly and the folks in and around

Pigeon Forge, Dollywood and Gatlinburg,

 have  figured out how to show the

world  a good time. 

Tomorrow I'll post a few more

favorite vacation photos.

Have a beautiful day everyone!  Dee Dee

Bear Food

The Tennessee mountain weather

was absolutely fabulous!

Having left our home in Florida,

with temps in the high 80s,

we took every advantage of the

coolness offered by the Creator.

On this day,

with camera in hand, I began

walking the mountain road just

outside our cabin. 

Finding these red raspberries,

 along the road, was a

 pleasant surprise.

I recall wondering if I

was  being watched by bears.

I had read that bears wait

for the berries to ripen

completely before eating them.

These were right on the edge

of ripening completion.

Oh we had seen plenty of bears alright,

only they were inside our cabin.

Bear paintings on the walls,

bear statues on the fireplace

mantel, bear fabric on the sofa

and even bear salt and pepper shakers.

Everywhere was black bear motif!

I left the berries on the vines

for the critters in the area.  At

another time and place, I would

have been eager to turn them into

some real  nice jelly. But, I

was on vacation and that was

sounding an awful lot

 like kitchen work.

Know what I mean?

Have a beautiful day!  Dee Dee

Sunrise At Our Mountain Cabin

Upon our arrival in Pigeon Forge

Tennessee,  

we met family 

 and followed them

to our vacation mountain cabin.

This three story get-a-way,

 decorated in "country luxury"

would be our home for

 one complete week.

The first morning's sunrise

found me outside with my camera......

The view from

our balcony found

me standing in awe,

as I witnessed 

the handi-work of

 one spectacular

"Creator."

Our God is truly an awesome God.......

Morning view of mountains

seen from side of cabin.....

Birds were everywhere.....just

adding to the country mountain ambiance.

So, our first morning of vacation

began this way.......with a

subtle "wow!" 

 If you've been

to this part of the country, you

know we had a jammed-packed

itinerary and the fun was just

beginning.

Have a blessed day......Dee Dee

click on photos to enlarge

Into The Smokey Mountains......

On our way into Tennessee,

we drove through the

Smokey Mountain National Park.....

As you will see, we stopped

at several lookout points

to take photos.

My camera

was lovin' what it was

seeing, and  in every direction.

I thought this an interesting

compositon....

a freshly cut limb from a small

tree......with lichen surrounding it.

It only held my attention a

moment or two, for the view behind

the tree took my "Florida Girl"  breath

completely away.

In the distance, the sun splashing

all over the tree tops,  made for

a sight to behold.

 

Each "lookout point"  gave

us something to "oooh and ahhhh" over, and

we had no problem with why

they called this place  the "Smokey Mountains"......

All along the highway,

we could see this gorgeous

stream making it's way

down the mountains.

When I left the car

to take photos, I was surprised

at how loud the rushing

waters were.....

Rhododendron, with lovely pink

blooms hung over the water in

this area.

and they were mighty pretty, as you can see.....

A favorite photo taken

as we were coming to

the end of a tunnel......

Just know, the closer we came to

our destination, the more excited

the Mister and I became.  Already I was

hearing the words to Dolly's famous song

in my head..........

"In my Tennessee mountain home.....

Life is as peaceful as a babys' sigh....."

Visit again and I'll share some

more of our vacation fun......Dee Dee

click on photos to enlarge