NC Museum of Art: swirls, symmetry and this and that

 The Carla McKinney Volunteer Garden is new.  They are gradually adding ins flowers and shrubs.  In the meantime

The bright yellow artsy benches are eye catching

and artificial stump stools are inviting in the shade

There are several of these engraved/etched pieces too

This was my favorite.  

When it is too hot to be outside, you do crazy things.

Here is a bit of crazy I created in the Photo Booth with my iPad.

It is called light tunnel effect:  Take a selfie then open it in Photo Booth.

This is my forehead and bangs

Our Crepe Myrtles are full of beautiful blooms.

Thursday night about 10 pm we had sideways rain and wind for about 15 minutes

totaling 1/2".  Friday Morning we had more giving us a tad over 1" in less than 24 hours. 

 Crepe Myrtles blooms are so water logged the limbs are bent.

Typically we let the blooms dry out then the limb pops back up.

Hopefully that will be the case this time. 

Nature and Feline Friday

 

Nature Friday host LLB Gang  and Feline Friday  host Comedy Plus

The friends we visited a few weeks ago 'inherited' a neighborhood OUTSIDE only cat a 5 years ago.  One day he just appeared along with a Puppy Friend.

They learned that both were owned by the daughter of a new neighbor.

All of a sudden the daughter moved leaving the cat.  He decided he liked what he saw at our friends home.  They discovered his name was Charlie aka Sir Charles.

They were finally able to catch him for a vet visit.  He was neutered and vaccinated.

Charlie is now a vineyard cat he follows Gary around the vineyard supervising all activities and maybe catching a rodent or two along the way.  The collages below are of Sir Charles and some of the flowers on their property.

The first one I took as the 3 guyz, Gary in front, Bryan and Charlie head down to the creek.

Charlie has some mighty cute moves trying to draw one into his purrsonal space; however, beware he has fangs and claws

Our friend's property was full of blooms

I was amazed by the Passion Flower, click HERE if you'd like to know more about it

Here is closer look at lilies on the left of the above collage

Gary has recently become fascinated with Day lilies. 

Left to Right Sunny Day, Lavender, the Purple Balloon Flower, before it opens  it  looks like a miniature balloon

Canada Day and Thoroughly Poetic Thursday #25

Happy Canada Day

Thank you Ann for the Banner

 Thoroughly Poetic Thursday hosted by 

 Two SPOILED CATS

Angel Sammy and Teddy for the inspiring photos they find for us

Here is our inspirational photo is

Upon first glance I didn't have a clue

I asked myself what will you do?

I focused on what might be 

my cue, bottles. 
Then I knew what to do

You guessed it I'll write an acrostic* 

Hopefully it won't be too cryptic.

So to you a present BOTTLES

Beverages
Order up
Tonics
Tap
Liquor
Elaborately decorated bar
Seltzers

*An acrostic is a poem (or other form of writing) in which the first letter (or syllable, or word) of each line (or paragraph, or other recurring feature in the text) spells out a word, message or the alphabet.

Words on Wednesday: Stone Mountain

Hosted by Sandee at Comedy Plus

The first sight you see from miles away is the 600-foot high granite dome rising above the trees. The imposing brown-gray granite rock rises to 2,305 feet above sea level, its exposed surface being just a small portion of a 25-mile igneous rock formed from hardened lava. Welcome to Stone Mountain State Park.

The 14,100-acre park stretches across Wilkes and Alleghany counties and offers more than just this centerpiece, with 10 trails (moderate to strenuous) covering 18 miles of pathways to waterfalls, meadows, forest and a historic homestead at its base.  It is a mountain climbers paradise.

In September of 2014 we visited Stone Mountain from the ground see below.  

Picture taken at Stone Mountain State Park In North Carolina.

 Stone Mountain is the centerpiece of Stone Mountain State Park. It is a dome of exposed granite (specifically a quartz diorite to granodiorite) of Devonian age, which has intruded into the gneiss of the Precambrian Alligator Back Formation.^[1] It rises sharply over 600 feet (183 m) above the surrounding terrain. The mountain, which has an elevation of 2,305 feet (706 m) above sea level, is known for its barren sides and distinctive brown-gray color, and can be seen for miles. The mountain offers some of the best rock climbing in North Carolina, and the park's creeks and streams feature excellent brook trout fishing.

Because the mountain is the best example of a monadnock in massive granite in North Carolina it was designated a National Natural Landmark in May 1974.^[2]

This photo from Stone Mountain Park website.  Evidently there are many who like to climb it.  If you look closely you can see a few climbers. 

Happy Tuesday from a Mountain Homestead

 

Thank you Comedy Plus for hosting

How their garden might have looked

The craftsmanship on this homestead was amazing.  Somewhere in the homestead information, I read that descendants of the family still meet on the homestead for fellowship.

Awww Monday and Sparks

   Hosted by Comedy Plus 

 

Last week about 6:30 pm to my surprise I saw the white Jack Rabbit in the yard across the street. I grabbed my iPad and slowly walked down the driveway as I snapped.  I was able to get within about 25' of him.  He is definitely not an escaped domestic rabbit.  He has the exact shape of a Jack Rabbit. His eyes are dark so he is not an albino. Good news the neighbor across the street is not into yard work.  About once a month he mows is dirt. This little guy has lots of undergrowth.

My first sighting was in our back yard about 6 am on June 11

Just a note regarding my header.
Oh boy I tried to change it yesterday as per the last 11
years.  Everything is different.  Header made with my photos turned into a postage size header.  I finally got one that was near the original size.  I made it in Pizap.  I selected from the variety of background picture they have, added graphics and text. I advise all to think long and hard before they change.
 

Serene Easy Sunday Selfie

This spring I really enjoyed taking photos of this most cooperative Great Blue Heron.