Location: Centennial Center; Downtown Cramerton; Cramerton, North Carolina, USA
God Bless. May you have a Gardenof Love, Friendship, and Joy. Thank you for visiting and sharing your time and thoughts with us. I appreciate y’all very much.
Judy from Life Lessons blog hosts a weekly photo challenge called The Numbers Game. This week’s number is 206. Her instructions for playing along are listed below …
To play along, go to your photos file and type that number into the search bar. Then post a selection of the photos you find under that number and include a link to your blog in Judy’s Numbers Game blog of the day. If instead of numbers, you have changed the identifiers of all your photos into words, pick a word or words to use instead, and show us a variety of photos that contain that word in the title.
The Farmhouse Garden Center is located at The Village at Stowe, a part of the Daniel Stowe Conservancy. It is more than just a Garden shop, it is a delightfully warm and inviting destination for those who love and admire plants and flowers regardless of you are a home gardener or not. The flowers are beautiful and displays are enticing.
The Farmhouse Garden Daniel Stowe Conservancy Belmont, North Carolina
The Farmhouse offers educational opportunities such as workshops on wreath-making, floral arranging, gardening, and any and all other aspect related to plant care.
For more information about Thursday Trios check out Mama Cormier’s page by clicking here.
Camera: Canon EOS Rebel T3i with Canon EF-S55-250mm lens and Altura UV & CPL filter attachments.
Location: The Farmhouse Garden Center; Daniel Stowe Conservancy; Belmont, North Carolina, USA
God Bless. Enjoy the rest of your week and have a marvelous weekend. Take time to admire the flowers wherever you may wander. Thank you for visiting and sharing your time and thoughts with us. I appreciate y’all very much.
Aka Eastern Bluestar, Blue Dogbane, Willow Amsonia, Woodland Bluestar
The Eastern Bluestar, of the Dogbane family, is a 1-3 ft., erect-stemmed perennialforming large, multi-stemmed clumps. The smooth stems are crowded with narrow, oval leaves which turn golden-yellow in the fall. The rim of the Blue, tubular flowers flare out into a star-shape, appear in loosely conjested clusters at the tips of the stems. These flowers grow in wet to moist and sandy soiled areas. The Blue Star’s growth has naturalized northeast as far as Massachusetts. However, its primary habitat is the southeastern and eastern regions of the United States.
Location: Crandall Bowles Children’s Farm; Greenway Stables Entrance; Anne Springs Close Greenway; Fort Mill, South Carolina, USA
God Bless. Have a wonderful week. Stay safe and dry. Thank you for visiting and sharing your time and thoughts with us. I appreciate y’all very much.
[Just a side note: when I typed in made of glass for Dan’s CFFC this flower popped up in the selected images. So I took it as a sign to use it for Cee’s FOTD.]
Good Day to everyone! It is a cool spring morning and I’m wishing I was still asleep. However, that’s not possible when it’s a school day for Coleman. Instead of falling back asleep after arriving back home from the bus stop, I’m here writing and fixing to upload another post. Who needs sleep anyway? I’ll probably fall back asleep after arriving a little bit of reading 📖.
Now before I begin reading it is time to show y’all some lovely pastel florals from my neighbours gardens.
Stop and Smell the Flowers. Enjoy Nature’s Beauty.
God Bless. You are Beautiful. Share your beautiful smiles and love to everyone in your path. Thank you for visiting and sharing your time and thoughts with us. I appreciate y’all very much.
“When Sun warms Earth, Myrtle knows to shed her skin and show her inside beauty.”
~ Margaret Simon
Thinking of summer nearing with the end of the school year approaching, Crape Myrtle’s beginning to bloom once again with the heat encroaching upon the earth surface displaying beauty in all its glory.
Tuscarora Crape Myrtle
“I have a secret It’s a bit of gold hidden away only Myrtle knows”
~ Linda Mitchell
There are many times Coleman will walk on by the flowers in bloom and then there are times like these when he’ll stop, sniff the blooms and admire their beauty and fragrance.
Tuscarora Crape Myrtle Lagerstroemia indica x fauriei ‘Tuscarora
“Myrtle knows Her dress is so last year. Underneath—mottled beauty For fashion’s new season.”
Camera: Canon EOS Rebel T3i with Canon EF-S75-300mm lens.
Location: Gastonia County Warlick Family YMCA; Gastonia, North Carolina, USA
God Bless. Stop and smell the flowers. Enjoy Nature’s bountiful beauty. Thank you for visiting and sharing your time and thoughts with us. I appreciate y’all very much.
Location: Downtown; Town of Cramerton; Cramerton, North Carolina, USA
God Bless. Take time to enjoy the beautiful flowers. Enjoy a walk. Thank you for visiting and sharing your time and thoughts with us. I appreciate y’all very much.
To play along, go to your photos file and type that number into the search bar. Then post a selection of the photos you find that include that number and post a link to your blog in my Numbers Game blog of the day. If instead of numbers, you have changed the identifiers of all your photos into words, pick a word or words to use instead, and show us a variety of photos that contain that word in the title.This prompt will repeat each Monday with a new number. If you want to play along, please put a link to your blog in comments below.
Here are my contributions to the album:
Goat Island Park & GreenwayRed RoseLake Wylie Soleirolia soleiroliiLake Wylie Lantana Luscious Berry BlendAndrew Jackson State Park Pelargonium hortorum Geranium – CalliopeEd Yount Trail South Fork River Park Caribbean Sea Port of Cozumel Duranta Repens ‘China Girl’Catawba River Trailhead Coleman-Age 3McDowell Nature Preserve #189
Location: Old Town; Riverside Community; Cramerton, North Carolina, USA
God Bless. Stop and Smell the Flowers. Enjoy the beauty in Nature. Thank you for visiting and sharing your time and thoughts with us. I appreciate y’all very much.
Location: Cramer Mountain; Cramerton, North Carolina, USA
God Bless. Stop and Smell the Flowers. Enjoy the beauty in Nature. Thank you for visiting and sharing your time and thoughts with us. I appreciate y’all very much.
Where I live we still have a little over two and a half hours before 2025’s arrival. I do not normally do year end reviews and I’ve long since given up on making any New Year’s Resolutions. This year Sunday Stills is asking us to do an Annual Year in Review. Therefore, I decided to give a few tidbits of my 2024.
951 posts on WordPress
Written a total of 129.2K words in my WP posts
Participated regularly in blogging challenges. (I’ll miss Cee and her Challenges).
Commented on many posts
Had 10,153 views (for some this may not seem like a lot, but to me it is)
Had 4,125 visitors
Had 6,438 likes
Other Activities outside of Blogging:
Read 121 e-books
Read for a minimum of 30 minutes all 365 days
Read all 52 weeks of the year
Visited 5 cities in my area
Visited and Hiked at 14 different parks or greenways
Made many friends here on WordPress
My grandson started Kindergarten ( I’ve walked him to school most days)
My grandson hikes anywhere and everywhere with me
We moved out of an apartment and into a rental house one town over. (Coleman loves it. It is in walking distance to two greenways).
Now for my Floral Year in Review:
January Flowers (sad to say not many):
February Flowers:
Think I made up for only one in January
March Flowers:
April Flowers:
May Flowers:
June Flowers:
July Flowers:
August Flowers:
September Flowers:
October Flowers:
November Flowers:
December Flowers:
I am grateful for each and everyone who has visited, liked, and or commented on my blog. I hope to see y’all participating in the Which Way Challenge (CWWC) in 2025. Happy New Year!
God Bless. Take time to enjoy nature. Observe the Flowers. Take Care of yourself. Thank you for sharing your time and thoughts with us. I appreciate y’all very much.
God Bless. Enjoy Nature. Smell the Flowers. See the Beauty in Simplicity. Thank you for sharing your time and thoughts with me. I appreciate y’all very much.
Setaria pumila is a species of grass known by many common names, including yellow foxtail, yellow bristle-grass, pigeon grass, and cattail grass. It is native to Europe, but it is known throughout the world as a common weed. It grows in lawns, sidewalks, roadsides, cultivated fields, and many other places.
Ark of the Covenant The Discovery Center Abilene, TexasGold outfit & headdress The Discovery Center Abilene, TexasSecond Temple Jerusalem Replica The Discovery Center Abilene, TexasJupiter as seen via Schiele Museum Planetarium Showing Gastonia, North Carolina Echinacea Coneflowers
Coreopsis lanceolata is a North Americanspecies of tickseed in the family Asteraceae. It is native to the Eastern and Central parts of the United States, naturalized in Canada, the Western United States, Mesoamerica, South America, South Africa and Eastern Australia. It is found in open woodlands, prairies, plains, glades, meadows and savannas.
Three Railroad Crossing Signs Lineberger Park Gastonia, North Carolina Veterans Memorial Walls Cramerton, North Carolina Trio of Rudbeckia fulgida (Aka Black-Eyed Susan)Collage of Three Photos of Coleman
Common Name(s): Carolina Wild-petunia Wild Petunia
The Carolina Wild Petunia are extremely common in North Carolina. They are found in lawns and woodlands. This Wild Petunia was seen at Anne Springs Close Greenway along the trails at the Adventure Road Entrance. Many times, even though these flowers are beautiful, they are overlooked and sometimes considered a lawn weed. The Carolina Wild Petunia’s flowers only last a day, but they also have a long flowering period which compensates for the shorter blooming time.
Ipomoea pandurata (eep-oh-MEE-uh pand-yoor-RAY-tuh, shaped like a fiddle) is native to Florida and the eastern half of North America. It has a large root that can be eaten if cubed and boiled in at least two changes of water. Never eat it raw.
These are also known as Indian Potato, Man-of-the-Earth, Manroot, Morning Glory, Wild Potato Vine, Wild Sweet potato, Wild Sweet potato Vine.
Dale of The Cosmic Photo Challenge prompt is Freestyle this week.
Since this is freestyle week I decided to let you visit with me on one of the hikes Coleman and I took this past week. This hike was a little bit different in that we had my daughter, Coleman’s mom, along with us. On Tuesday we needed to be out of the home for awhile because a pest control company was going to come in and spray per the Complex management.
Therefore, we decided to go hiking in one of Coleman’s favorite places. The place we chose was Anne Springs Close Greenway about twenty minutes or so from our residence. Mind you now my daughter is not fond of hiking at all. When we arrived, we should them my membership card and proceeded to park. We thought Trisha, my daughter, was just gonna sit and relax near the canteen while Coleman and I hiked. It didn’t exactly go like we had thought. You see, Trisha brought her dog along with on our adventure ( he had to be out of the home as well).
Lake Haigler
Chewbacca, Trisha’s dog, decided he wanted to hike with us, therefore she had to tag along. We walked down to the lake and proceeded along the trail, Lake Haigler Loop, around the lake.
Haigler Loop
Coleman loves to run along the trail. I prefer a slower pace since I normally take many photos along the trail of the various sites we see. Often we observe different angles around the lake, seeing flowers, butterflies, sometimes turtles, bees, and even dragonflies.
Brazilian Vervain (Verbena brasiliensis)
At other times we see amazing reflections in the water.
Reflections in Lake Haigler
I love seeing various creatures feasting on the nectar of wildflowers her at the Greenway.
Black Swallowtail, Eastern Bumblebee, and Delta Flower Scarab Beetle feasting on Buttonbush Cephalanthus occidentalis.
Further down the trail as we hike around the lake I notice what appears to be a shape of a triangle formed with the reflections in the lake.
Triangle formation from the water reflections. Surrounding Tree Reflections plus water shimmering
As we keep going I slow down observing butterflies flittering to and fro. Naturally I stop to snap a photograph. Meanwhile, my daughter’s trying to convince me to stop taking pictures. Guess what? She didn’t convince me, not one single solitary moment.
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Pearl Crescent Butterfly
Next on our hike we come across a dragonfly and several turtles along the edge of the lake.
Widow Skimmer Dragonfly Turtles sunbathing on a log
By this time my daughter is tired and wants to get this hike over with. Naturally, Coleman and Chewbacca want to keep going. They’re enjoying the outdoors adventure. Hence, we keep chugging along.
Water Reflections Water Ripples
After awhile we decide to pull up a seat and relax a bit before finishing our hike. But first there’s more to observe as we near the picnic tables along the backside of the lake.
Trisha, Chewbacca, with Coleman leading the way. [He knows the trails better than most adults]. Ngaro Wīwi Priocnemis monachus delighting on Angelica genuflexa
Finally to a spot to snack relax near the water’s edge.
I hope you enjoyed trekking along with us on our hike around Lake Haigler. God Bless. Thank you for sharing your time and thoughts with us. I appreciate y’all.
Venus Fly TrapThe Venus flytrap (Dionaea muscipula) is a carnivorousplant native to subtropical wetlands on the East Coast of the United States in North Carolina and South Carolina.The English botanist John Ellis, who gave the plant its scientific name in 1768, wrote that the plant name tippitywichit was an indigenous word from either Cherokee or Catawba.
These particular Venus Fly Trap plants are on display in an aquarium in The Schiele Museum of Natural History and Planetarium in Gastonia, North Carolina.