Showing posts with label places. Show all posts
Showing posts with label places. Show all posts

Thursday, August 5, 2010

Flora and fauna...

So, I've got more pictures from my trip to Stone Mountain. It really is a beautiful place. No, my garden blog isn't turning into a travel blog, but I really did enjoy Stone Mountain. It is just a different kind of garden, right? Near the top of the waterfall...




... I found a couple of small wild flowers. This yellow one made me think of Blue Eyed Grass, which is blue, and this one is yellow. Obviously. But I really don't know what the yellow one is at all. I wondered if it was some sort of bulb. I didn't pull it up to see, though, as the plants in the Park are protected.




And then there was this charming little white flower. It is not much larger than the photo shows and I don't know what it is either. If you have any ideas about these two, I'd love to know.




As we were hiking down the trail to go to the bottom of the waterfall, I thought the raindrops on the pine needles were so pretty.




And at the bottom of the falls, a couple of other hikers pointed out this orange salamander! It has deeper orange spots on it.



On the way back to the trail head, I spotted this gorgeous fungus growing on a fallen tree. I love all the different colors in it.



The deer in the Park aren't very nervous about people and cars, so I was able to get some pictures of these bucks. There were actually 4 of them grazing here, but only three in this shot.



Along the trail to the Hutchinson Homestead, I found a rather large, fairly flat rock cover with this tiny fern. To give you an idea of its size, the largest leaf in the center of the picture would fit on a penny!


Have a beautiful day!

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Stone Mountain...

O.K., so, what if this was your garden?



...and this was your house?


...and this was in your backyard???



On Monday, we went to Stone Mountain State Park. What an amazing place! It was so beautiful! The day was drizzly, so not too hot, and everything was fresh and misty.



The Hutchinson Homestead, pictured above, was built in the mid 1800's. That house is the original house; it was added onto over time. The other structures on the homestead have been restored to show what the farm would have been like. There is a blacksmith shop, a corn crib, and a barn. Oh, and the all-important outhouse.



This is the other side of the 600 foot granite dome. We also went up on the Blue Ridge Parkway to find the overlook for Stone Mountain, but it was thick pea soup up there, so all I got was a great picture of the mist at the Stone Mountain overlook. I'd love to go back sometime on a clear day.




Before we saw the homestead and Stone Mountain itself, we hiked to and down the side - sort of - the trail was not right next to the falls - of this incredible waterfall. The whole waterfall is down one massive piece of stone. It is not Stone Mountain, but near it in the State Park. The water that goes over the falls is part of the creek that a little further down runs in front of the Hutchinson Homestead.


Have a beautiful day!

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Sanders Ridge Vineyard...

On Sunday, I was treated to lunch at the restaurant at Sanders Ridge Vineyard and Winery. It was absolutely delicious. If you are ever in that neighborhood and would like a very special meal, this is a wonderful place.



I enjoyed the vineyard, too. I think there is something special about growing grapes. It is in my plans for my garden to have grape vines.



It was a relatively cool, misty day. It made the vineyard all the more beautiful.



Yes, I was tempted to pick some grapes but I didn't. I just took bunches of pictures. (Pun intended.)



I won't inundate you with all of them. Just one more.


Have a beautiful day!