Butterflies & Flowers

Here is a sample of the Zinnias that the butterflies have been enjoying this summer. They were supposed to be the small variety, but some of them are shoulder high!

There have been lots of these Gulf Fritillaries feeding on the flowers this summer. On this last day of September, I can't help but feel like they will all be gone soon.

Tribute to the Butterflies

Here's one final tribute to the butterflies I have enjoyed this summer. Fall is here and we are not seeing as many now, and the ones we do see are getting tattered and torn. I plan to try to plant more flowers for them to enjoy next year. They have kept me busy trying to get better pictures of them. That can be a real challenge as they are never still. I also hope to learn the correct names of the ones that I see. I used to think that we didn't have many butterflies but the truth must have been that I was just too busy working to notice. Watching the butterflies and birds is one of the great perks of retirement!

~~~~~~~~~~Ode to Fall~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fall is here! Oh, Happy Day!
The sky’s so blue as clouds play
across the wide expanse.

The leaves are turning red and gold
as butterflies head South, I’m told,
to live in warmer climes.



This is my favorite time of year!
Now we look up, and then we hear
the Geese as they fly by.



The Hummingbirds will soon be gone
to winter places they have known
till they return next year.



The fragrant hay waits to be towed
through brown fields that have been mowed,
to its place in the barn.



As Cider simmers in the cup,
won’t you come in the house and sup
and sit with me a while.



Yes, there are chores to be done,
but visiting is so much fun
that they will have to wait.



Enjoy each season while it’s here
and hold your loved ones very near,
while you still have the time.

Late Afternoon Garden

I wish I could say that these flowers are in my yard but they are in my sister's yard. I think this is Dragon Wing Begonia.

She planted a Dogwood tree by a bench near her front door. It was pretty this Spring with lots of white blossoms and now it is covered with red berries. A little later in the year the foliage will turn a wonderful shade of red.

These are some of the flowers I saw in my sister's yard during a late afternoon visit. This is the bloom on a Geranium plant.

The Flower above is on a Begonia plant, but I'm not sure what variety. The way the blooms hang down, it should be called a weeping Begonia.

This pretty dark red Coleus is named Mississippi Summer. Each fall my sister breaks off limbs of it and roots them in water to have new plants for the next spring. She has done this for years and they are always beautiful and hardy.

Nostalgia

Passing by my Aunt and Uncle's old home place yesterday, I stopped to look at the beautiful red Spider Lilies I saw blooming there. A creek runs between their farm and the farm where I grew up. This is a picture of the old barn which is slowly melting away. Many years ago horses, mules and cows were sheltered here and fed fresh hay which was stored in the loft. The creek ran beside the barn, and not far away there was an old swimming hole in the creek where we learned to swim. Directly behind the barn were some of the largest native pecan trees I have ever seen. They produced small pecans with a very hard shell and some of the tastiest kernels I have ever eaten! When these trees were cut down their trunks measured well over three feet in diameter. Down behind the barn, and across the creek on our farm, there was a blacksmith shop which was shared by my Daddy and my Uncle.



This is the covered window in a shop near the house and the vines are beginning to add their foliage to help cover it.


Out in front of the shop is a huge bed of Red Spider Lillies that mulitply and come up year after year to add their beauty to the happy memories that linger here.


This was the old corn crib where dry ears of corn were stored until they were needed to feed the chickens and pigs.

Here is the Tool Shed that is near the home and the old garden spot. All kinds of fruits and vegetables were grown in the garden between this shop and the road. Lots of work went into raising, canning, freezing and preserving the delicious produce that was grown here. Most of you who will read this blog don't remember the days when farms were pretty much self-sufficient. The two things that I remember we couldn't raise were coffee and wheat for flour. Almost everything we ate was raised on the farm. We had pork, beef and chicken and sometimes wild game from a hunt. We had milk and butter from the cows and eggs from the hens. All sorts of fruits were grown in the orchards and canned, preserved or dried for later use. The different kinds of vegetables that were grown in the garden are too numerous to mention. I was born after the great depression and I remember a little about WWII and about times being hard for most everyone, but we always had food, shelter and lots of love. I think the the hard times made us more appreciative of the everyday things that so many people take for granted. Sometimes I think God brings us to ours knees so that we will be in the proper position to give Him honor and praise.

 

Panther on the Prowl

I heard something last night that I had never heard before! It was about 1:00 A.M. and I was lying there about half asleep (I had the windows open because it has been so nice and cool) when I heard a loud and blood-curdling scream! I tried to wake my husband so he could help me identify what I had heard. He seemed to be in a deep sleep and didn't pay attention. I lay there and it screamed two more times. It sounded like it was right at the edge of the woods behind our house. After about 5 or 10 minutes, I heard it scream again, off in the distance. I talked with Jeep about it this morning and he said that he heard it, too, and agreed that it was a Panther. I don't think I will be going back in those woods again! (I swiped this picture from the Internet--I'm not brave enough yet to try to make one myself!)

Jeep & Dorothy

 

Remembering when we were young.......

Colorful Crotons

 

The two Crotons I bought last Fall were looking kind of sad this Spring, so I took them out of the pots and planted them in the ground. They seem to be happy in full sunlight, but now I guess I have to dig them up and re-pot them. They are on the East side of the house and I wonder if they would survive here in zone 7 if I mulched them heavily. Do any of you horticulturists out there know the answer?

Clouded Sulphur

 

These pretty little yellow butterflies are headed south for the winter. I think this one is a Clouded Sulphur. They took time to stop by and sip some nectar from my fading Zinnias.

Three Day ~ Three Generation Revival

If you missed it, (last Sunday, Monday and Tuesday nights) you missed a real treat at Eupora First United Methodist Church!
It began with the song "Let's Have a Revival", and that is just what we did! We had three Spirit-filled sermons, lots of loud and joyous congregational singing, and beautiful, uplifting special music. Each night the church was filled with people expecting and seeking revival. Wesley preached on Discipleship Sunday night, Jeep preached Monday night on the Holy Spirit and Doug closed the revival on Tuesday night with a sermon on Grace.( The picture above is my husband, Jeep Pepper, in the center, his son, Doug, on the left, and his grandson, Wesley, on the right. The picture was made at our wedding in June of 2007)

Yard Sale Treasures

Here are a couple of the treasures I found at the yard sale our United Methodist Women were having this morning at the church. All proceeds go to our Mission Program. The picture of the three peppers was priced way too low, so I donated a few extra dollars when I checked out. The picture is hanging in my kitchen now. I'm gradually collecting a few items with the "Pepper" motif. When I worked my shift this morning, there were a good many people coming in all the time. The biggest and best items were sold first, of course. I carried one lamp to sell and bought another one in its place.

I'm not sure the purpose of this handy tote but it has a "Stanley" tag on it, so I'm thinking 'tools'. Anyway, it has lots of little pockets that are a good place for wire pliers, etc. It could be used for garden tools or most anything, I guess. It's heavy canvas and has the Chili Pepper motif.

Cades Cove Bear

 

While driving around the Scenic Loop at Cades Cove last fall a franic young man flagged us down to show us a bear several yards from the road. I guess he was thinking "there's safety in numbers". A dozen or so vehicles stopped and some of us walked down in the woods as close as we dared. Someone in the group said the Ranger estimated that the bear weighed about 400 pounds! It WAS big and very interested in whatever he was eating....thanks goodness! I never dreamed I would get so excited to see a bear up close and get to photograph it! Sorry the picture is not better. I was too nervous and there was too much underbrush. Jeep sat down flat on the ground to get a better shot, adjust his equipment or something. I asked him if he thought he could out-run the bear and he replied, "I don't have to out-run the bear, I just have to out-run you!"

Happy Birthday!

 

So many birthdays...so much to be thankful for! I just had to share a rose with you from the bouquet my sweetie brought me this morning! I've really been celebrating for the last four days! Lunch at my sister's house, phone calls, Birthday cards, E-cards and notes, Happy Birthday to You sang to me by two different churches, visits and a gift that is to be delivered later. The more birthdays I have, the more I appreciate having them!