What is THIS and WHY is it in our Yard????????

New fenced item in our yard,  next to the deck!

Hello Friends,  We have something NEW in our yard....  You know that we call our car, Mrs. P..  Well--our new 'friend' is named Mr. PT.......Do you have any idea what is behind that fence???????

George built this fence with materials from Lowe's.

NO---it's not a new home for our resident birds --nor squirrels ---nor chipmunks -- nor for our nightly visitors,  the raccoons....

My hint is that it is something which our Community Club says (in their rules) that MUST be hidden --so as not to take away from the beauty in our community!!!!!  (That's why George built the fence!!!!)  SO---it must be quite ugly!!!!!!  Hmmmmmmm.

Meet Mr.  PT  (our new Propane Tank)

Okay---I'll tell you what it is. Please meet our new Propane Tank  (Mr. PT)... I think he's kinda cute,  don't you?  Don't know why we had to fence him in!  Maybe someone thinks that  Mr. PT will try to escape..... Ya think?

Mr. PT (from the deck)

This is what Mr. PT  looks like when I'm standing on the deck--looking down on that 100 gallon tank. Now ---do you have any idea why we bought Mr. PT???????  We are an all-electric house ---so we have never used propane gas for anything....

Remember what we used to have here??????

This picture is Clue Number 2......  We used to have a huge WOODPILE here.  Remember??????

Wagon Full of WOOD --getting ready to leave us!

But---we gave all of our left-over wood away to a friend.... See that doggie?  That's SWEETIE... Sweetie's Daddy came with his trailer. 

Sweetie's Daddy GLADLY took our left-over Wood!!!

This is Larry  (Big Dude),  blog friend whose blog is HERE.  When we visited Larry and family/friends in their home not long ago,  I mentioned that we had some left-over wood we needed to get rid of.  Larry and a friend along with Sweetie took me up on my offer --and came to get the wood not long ago.

Bye Bye,  Larry---and our WOOD

After loading up all of the wood,  I offered the guys (George, Larry, and his friend) a cold drink (I even gave Sweetie some water)--before they got back on the road heading home.  They were glad to have that wood --and we were glad to find someone who could use it!

George makes sure they can make it out of the yard!

WELL----now we don't have anymore wood to burn in our fireplace.... Hmmmm---wonder what happens next?????

The side yard looks different without the woodpiles.

By now all of you must know what we did!!!!!!  BUT FIRST---I must tell you a personal story here.  I must admit that life and priorities change as we get OLD... I am one person who said that she'd NEVER have a 'fake' Christmas tree in her house... BUT---now I do (and love it)...  AND--I also said that I'd never go to Gas Logs in my fireplace.  BUT--after last winter's horribly cold winter, we decided to make that change.  I still love a wood-burning fireplace --but it was just not practical for us any longer.   Some of the reasons we changed:
1. Hubby has a bad back --and last winter,  all of his work chopping wood,  going back and forth from the woodpile and the garage trying to keep the wood dry was just too much--  since it was SO bitterly cold and since,  even after all of that work,  we had a hard time staying WARM.
2. Gas Logs look much nicer now --and look like the real thing. (I had gas logs once years ago --and hated them since they looked 'fake'.  Today,  they look REAL.)
3. Gas Logs will keep our home cleaner --with less smoke and wood-droppings being carried in and out.
4. Gas Logs are warmer than wood-burning fireplaces ---since all of the heat comes into the room rather than going up the chimney!

Our new GAS LOGS

So---we made the BIG change....  Here's a picture of the logs.   It's not a great picture ---but they really do look REAL.

The new Gas Logs in USE on a cold day

Unfortunately,  we haven't had much cold weather here yet --so we haven't been able to use the fireplace much.  BUT--so far,  we LOVE it...

The neatest thing to me is that it has a REMOTE ---and that's how we turn it off and on.  The remote can be set to maintain a certain temperature---and will go off and on as needed in order to keep the temperature in the house where we want it.

We can also program the remote to come on early in the morning in order to warm things up by the time we get up!!!!!!   I feel very spoiled by this feature---but George will love not getting up early to make me a fire,  or even to get up during the night and stoke the fire to keep it going... We are POSITIVE that we have made the right decision, especially George I'm sure!!!!  Keeping the wood burning fireplace was a HUGE job ---which we truly didn't need to continue doing.

Beautiful look,  don't you think?

Finally,  here's one more picture of our new fireplace while lit.  (The reflections are from the glass doors.)   You can see that there are 'embers' glowing at the bottom.  Isn't it neat??????  I don't know if you are a gas-log-fireplace lover  OR a 'fake' Christmas tree lover ---but this old woman knew that it was time to learn to "love" BOTH.....

NOTE (added after blog post was written):  We got to use our new fireplace yesterday --since it finally got COOL outside..  AND--we've had so much rain now that I cannot complain for a long time about being dry here.  We have had over 8 inches in the past 10 days... Hopefully it will be over soon (today I hope) ---and we will get some sunshine!!!!!  Yeah... Have a great weekend.

Hugs,

Emoticons

Our Walk After the Snow (2/13/14)

On my last blog post (Wed, Feb. 19),   I showed you photos of our 5+ inch snowfall here in Fairfield Glade, Tennessee, on Feb. 12-13, 2014.   I shared photos as the snow began on the 12th,  again that evening,  and the next morning early...

That same morning,  after the snow quit and after the sun came out,  George and I took a long walk in our area around the Druid Hills Golf Course.  Of couse,  we took SCADS of photos also that morning...

Hope you enjoy seeing these pictures of our 'one and only' pretty snow of this winter (so far)....  I was SO excited at seeing the snow since it was beautiful as it clung to everything.

Sit back and enjoy the photos.  Above is a picture George took of me knee-deep in snow, as we walked.  Below are more --so be sure to click on the photos for enlargements. 

Love the blue sky in this photo

That is the back of our home,  from the golf course fairway

Amazing how the wind blew the snow on the sides of the trees

From the middle of the fairway,  everything looked so pretty.

I love seeing the snow cling to the evergreens.

I loved the shape of this tree,  especially with snow on it.

Oh how this girl LOVES snow!!!

The snow was clinging to everything. Isn't it pretty?

Even the Indiana Boy (who doesn't like snow)  seemed to enjoy this walk!

There's nothing prettier than water and snow!!!! Druid Hills is a beautiful golf course--but the hills can be brutal (but good for us) when walking!

I love this close-up of the hemlock and snow!

That would be a pretty Christmas Tree --for a HUGE home

The snow was falling off of the pine tree ON me...  Brrrrrrrr...

I love it when the snow makes FINGERS..... ha

Here's one more photo showing the back of our pretty little home.  I love seeing the shadows.

Back to 6:30 am that morning,  here's the front of our home...

I'll close with one more photo taken about 6:30 a.m. that morning of the front of our home.  This was such a gorgeous snow --and just the perfect amount for us!!!

Hope you enjoyed my 'snow' photos this week.. That may be the only nice snow we get this winter ---but many of you would say,  that is a GOOD THING... ha

Well Friends!!!!  It's time for another "BLOG BREAK".....  My blogging will be very sporadic between now and the end of March due to our busy schedule.  SO---I'll try to keep you posted as to our schedule this next month or so...  Right now,  I'll try to blog the week of March 3/5/7....  But--I'll keep you posted.  IF you are on Facebook,  you can keep up with me there...  OR--you can email me at any time.

Have a terrific week/month ahead!!!

Hugs,

Emoticons

Good News after some Bad News!

Our Home the morning of Feb. 13 (6:30 am) after our 5+ inch snow

Well---unless you have followed me on Facebook or heard from me this past week,  you may not know that our special Valentine's Trip had to be cancelled!  We had reservations to go to Cashiers,  North Carolina, to stay in a quaint little inn there in the mountains for a few days.  We had been looking forward to this trip since we were going to do some hiking and searching for waterfalls.

If you followed the weather talking about the horrible winter storms in the south,  then you'll know that Cashiers was in the path for 14 inches of snow plus ice plus power outages, etc....  Yipes!!!!  We couldn't get to Cashiers... We were SO disappointed!

Luckily for us though,  the owners of the inn allowed us to change the dates... SO----we'll get to go again at a later time!!!!  Great News (after the bad news),  don't you think????  We have never been there but it looks like an awesome little inn in the mountains. 

The other good news we had this past week (besides our fabulous Valentine's Day Celebration which I shared with you on Monday) was that, after almost NO snow here this winter,  we FINALLY got the 'perfect' snow (2/12-13).   It was part of that same sytem which crippled the south ---yet we just got the snow here, and nothing severe.

We got FIVE + inches (measured on our deck table) of beautiful wet snow which clings to everything.   This is 'my' kind of snow because we can get gorgeous photos.  The temperature was not too cold ---so we could get out and take a nice, long walk.  AND---the best news is that the sun came out the next day and much of the snow is already melted..... Like I said,  the 'perfect' snow!!!!!!

Today,  I'll show you some of the photos I took the night of the 12th and then early (6:30 am) in the morning on the 13th...  In another post,  I'll share photos from our walk later that morning--after the sun came out.  Get another cup of coffee and sit back and enjoy my snow photos from the comfort of your WARM home!!!!!

Above is one of my favorite photos of our home after the snow... Below are more taken during or after the storm... Be sure to click on them for enlargements.

Our big Rhododendron just as the snow was beginning to come down heavy (afternoon of the 12th)

After dark,  the snow was really coming down hard!!!  I was so excited!

Our Holly Bushes near the front door--early the next morning

Our front yard looking toward the Pink Dogwood Tree (which is now a White Dogwood)

You can see our Azalea and our big Jasmine bush--but the sidewalk is covered!

The lower side of our home;  I love seeing the flag blowing in the breeze.

Looking down our road;  Obviously the roads here were in bad shape!  Luckily, we didn't have to get out ---other than to walk!

Looking at our front yard toward the upper side;    See those sticks?  That's some of our Roses... Think we'll get some blooms now????? ha ha.... NOT til Spring!!!

The wet snow was clinging to everything.  This is one of our Redbud trees.

A photo of our lower side yard;  you can see the woodpile down there.. I'm glad that George had some dry wood in our garage!!!

Want to come and sit on the bench for awhile?????   I think NOT... ha

Our Backyard --looking toward the golf course;  The table is where I measured our 5+ inches.

Our upper side yard --looking at the snow-covered blocks of one of our flowerbeds

Lots of snow clinging to anything it can!!!!

Here's one more photo of our home in the pretty snow!

Hope I didn't bore you with all of these photos.  I know that many of you have way TOO much snow in your area --and I can certainly understand why you wouldn't like snow.  My sweet hubby grew up in Indiana and had his share of snow growing up... But--I'm from the SOUTH.  I have never seen too much snow... SO---when we do get one like we did this time,  I LOVE it.... 

BUT--I will end with a big statement:  Now that I've had my 'snow fix' ---I am truly ready now for Spring... SO---bring it on!!! ha ha

Hugs,

Emoticons