Early June 2017

I took the shots in this post on Saturday June 3 and Saturday June 10.



The weather cooperated for me to check on Bill's garden where he's retired in Oxford, NC.



I wasn't sure if his vegetable garden would survive while he and our daughter were in Europe (France, Italy and Greece) for 18 days.



It turned out well with rain at the beginning of the week and and coool weather mid week.



The hot weather was on Saturday and Sunday both weekends so it motivated me to go and turn on his irrigation on the Saturday mornings. 



None of the shots are of Bill's actual vegetable garden. The shot above is rolled bales I shot before I got to his house and the tomatoes above that shot are of tomatoes growing in one of his compost cages. I'm not sure if he even knows about them. I pick him up tomorrow to take him home so I'll find out then. 



The shot above is Bill's meadow and the shot below are trumpet vines growing on an old tobacco barn that's in his meadow.



He has a lot of wildflowers. I'm glad that he and Avory were able to go on this trip. Bill's 8 years older than I am so he has retired before I'll be able to. I'm grateful that our friendship has survived our divorce many years ago.



I was able to meet Avory during a student exchange she did during high school in Germany (around 2002). We took a train from Germany to France so I'm glad she was able to have a trip like this one with her Dad. I spent a summer in Europe in 1974 too when my father was on a sabbatical. Bill has lived in Japan but never been to Europe and I've enjoyed their trip vicariously through instagram.

July begins 2016

We've had a stormy long weekend but Sunday was nice enough for a drive to Oxford, NC where Bill has retired to.



When we were still married we had a tentative plan to retire somewhere out in the country in the mountains.



Since we're divorced and back to a close friendship I'm kind of glad that Bill didn't retire quite that far from Raleigh.



He's 8 years older than I am and retired last year.



He bought a farmhouse and five acres of land in Oxford NC which is less than an hour from Raleigh.



The shots above include his first phase of the vegetable garden he's put in, the cold frame which is growing weeds now that the plants are out, and a pasture that he originally thought he'd use as a meadow but currently plans to plant trees on.



One of the old tobacco barns on his property fell down recently the other is being eaten up by vines. Starting with the next shot are photographs inside Oxford proper as opposed to out in the sticks where Bill lives.



The first shot on this post is of the horses when I first turn on the road his house is on and part of the 5 mile drive from the turn to his house. 



We went into downtown Oxford all decked out for independence day and I photographed some of the houses on the way there and back while Bill drove.



It's nice seeing such well maintained older houses.



I particularly like the one with the sunflowers out front and the old truck.



It's nice to see a variety of styles.



Part of what I don't like about newer subdivisions is the houses often all look a lot a like, that's certainly true of the 1960s one I have lived in since 1984.



Happy Independence Day!

End of May

The first four shots were taken with my reasonably smart phone.



I was perfectly happy with a dumb phone but when it finally died I discovered that the old flip phones were no longer available through my provider.



I didn't have to change my plan and got a good deal on the new phone.



It is nice to be able to check email through the wireless option on my phone when I'm out.



I took the rest of the shots with my camera camera as opposed to phone camera.



I'm old enough to remember when telephones were all land lines.



Not to mention when there was no such thing as personal computers.



Amazing how much I didn't miss until I had it all the time.



I guess now I'll get so used to having a somewhat smart phone that I'll forget that I was perfectly happy with my dumb phone.



Happy Memorial Day from an increasingly old codger.

Two week's of Sunday's

Sunday December 6 was seasonal with a chilly start to the day.



I am fascinated by bird bath ice, in and out of the bath, although I know it's no fun for the birds.



When there aren't very many birds visible in my backyard I can usually find a hawk keeping guard from the trees and making some other birds stay out of site.



The camellia below surprised me as I photographed it the same day as my bird bath was making ice and my camellia sets buds in the winter and blooms in the spring. Confused bush. 



The rest of these shots were taken today, Sunday December 13 which was a spring weather day.



We walked at Falls Lake (Blue Jay Point - Wake County Park) and I was able to take my light jacket off half way through the walk.



The warmer weather is going to last well into the upcoming week.



It's kind of nice to have a few days here and there that are more like spring than winter.



There were a lot of people taking advantage of that at the park.

Nature Notes and Our World Tuesday: mid October

October is flying by like most months do at my age.



We had a wet weekend but a few breaks when I could get outside.



I love the fluffy feathers on the bird below.



It's interesting to me how a lot of tree's leaves change colors top down.



May trees are beginning to have color at the top but only a few have fall leaves all the way down.



During the week we had some pretty days so I went on lunch time walks in downtown Durham, NC.



I think the sculpture fits in well with all the construction that continues in the city.



Durham auditorium is an attractive building in my opinion.



As you can see we haven't had a hard frost yet so lots of growth continues.



I think our average first frost date is late October.



I think the earliest it has ever snowed in central NC where I live is November 11. I remember that because it snowed on my 30th birthday in 1987 and it was extraordinary.



Click for Our World Tuesday and click here for Nature Notes.