Summer Sights

Summer in the mountains of North Carolina is so beautifully lush and green.  It was especially so this trip due to all the rain each day of our visit.  Fortunately, it only rained for a short time and then the sky would clear nicely.

I love to try to capture some of the beauty all around us with my camera and the beauty in and around the mountains sure does offer many opportunities.   I especially enjoy seeing the rural natural areas in the little town of Robbinsville where we have a mountain cabin.   We enjoy seeing the simplicity of life there.

My husband is always very patient if I see a potential photo I just can't do without.  He very kindly stops and waits for me to return from getting that special picture.  We took an afternoon and drove around the area trying to capture some of the pretty places I had noticed on our way to and from the cabin all week while visiting with some of our children and grandchildren.

How about this old barn ... It looks like it has been here for many years and is still being used.

Growing in front of the old barn was a collection of these very pretty little purple wildflowers.

The Snowbird Creek area is a fun place where the grandchildren enjoy swimming.

The water level increases in the creeks after the rains.

Pretty wildflowers growing along the roadway.

I did not plant a garden this year knowing we would be coming and going so much this summer that there would not be time to take care of it.   It was so nice to see so many other gardens growing along our route going and coming from the cabin. 

With all the corn I see in these gardens I do wonder how they keep the critters out of their gardens.

Last Summer when my corn was just about ready to be picked, some critters, we are guessing raccoons, came in and got every bit of that corn.   I wonder how all these folks handle that problem.

While I was walking up to get this below picture,  one of the local folks was getting his mail from his mailbox, and we began to chat a little.  I told him I was just  trying to get a nice picture of his pretty garden.  He told me that this garden belongs to 4 different families and they all work in it together.  I thought that was so nice.

Beans growing in front of this pretty old barn.

This garden was closer in toward town. 
That is a huge amount of beans, corn and what looks like green peppers.

Someone is going to have a lot of beans to pick.

Another pretty garden.

Someone has been working hard.  This is a huge amount of firewood. 

 Someone is thinking ahead and getting ready for Fall.

Look how nicely all that cut-up firewood is stacked. 

 Someone worked really hard cutting and stacking all that heavy wood.

We drive by this home on our way toward town from the cabin.  It always catches my eye because of the big front porch and the pretty stonework all over.  We see a lot of this type of stonework around this area.  I think it must be North Carolina stone.  It always has a touch of orange-brown stone mixed in, which is so pretty with the rest of the stone.

There are always flowers growing in this yard.  This time the whole yard was full of these very pretty purple flowers.  I love the flag on the porch!

These wild Queen Anne's Lace looking wildflowers were in full bloom all over along the roadways.

We passed what my husband calls wild Daylilies and they were so pretty.

Over the Fourth of July week there were several festivities in the downtown area.
 

 Pretty hydrangeas in bloom outside of Robbinsville Townhall.

 The main street downtown was blocked off for the holiday celebration.  The band was playing ...

Folks were having a great time clogging in the street,  even very little dancers ...

There was an old-fashioned cake-walk and everyone was having a fun Fourth of July holiday.

A couple of days before we left to come back home there was a memorial service and bridge dedication for a very special mountain man friend whom everyone loved.

He was a simple, kind, good and thoughtful man who always had time to chat with anyone who stopped by his place for a visit.  Often times when driving by his little farm he could be seen sitting under the huge tree in his side yard.  It was not unusual to see anyone of the neighbors sitting and visiting with him.

He often came up to our cabin on his four-wheeler and just sat quietly and visited.  He loved to whittle and often made little keepsake items to give to people.  If someone mentioned anything that needed to be done .... he was there helping out.

This special man was so well loved by all of the neighbors, which included local folks plus the vacationing visitors who officially named him the "Mayor of Upper West Buffalo."   Everyone worked together to get permission to officially name the new bridge over the West Buffalo Creek in his honor.

The huge stone seen in the above photos was moved and placed by the bridge with one of his favorite quotes engraved on the stone.

His big kind heart gave out in his 87th year and he had to leave everyone.  His loss is still felt over 2 years after he left all of us.   He will always be remembered and none of us will ever be able to drive by this bridge without thinking of him.

Rest in peace Ray!

There were many more folks attending the dedication ceremony,
but they all did not get in the picture.

How blessed we are to have people in our lives who are special and dear.  How wonderful it is to have the sweet memories of this special man we all loved.

A day or so after this get-together we headed home to Tallahassee.  It was such fun to be in the mountains with the fresh cool breezes from the mountains and the lazy easy-going days of Summer.  But, as they say,  it is also nice to be home again.

I hope you are having wonderful Summer days and that you have a very nice weekend.