Friday, June 16, 2017

🌺🌼 Springtime in Western North Carolina

Hi Everyone!    I do hope you are doing well these days as we move on into the middle of June already! ... Do not know how time can go by so fast.    

We took some time to drive up to Western North Carolina to visit the mountain cabin and get a few chores done up there in preparation for family coming to visit over 4th of July week.  

If you have ever visited Sweet Southern Days, you know how I like to try to capture some of the beauty all around us with my camera ... So, I had the camera sitting close to me as we drove along through all of the little towns and traveled the roadways on our way to the cabin.

If you see the red dot just below the center of the below map,  you will see the area we were driving through when I snapped some of the photos seen below.  

This is a little town called Mineral Bluff, Georgia and only has a population of 143.  As you can see on the map below, it is very close to the North Carolina state line.  It is also located 6 miles north-east of Blue Ridge, Georgia and 100 miles north of Atlanta,  just to give you an idea where it is located.  On our way up to the cabin, our route always takes us through this very small little north Georgia town.  This time we decided to take a side road before making our usual turn off on to Highway 60 heading north toward North Carolin.


Shortly after we turned off on this little side narrow road we spotted this lovely old country home with a huge side porch up on the hill.   As you can see,  there is a very large fenced pasture all around the home.


The below photo is as close as my camera lens would zoom in to see details.


Down in front of this country home we spotted this beautiful cream-colored bull.  He looked like he was wondering who we were and what were we doing there.  Not knowing his personality and what he might be capable of,  I stayed safely seated in the car to take this photo of him.


I called to him and asked him to come over for a visit and he did.


I have always loved cows and their pretty faces.  He does actually look kind of sweet;  but, I was not sure of that and did not take any chances by getting out to take his picture or to pet him on the nose or that sweet face ... That fence did not look all that secure.

Isn't he so pretty!  I wondered what he was thinking!


Directly across the roadway, in the adjacent pasture, we spotted several of his 
friends casually having lunch and not paying much attention to us.


When I called to them they did become a little curious and came over to say "hello."  
Aren't they completely adorable!!


Moving along on our way, as we reached the town of Robinsville, North Carolina where the cabin is located,  we spotted these Native Azaleas blooming as we passed by someone's yard.  They were so bright and beautiful,  we just had to stop for a photo of these very colorful flowers.



It was Springtime in the mountains and lots of flowers were blooming.

The below photo shows our mountain cabin.  You can just barely see the Hydrangeas blooming in the  right side of the photo.  We planted them last year and were not sure if they would make it because there is no one there except the Good Lord to take care of them most of the time.


It looks like he has been doing a pretty good job.



On the evening we arrived the view across the mountain looked so calm and peaceful.


The next day there was a good bit of rain in the area making for low clouds and fog in the mountains.


It was great fun working up in the middle of the wilderness getting rid of weeds and making the front flower beds look pretty.  In town we even found some pine straw to mulch the beds.



Can't you feel the cool breezes coming across the mountain!




We were delighted to arrive when the Old Country Rose was blooming ... 
It was almost in full bloom when we arrived.


What a nice surprise upon arrival, as we rounded the last bend in the road up to the cabin, to spot this rose almost in full bloom.   We planted this little rose over 20 years ago.  This plant has had to take care of itself completely way up there on the mountain ... This is certainly a carefree rose.


We call this Old Country Rose (the Cow Pasture Rose) because many years ago my husband dug up a little runner of this rose from his sister's cow pasture, brought it up here, planted it, and there it is all completely taking care of itself.  When we visit the cabin, occasionally we cut any large weeds we see growing around this bush and that is all the care it gets.




I love that beautiful pink color.     

There are different degrees of the color pink depending on the light when the photo was taken.


Later on, as we drove around the country mountain roads, we spotted more flowers in bloom. The flowers seen in the below photo are called Mountain Laurel.  This flower is seen only in the eastern United States and survives nicely all the way from the state of Maine on down to northern Florida.


The rose bush in the below photo was growing at the top of the hill on someone's close-by property.   If you look in the bottom left of the photo you can spot a garden way down the hill.


After we finished with all our chores we wanted to go sightseeing over in Waynesville, North Carolina.  It is a very pretty drive over to this charming area.  We had heard about an amazing Old Country Inn called "The Swag" in Waynesville.  We plan to go back in the Fall to have dinner at their amazing restaurant, but for this day we were satisfied to stop in and take some photos of the area.


If you are looking for a beautiful mountain get-away experience, this old mountain inn located in the Waynesville area would be a wonderful place for you to visit.  If you would like you can click on the link below for more information:

Since we were not staying at the Inn on this visit we just stayed long enough to take a few photos.


As you can see the Rhododendrons were in full bloom and were so beautiful.


This hammock sure did look inviting.


Walking just a short distance we spotted this log arbor entrance to what appeared to be a rental cabin.


The Clematis Vines growing on each side of the fencing were so pretty ...






The below photo shows a closer look at the very rustic rental cabin.


I did not want to trespass and was only able to snap a photo from this very old and charming side view.  It is so pretty with what looks like ivy completely surrounding the window on the ground level of the cabin.


As we drove on along heading back to the cabin we spotted another 
rose bush blooming on the side of the road.


And we spotted this old red building in the photo below.  
It looks like it could be a very old church or even an old school house.


Just across the highway from this old building we also spotted a 
Dogwood tree filled with beautiful flowers.  




Moving on along down the highway we passed by an area where
lots and lots of Christmas trees were growing.


The beautiful Christmas trees were growing all over the mountain for as far as the eye could see.





We spotted this very old log cabin not too far away from the Christmas Tree Farm.  
I  love the charm of these old cabins we often see in and around as we drive through the mountains.


As we returned back to the Robinsville area heading back to our cabin,  I just had to stop and get a picture of this old mailbox with Ole Glory attached to the top of the mailbox post.  I thought it was so very nice that way out here in the country there is still patriotism displayed.



And along the way we spotted another huge wild rose bush.


This old rose bush looked very similar to the one on top of our mountain by the cabin.
The blossoms were a little larger on this plant.


Such pretty little flowers.


We love to visit the mountains and enjoy the cool, quiet peacefulness and all the beauty.
This below photo was taken the evening before we left to go back home to Tallahassee.


Thank you for visiting and coming along with us as we enjoyed these 
beautiful mountains in the North Carolina area.

It is hard to believe that the first official day of Summertime will arrive in just six days on June 21st.  

Wishing you many blessings and beautiful last days of Spring wherever you may be.