What next!!!!

Everyone shops for that home that will be the perfect place to put down roots and thrive. Well....not so fast!!

What we thought was going to be a wonderful experience in a beautiful "Custom Build"......has turned into one headache after another. From the chimney leaking complete with water running down the full length of our fireplace wall....a 2-story wall to.......well you get the picture.

Well.....this is what was next!!!!! Today we had our lawn ripped up!

What we thought was going to be a wonderful experience in Georgia after so many years of Air Force moves, we have had one disappointment after another.

Well.....we keep fixing this stuff!!

We got the chimney fixed after much back and forth with the builder. Then we had our front porch that kept leaking. After trying a fix of installing a larger gutter.....it still leaked. The builder just thought that I was being too picky. The builder's final answer was..."You have to caulk the posts on the upper deck." Well, caulking was NOT the answer. $7,000.00 later we fixed the porch roof thanks to the help of a another builder, Kenny Johnson Homes. Inadequate flashing was the culpret. Bottom line.....the builder was asleep at the wheel.

RIPPED...yes RIPPED UP

because the "Infiltrator System" (infiltratorsystems.com) septic lines collapsed. I wonder now how this company got this product past the approval process. As a consumer product, it has the lifespan of less than 10 years. Now I ask....who in their right mind wants to replace a septic drain field every 10 years. Well, someone in Georgia thought it was a grand idea! Need I say more!!!!

Oh.... I can't believe that Bob Villa also endorsed this product!!!!!

What I did learn from this experience with Park Side Homes/Tsuga Development is.....never live in the same neighborhood as your builder. Once there is the appearance of friendship.......they make it really hard to take them to task on their poor building quality! Of course if your neighbors were not customers of your builder and are friends with your builder.....then you are perceived as being unreasonable. My next builder will treat me like a valued client.

Whew......glad I got that off my chest!

The Blue Hour

What is the Blue Hour?

Well, it refers to the period of twilight each morning and evening where there is neither full daylight nor complete darkness. This is such a special time because of the quality of the light at this time of day.

The magic of this is that the blue hour isn't visible to the naked eye.

You can't really see it...but the camera can.

So how do you catch the blue hour in your photography since you can't see it with the naked eye? Knowing the time of day and also having another light source as in the candles on the table or a street light or the glow of city lights.

To learn more about this phenomenon, go to bluehoursite.com, and it will tell you the short period of time each morning and each evening in your area, when you should take photographs to get great blue hour pics. Here in south Atlanta area, the evening blue hour starts at 8:45-9:18 PM.

Special thanks to Susan at

http://www.betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/

for sharing this special magic of our day with us.

Just Peachy in Georgia!!

I absolutely love the German bearded Iris when it blooms.

Being here in Georgia for nine years has allowed me to plant with the expectation that I would be able to enjoy them. That was something that I missed as we moved while my husband was in the Air Force.

The Beverly Sills bearded iris blooms in "Late Spring" .

This variety is supposed to be a "rebloomer".....let's hope it is!

I was telling my sister in Birmingham how easy they are to grow. After we had returned to our house in Oklahoma after renting it for 17 years, I discovered behind the house an iris blooming that one of our tenants had dug up and thrown away. It is amazing that they live with little....or in that case...no care at all.

Happy Digging,

Gwen

A Mossy Path...a soft place to walk.

The moss path has just happened.

I would have liked to put down pavers but in early spring, a few years ago, I noticed that moss was growing on the compacted path. It does need a bit of water in the hottest part of the summer but for the most part it is self sustaining. I love anything green in the garden. Even in the winter....brush off the pine needles and you have a green walkway. These photos were taken in July.....probably the least "mossy" month of the year.

Best of all.....the moss has a nice feel underfoot.

It's Spring at Cotton Mill Cottage

This spring has been a long time coming. We had a wet but unusually cold winter

and after the drought of last summer it was what we needed!

When we found our house on an acre lot....I promised

(with fingers crossed behind my back)

that I absolutely would not try to landscape all of it. Well.....plantings keep creeping into our little "One Acre Wood"! Our wooded area was so overgrown that it took three years to rid it of poison ivy! It has been a labor of love....at times.....from my husband's point of view. Only someone that loves you would move plants because "they aren't happy there".

Here in Georgia, the clay soil is horrible to deal with! I had started a little path in our side yard but quickly realized that with a drought, there was NO WAY to keep everything growing. What I did find is that Georgia red clay does compact when you walk on it repeatedly.

What I have is a compacted mossy path. It actually looks better in fall and late winter.....the moss turns a chartreuse green.

Another discovery....we have deer....lots and lots of deer! Deer eat everything EXCEPT Southern Charm azaleas. In early spring they will nibble on the new leaves but I have not had them destroy a plant yet.


Another azalea that the deer won't eat is "President Clay".

I have always wanted this.....A Green Man.....for my garden.
Every now and then, my husband forgets about him and tells me..."that man has got to go!" Hee...Hee... Hee

This was a unwelcomed surprise......the wild trumpet vine that I had intentionally rooted from one found in the wooded part of our lot.....has taken over. A friend told me that it's like miniature Kudzu. YIKES!!!!

This was a "new" experiment. I purchased Irises on EBay and they have multiplied. I started with 6 and now dread the job of thinning them. There are probably 30 Irises now! I love how effortless growing them has been.

The good news is that I don't have to do it until September!

One of the things we love are fresh herbs. The best part....the deer don't eat most of them!!!! So as we start this season of growing, pruning.....cooking with wonderful herbs.....please pray for rain!!!!

Happy Digging,

Gwen