the garden this morning and other stuff

Hi everyone! 

I am still absent in the blogging world. 

Moving into a house and making it a home are much more time consuming than I would have thought. Even if it is a cottage! I finally have finished unpacking all the boxes and making many trips to local consignment and thrift stores to purge unneeded items. 

It has been an effort considering I did the same thing before leaving Ohio but on a much larger scale. I am still amazed at how much we all accumulate over the years and I am not even a collector or habitual shopper. I thought I was a minimalist, uh, no, definitely not. I am enjoying the "less is more freedom" philosophy but it does take effort to get rid of things in a thoughtful way.

Spending time in the yard has been a nice break when needed.

Coreopsis in the front yard that we planted a few weeks ago are happy. The dead tree in the background is one of the many sad Hemlocks that died from the Hemlock Blight in the last few years. The trees are vulnerable to aphids once they weaken.  We have several that will need to be removed.

Summer mornings on the porch are lovely.

Hydrangea tree in bloom, planted tightly between the rocks.

We added a few perennials to the yard here and there and transplanted day lilies and irises that were in the shade in need of sunlight. Also a large arborvitae tree that we needed help with.

Also enjoying the local scenery, which there is a whole lot of! 

We hiked to Sunset Rock one evening. It is an easily accessed trail in downtown Highlands.

View from Sunset Rock.

Next to us as we waited for the sunset was an Andy look-a-like. 

Surreal and sad for us. We are suffering from empty nest syndrome for sure. No more adored children and dog in the house. We miss our Ohio gardens and ponds.We miss our kids and we miss Andy. We are trying to not get a puppy right now as we have more freedom to move around and explore but it is getting tough to resist! We have had goldens for years and are used to their mellow adoring personalities. We are worried about little dogs barking but a small dog would be best when we are ready.

Making our adjustment easier is the fact that we live in such a naturally beautiful area. These  sights are all within a few miles of our house...

Dry Falls a few days ago, a few miles from town.

 Lake Sequoyah

Cullasaja River along Rt. 64

Rt 64 Whiteside Mountain looking east

and we see this view  every time we run errands to Cashiers. So we are blessed to have found such a special place. Highlands and Cashiers are charming and easy. And there is much more to see. I have saved lots of places on my Pinterest boards.

Back to the garden, we arrived back into town last week after visiting friends at Lake Chautauqua in western NY with a nice show of wildflowers on our driveway bed to greet us. 

We do not know what they are, does anyone know? They are blooming everywhere right now, a lot on the roadsides.

* figured it out, it is Helianthus divaricatus or woodland sunflowers

The background is the neighborhood park across the street. Our neighborhood features rustic split rail fences. 

Rhododendren are plentiful, always easy for a quick bouquet. 

That's it for now, hope I can blog more often soon. 

We are waiting for several things to be done in the house. Wallpaper installation, carpenter, furniture delivery, carpet installed on our basement steps. The summer is so busy around here and requires patience for service people. Once all that is accomplished, I will share some photos of our cottage.

Thanks for visiting!

Cindy