Roan Mountain Trip

So, we decided a little more than a week ago, that we should go check out the rhododendron blooming at Roan Mountain. It was the weekend of the rhododendron festival, so we thought they probably were blooming like we have seen in the past and are so beautiful.

Not the best way to spend the 4th of July...

On Thursday we were planning to go either backpacking with some friends, canoe down a river, or to go mountain biking on both Friday and Saturday and then check out our co-worker's band play at the Barnardsville community celebration. That sounds like a good time, right?

Somehow, between Thursday and Friday morning we decided that maybe we should just quick fix the leak on our back porch, which we knew required taking the old shingles off and putting on a new roof.

Good times, eh?  How do you like the 1x4's underneath the roof?

By the time we finished pulling off all of the shingles and getting all the nails out, it was time to call it a day.  We had Mat's family over to grill out to help reduce the amount of zuchini and yellow squash that we've picked from our garden.

Definitely one of the highlights of the weekend!

The next day we were at it bright and early...but not too early, since we do have neighbors.  We started at 8 a.m. and by mid-afternoon when our neighbor Brian & Kim called, we were only too grateful that they came over and brought us fruit bars and cold drinks!  They supplied us with a much needed break and entertainment.  AND then Brian stayed and helped with the roofing project!  We owe them big time!  Especially since his wife went into labor Sunday morning.  Mat's dad came over too and really helped us out.  (All on the 4th of July).   Aren't you glad that you don't live near us?

About 7:30 p.m. we were finished and we were able to make it out to Barnardsville to hear our co-worker's band play at their 4th of July celebration and then watch the fireworks.   Which were actually pretty amazing!

I don't think I would recommend to anyone getting into a roofing project on a holiday weekend.  It wasn't really the most festive way to spend the weekend!  But it is done now and we don't have to worry about that project any longer.  Phew.

fun at work!

Last Thursday, while driving home from my campfire program, this was the wonderful view I enjoyed:



Then on Friday, I worked up at the C.G. visitor center where we get to have a one hour rove/hike.  It was a BEAUTIFUL day and the catawba rhodendron were blooming along with some flame azalea.



The trail was even beautiful with the blooms along the forest floor.



Sometimes, I just can't believe that this is my job!  I sure am lucky!

rainy spring/summer and work

Our garden is loving all the rain it has been getting this year! We've been enjoying peas, broccoli, squash and cucumbers from it all ready. Luckily, we started the zuchini a few weeks after the yellow squash...we are all ready having to give away about 3-4 squash a day and if we had zuchini on top of that people might not really appreciate it!

Yesterday afternoon, it downpoured rain for about 15-20 minutes and there were gusts of wind that were so strong I was kind of worried some of the trees were gonna blow down! When I wandered around to tell people about my campfire program, I was only able to find about 8 people at their campsites so I was afraid that there wouldn't be anyone at the program. But luckily, I had a good crowd show up who was really fun.

There was one person there with a large camera who kept standing up and taking photos from different angles, too bad he didn't come talk to me afterwards and I could have asked him to email me some pics of myself and I would have been able to post them!!

sunny weekend!

This past weekend we attended a friend's wedding.  It was located about an hour away from us in the woods.  It was very beautiful with a creek running right by the camping area and the reception area.  We walked up a bit to where the wedding ceremony was and it was this open field area with beautiful views up to the ridge tops.  The ceremony was very nice and the bride and groom were happy

Then we met some biking friends for a nice bike ride with many creek crossings!

wildflower hike in the rain

Last weekend, we went on a beautiful hike in the rain.  We explored and wandered up a creek for a lovely afternoon.  We saw so many different flowers and it was cool to id  the flowers that we did not know.

Mat figuring out what this is growing on the rock in a stream.

Foamflower

Mayapple

Wild Stonecrop

Umbrella Leaf (check out how big the leaf is!)

Violet

I am still so amazed at how green everything is out here.  The rain has been very helpful this spring and it feels almost tropical at the moment!

Garden 2009

Thanks to the record amounts of rain we've had this May, our garden is a happy garden!  Soon, we will have some squash and peppers to eat.  We planted a couple weeks early than recommended and are really glad that we only had one night of low temperatures to worry about.



Look how big our pepper is!  Last year this was about as large as they got all season.