Touring Through The Gardens Note Card Party

One of our favorite excursions is a trip to the Botanical Gardens near our home. The Garden's cover 155 acres, with over 40 themed gardens. I can't think of a time of year when I don't enjoy visiting. It's a beautiful place to take a walk, with lots of areas to sit, tucked all through the gardens. If walking through 155 acres seems a little daunting, you can hop a tram or take a little boat ride. Each time we go we chose a different direction to walk, you never see the entire Garden with one visit, that's why we get a Family Pass each year.It's hard to pick a  favorite time of year to go, there is Spring with the beautiful azaleas

But I also love the Bicentennial Rose Garden that begins blooming around the end of May

With Summer the Perennial Gardens are blooming, and this year they hung baskets on the                      bridge... gave me all kinds of inspiration for my own garden next year

The hours change with the arrival of Fall but the Garden is still a great place to visit that time of year. Temperatures are cooler, so the walking a little more pleasant and the fall color is beautiful. Starting in December till the first part of January, they have the Garden of Lights, this helps keep interest up in the Gardens all year round

I know it's not the same as being there but I hope you have enjoyed this little tour of the Gardens. Linking up with  Vee today and her Note Card Party

Summer Goodness

 Who would have thought it would be so hard to pick four photos for a Note Card Party.  I have a ton of photos so it's not like I don't have any to choose from, actually that's part of the problem, whilst looking for photos I noticed some major housekeeping is needed at my Picasa site but I shall leave that for another day before I get so engrossed in cleaning stuff up that I forget why I went there in the first place. ...why was I there again...oh yes Note Card Party

This month I decided to do photos of good things to eat, the photo above is of peach preserves. My son tried the recipe first, we liked it so much we made our own. Good on toast or ice cream, see recipe here;
Earl Grey Peach Preserves

These jalapenos would make good "poppers", any good recipes out there, healthy of course (that would defeat the whole purpose of a "popper" though, don't think they are meant to be healthy

Cherry tomatoes beginning to ripen on the vine. Mix with a little fresh basil, olive oil and crusty bread and you have lunch

Strawberries freshly picked from a local farm, we made freezer jam with ours.

       

                                                   Sharing this with  Vee's Note Card Party

                     Now I really do need to get to work on my picasa site....thanks for the tips Vee

Fallen Snow

There seems to be a peace when you go outside after a freshly fallen snow, the air is crisp and quiet. I enjoy the novelty of snow and the photo opportunities it gives me, but mostly I enjoy it from the window of my nice warm house.

 We don't get snow often here, and when we do it tends to shut the city down. We don't own a snow shovel and the children in the neighborhood use cardboard boxes and trash can lids for sleds, and boots....well they may be grocery bags taped around the ankles. This is the south after all.

These photos were taken the winter of 2011, hope you enjoy

                                              Linking up with Vee for her note card party