October morning on my balcony

When I opened my eyes this morning, all I could see was a pretty dense fog over the lake.

But when the sun came up, the fog started dissipating rapidly. I could see wild geese, making a stop on our lake on their way south

When they walk on the grassy shore beneath my balcony


Sweetie gets crazy, wanting to jump down and chase them

Fortuno does not care - he is too busy chasing something else. A small lizard, perhaps?

or this green bug next to hibiscus' flower? (Now, what's the English name of this magnificent bug?)
Misssy and Rascal don't care either. Rascal, apparently angry that his breakfast is being delayed by this morning gathering on the balcony, went under the balcony bed, so I can't see him... and neither can you...

... while Misia jumped on the table...
to consume garlic chives, undisturbed by either me or Tuno - the other chives' lovers.

Fall is a good plant season here in the south - they thrive in the cooler weather

Within half an hour... there is no more fog

just flowers in the autumn sun
blue salvia
Siam tulips
Mandevilla...

The wild geese flew away for the day. There will be another flock coming in the evening, but now the lake is clear.

Callaway Gardens mini vacations

At the end of May Disa received a stimulus package from Callaway Gardens, a huge English-type garden (2500 acres!), resort (2700 acres) and forest (8,500 acres) near Pine Mountain in central Georgia.

The stimulus package offered discounts at any lodging belonging to Callaway Garden resort, free entry to the gardens and all Callaway Gardens attractions plus free golf tee time, free tennis, free boat and bicycle rentals.

Since we both love Callaway Gardens, we decided to use this offer and went there last week for a three day, two night mini vacation.

Unfortunately, the weather was not ideal, because we had only one whole day without rain, Wednesday. It rained on Tuesday afternoon,

allowing us to enjoy wet and foggy vistas of the lakes (there are 13 lakes in the gardens, the biggest one with a large sandy beach) and the gardens during an early evening ride/walk through the property:

We enjoyed these aquarelle-like vistas, rain-drooping southern magnolias and the flowering bushes
and the mosses, who seemed to thrive after the rain.

to be continued

Clematis on our balcony now in bloom

Clematis in the sun

Clematis which i planted on Disa's balcony a month ago is now in fool bloom!


Clematis in the rain

Too bad that the rose, which I planted it with, just finished blooming for a while. But better one plant in bloom than neither one.

Georgia Antebellum trail: first stop: Monticello

War monument at the square in Monticello.

Behind it, on the right is the Greek revival courthouse building, made famous by the film "My cousin Vinnie".

I was looking forward to a trip to Georgia's Golden Isles on Mother's Day, but the weather forecast, which suggested it would be unseasonably cold - and rainy - there this week, made us to postpone that trip and do a day trip length part of the Georgia antebellum trail that Sunday.

Southern magnolias burst into bloom in Georgia right now!
Their flowers are as big as sandwich plates and they bloom profusely all summer long. they are also a symbol of the south and a symbol of scenic drives in Georgia.

The antebellum trail runs from Athens to Macon and showcases the best examples of remaining antebellum (here meaning pre 1860 war between the North and the South) architecture in central Georgia.

Bank building in Monticello - another example of Greek revival architecture

General Sherman's scorched earth war strategy resulted in most of Georgia (including the city of Atlanta) being burnt to the ground during that war, but he spared Savannah and some towns in middle Georgia, which made the antebellum trail possible. The monument above is dedicated to the memory of soldiers fighting in the war.

Since it was Mother's Day we decided to go to a traditional Mother's Day brunch after all, but to do it with a twist. We had no reservations, so we did not attempt to have brunch in Social Circle, but chose the next best thing: the Red Clay Cafe and Gallery in Georgia's Monticello: a quaint and very picturesque small town.

We had brunch at Red Clay Galleria and Cafe on the square.


The cafe and galleria are owned by Sandra (in the middle of the picture, above), who - like Monticello (My cousin Vinnie was filmed here), is also known from playing in several films: she played in Fried Green Tomatoes with Jessica Tandy and had a dancing role in Medea's Family Reunion.


The patronage of the Red Clay Cafe is racially diverse, which adds to it ambiance.


Just look at the goergeous smile of the lady in the center and the equally gorgeous red hat with pink and magenta flowers of the lady on the right... all of it against the background of a fabulous wall mural!

I love to watch the contrast between the "Sunday casual" outfits of Americans of European extraction with the elaborate - and usually very stylish - "Sunday finery" of African-Americans. I also love - every now and then, since it is definitively not healthy, but good - traditional southern cooking: grits with red eye gravy, melt in your mouth biscuits, fried chicken, cured ham, okra with tomatoes, fried green tomatoes, fresh peach cobblers - to name just the most famous dishes.

Spring is in full bloom

...and I am taking a spring break from blogging. See ya!

Living al fresco

Disa's balcony is pretty small, and narrow, only about 4" x 15" (1,20 m x 4.5 m), yet she has managed to arrange it so, that it allows for different activities: there is place for plants, a round table and a couple of chairs, a chaiselounge and even an electric grill.

The plants, filling all the left over space, are my doing.

Last week I planted clematis with large, pale blue flowers, which I am awaiting eagerly (according to the nursery, the only large blooming clematis, that grows in the south) in the same pot as a lavender rose, which already has one flower. (all my pictures are clickable, so you can see the details).

I was really thrilled to have found - in the same nursery - an Angel Earrings fuchsia from the Amazon jungle (to the right of the table) - the only fuchsia that can take heat and humidity of Atlanta in the summer, popularly known as Hotlanta for that very reason.

We both love living al fresco, so this corner is when we have breakfast, lunch, sometimes dinner, read, write, talk.

Disa is a sun worshipper, so she can enjoy an early afternoon there as well, while I - and my laptop - feel that we are getting too much sun then.

What I enjoy most is the forest outside - or an illusion of a forest, since it is just a slope, covered with trees in the middle of a city with close to 4 millions of inhabitants. Behind the slope are townhouses.

To increase the forest feel I planted a dwarf columbine (in a pot on the railing) and two different vines in baskets hanging on the wall: a blue ipomoea and dark red coral vine.

Nearest the balconies grow some tulip poplars, spreading their branches like nature provided green umbrellas with yellow dots of flowers in the spring.

They give such a peaceful ambiance, allowing the inhabitants of the building to relax on their balconies, feeling as if they were having a picnic in a forest.

Oh, I do love my various places with views!

Purple beauties

The favorite purple beauties of my youth were lilacs.

I miss their fragrance, their promise of a spring romance... and of a summer to come...

In Poland they were blooming in May, in Sweden in July and I met them in the USA, too, but in upstate New York, around the Fingerlakes.

Unfortunately they do not grow in the warm climate, where I like to live. So my southern purple beauty of choice is wisteria.

Wisteria grows all over Atlanta, covering plenty of trees with its showy purple flowers. A lot prettier - and more cheerful - than the kudzu vines.

If you like wisteria, you can find a lot more pictures of it here , on Ewas blog, as she assembled a gallery of wisteria pictures from all (?) the places, where they grow. Enjoy!

Snow in april

no, in Atlanta it is not a real snow, but dogwood.

A lot of those profusely blooming trees grow in the Eastern part of the United States, where the soil is mostly acidic.
They create an enchanting contrast of all that fresh spring green interspersed with a totally "snow" covered trees
And cheer everybody up!

More orchids ... and an orchid sale

Early this morning Atlanta Botanical Garden held an orchid sale from the Orchid Daze exhibition - for members only. You could buy fantastic specimens at $10 (and up), so a lot of members showed up to take advantage of this event.

Above is what I brought home, and below some other beauties from the exhibition.