Plants and Views

Yesterday we went out to find some plants. I don't think you can turn a house into a home without them, and though there's not much to choose from at this time of the Summer, we managed to score two very lovely ones for the front porch, plus two for inside the house.  I still have to find a Bonsai to replace Bob, but so far haven't found a store that sells them here.

This morning, since I was taking some pictures of the new plants, I decided to hike a ways up the road to get a different view of the house that I haven't photographed yet.

A bit of our front porch, and the new basket of flowers.

Going down the stairs to the first landing, and looking up.

We found this gorgeous vine, called Mandeville, that I put in the corner of the first landing.  Last night at dusk, we watched the hummingbirds flit all around the trumpet-like red flowers.

Ozzy, watching me take photos, though he was much more interested in keeping out a watchful eye for those strange, long-legged creatures that wander down the road and into the yard.  (One of these days I'll have my camera handy when the deer with their fawns are near.)

Sitting in the deck chairs, this is the view to our right, off the front porch.  It's very pretty in the evening, just after the sun has set.  The mountains look like paper cut-outs, silhouetted against the sky.  This picture doesn't do it any justice...at all.

Some different angles of the house.  I'm at the edge of the driveway, just getting ready to walk down the road a bit before turning back to take these next photos.

The house looks nestled into the trees, doesn't it..??  We also have a group of six birch trees in the front garden that I love.  They shade the front porch in the afternoon heat and make soft whispering noises in the night breeze.

Now, into the house.  We found the perfect plant to fill a space between the loveseat and the couch.  It fit right into the room, just like I hoped.

Then we got this lovely Cat Palm, though I'm not totally convinced this is its "spot"...time will tell.

It's wonderful to have plants around me again.  I miss all the growing things I had to leave behind in Edinburgh, but what the heck, they have plants in America, after all.  I will, however, be hard-pressed to find flowers for the garden that the deer won't devour.  Oh well, that's a problem for next year.

Oh, and the electrician guy came yesterday to fix the dryer connection.  I did four loads in about 2-1/2 hours...!!  What a miracle after the two days I used to spend doing the laundry in Scotland with my other machine.  Yes, that's right: machine--as in the combo deal of washer and dryer in one unit.  Ugh.  I used to tell Alan I couldn't wait to get one of each...and now I have.  Bliss.