July 6, 2011

Lakeside Gardening

We were lucky enough to be invited up for the weekend to our friends' home on
Smith Lake in North Alabama near Cullman
.
C. is retired now and she loves to garden...in fact after her
 retirement, she attended classes and is now a Master Gardener. 

Her husband, M., is semi-retired but he also likes to tend their gardens.

Although their whole yard is beautiful,
the real gem is the garden shed complete with a porch.

The twig rockers and hammock overlook the lake below.


The inside of the shed is cozy and organized.



They used translucent panels on the roof so that the light of the sun provides most of the illumination they ever need in the shed. 
They collect glass balls to suspend from the beams and catch and reflect the sunlight.

The vegetable/flower garden is in full swing this summer.
 It is enclosed to keep as many critters out as possible.


The first thing you notice when you enter the gate is the sunflower stand.  Most of them are about 10 feet tall.  C. and M. said they did not even replant the sunflowers this year so these are a result of seeds from last year planting themselves and coming back.






There are also lovely dahlias in the enclosure.






The pride and joy of the garden for the owners are the vegetables.
They have a bountiful harvest all summer to enjoy, share, can and freeze.

There are several types of tomatoes in the garden. 
Here are some waiting to ripen before being picked.



The bean arbor is just beautiful and shady too.



This is one day's harvest from the bean arbor.

The garden has cucumbers and dill growing...
you know what those turn into...homemade pickles.

Cucumbers

Dill Weed


There are beautiful flowers everywhere in the yard.
The huge daylilly garden had already peaked
before we got there but it is still lovely to behold.





Queen Anne's Lace

Lantana

Oak Leaf Hydrangea

Cone Flowers

Butterfly Bush

We asked if they would drive us to the nearby town of Cullman
 so we could see first-hand the damage that the April tornadoes caused.



Even six weeks after the tornadoes,
there was so much devastation
 and destruction in the downtown area.  Whole buildings
completely caved in...major damage to so many roofs
...a transmission tower crumpled on the ground...
trunks and roots of 100 year old trees still laying on the ground...
homes near downtown destroyed.  






Although C. and M. were without power for several days
after the tornadoes, their property did not get much damage. 

This little picture at their home just about sums it up...


It says, "If you are lucky enough to live by the water...you're lucky enough". 

And we were lucky to have spent a wonderful weekend by the water too. 



14 comments

  1. I was almost exclaiming aloud at every single photo! Your friends have such a gorgeous homestead! The shed with the porch and the daylilies against the fence. And the sweetest ever picture. I have to count my blessings. No matter what I have or don't have, I'm lucky enough. Look forward to reading more.... thank you for dropping in over at my blog to say hi and it is so nice to meet you! ~Diane

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  2. What a beautiful place to spend a week!

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  3. Dear Miss Kitty....
    WOW! Master gardener INDEED!
    What I would give to have a garden like that...the little shed with porch and THE view! Whew!
    My kinda view. I cannot even imagine the countless hours of tender loving care that have gone into the creation, implementation and constant care of this artful and abundant garden.
    I am so impressed! Thanks so much for sharing Miss Kitty.
    xox
    Alison

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  4. What a gorgeous place! I love that they included you for the weekend..it must have been an awesome stay! Did you want to KopyKat everything you saw! Very impressive and SOOOO peaceful feeling. That storm, though, was anything but peaceful..so sad! xo Diana

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  5. what a beautiful garden, and the shed too!

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  6. That quaint little porch is so darn cute and the garden shed is amazing! This looks like my dream place. It's just so beautiful and with the lake in the background it looks straight out of a magazine.

    All my favorite flowers too, the gorgeous sunflowers, the coneflowers, I don't think it could look any prettier :)

    Oh so bad about those horrible tornadoes.

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  7. STUNNING! That shed is just perfect. I am putting it in my long term farm goals file. Love it.

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  8. Hey Ms.C. and Mr. M. These pictures really show off your hard work in a GRAND way !!!! Of course, nothing is so GRAND as seeing it in person

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