Took time to smell the flowers today...

We went to New Bern, NC, today.  We visited Tryon Palace.  If you're local, you may like to know that they currently open up the gardens FREE on the first Sunday of each month.  We took LOTS of pictures, and here are just a few.  I love North Carolina, and how green it is most of the year.

Hope you can appreciate some of these beautiful pictures!

Have a wonderful Labor Day, and muffin tin ideas are next, I promise I've been working on that!  Also coming soon, a series of lunchbox pictures.

I have been VERY busy (Backyard Berm)

Here's what I've been working on for the last 4 weekends.  Adding a couple of feet in height to a "berm" which is a barrier that divides our yard from the wetlands behind us.  I added topsoil by the truckload (6 truckloads) using a shovel and a garden rake (see pic).  Then I covered it with about 3 truckloads of shredded hardwood mulch.  The pictures may not be breathtaking, but believe me, compared to how it looked before, I want to spend hours out back just soaking in the view.  I love the wall of trees, the sounds of many types of birds, and the sun/shade of this backyard.  This is one of the reasons we bought this house.  I love it.

Garden Rake:

Finished building up the topsoil:

Finished the mulch:

Now, if I decide, I can plant flowers or plants along that berm.  Right now I just need a break from it! 

Our backyard, even with the amazing view, came with many challenges.  For 3 years we had several huge gorgeous sweet gum trees that produced amazing shade, and a black gum tree that was just so pretty, but not thriving.  The downside was all the gumballs that took over every winter, and the inability to grow grass.  We had the trees removed, and have seen a world of difference, but still have a ways to go.

That's it for now.  Happy Mothers Day to all my readers who are moms!