Daffodil Days

My vase says " Daffodil Days".  How Perfect!

It's here!!! Daffodil Days.....they are everywhere!!  In everyone's yards and all along the sides of the roads.  Oh how I love this time of year!!!  It makes enduring the cold weather all winter long so well worth it.  Spring is fantastic up here!!  I planted tulips all along each side of the walk way from the front porch.  Oh how they are going to be so pretty when it's time for them to bloom.  Flowers like these where just " grocery store" flowers all those years I lived in Florida.  To have them grow in your yard is almost like living in a fairy tale.  Come every season, I realize how lucky I am to live " up north".  Right now Spring is my favorite.

Did It Again!

Joe Wheeler Quilt Block

20 judges picked the 25 quilt blocks
(mine is the second on the left on this table) 

Well, I did it again!  I entered the Joe Wheeler Alabama Quilt contest.  They give you a subject and you make a quilt block accordingly.  This time the subject was " what put us on the map".  Since Joe Wheeler is such an important part of history for the South, I thought I would make my block with his house on it.  We have toured his house a couple of times and have thoroughly enjoyed it.  Well, Joe must have brought me luck because guess what!!!!  My block has been picked to be in the Alabama Quilt for this year!!!!  The quilt will be finished by May or June and will tour around the state of Alabama before being hung in a building in downtown Montgomery.  Wouldn't my " quilting mama " be proud of me.  ..(smiling)

Biltmore Green House

These were my favorite....lavender tulips

Pretty flowers, pretty cousins

Orange tulips

This room was filled with white hyacinths and the smell was over whelming.




After our tour of the house, we headed back to the explorer to go see the beautiful green house that keeps the house in flowers throughout the year.  Of course the gardens outside were bare because of the winter weather.  Soon it will be covered in daffodils and tulips.  Oh how I wish I was going to get to see it all.  The next stop on the tour was the winery and wine shop.  We bought another Biltmore wine to take home to toast our trip.  We were on the road again, heading to Becca and Ro's house just outside of Atlanta.  What a fun night that was.  We each had our own bedroom and Becca/Ro cooked us the most wonderful fish, roasted veggies dinner.  The next morning, breakfast was served in the pretty formal dining room.  It was sad to think our fun trip was about to end.  George and Jacob came and picked up Gene and we took Melanie back to Birmingham before heading home.  As always....I have a wonderful time but it sure is good to get back home.  ....Sweet Home Alabama!

Dressing Downton

Me, Melanie and Gene

Gene, dressing Downton

The Grand Stair Case

Mary's riding outfit

Costumes in the music room 

Maggie Smith's Dress/hat

We had reservations for 9:30 am for our grand Dressing Downton tour at the Biltmore House.  I think 1000 other people had the same reservations!  There were soooo many people there.  It was the last day to use the "free tickets", so I guess that is why.  I mean, when it costs $73 per person to get in and use the audio thingy that tells about the house, you don't pass up "free tickets".  Plus, there were 45 Downton Abbey costumes through out the house that they used in the TV series.  The clothes were much prettier and you could see all the detail to them better in person.  The actors who wore them were way skinnier than what they looked on TV.  It was so fun to get to see the costumes in person.  It made us want to go back and watch Downton Abbey all over again.

Asheville

Country Inn and Suites

The view from our room 

Hors-doeuvres and Biltmore wine

A toast to Fred and Elaine

Stone Ridge Tavern for dinner

Headed to the Biltmore Estate

We arrived in Asheville just before dinner time and found our motel, Country Inn and Suites. After checking in and getting settled, we had hors-doeuvres and a bottle of Biltmore wine that I had bought on the last trip to the Biltmore Winery,  Melanie and I took last Fall.  Then we set out to find the Stone Ridge Tavern for dinner.  We all had either seafood or chicken dinners and it was so sweet of Melanie and Gene to buy Chuck's and my dinners.  It was a really nice evening before our big day at the Biltmore.

On the Road

North Carolina Mountains

Ocoee Tennessee

Eating our picnic in the explorer

Cousins

Melanie curing her headache

Last Friday we were on the road again, driving down to Birmingham to pick up Melanie and Gene.  We were headed to Asheville to tour the Biltmore that was showing 45 Downton Abbey costumes. Elaine ( Chuck's sister) and Fred ( not related to me but to Chuck and I still love him) sent us four free tickets to the Biltmore Estates.  I know...I said " FREE".  We just HAD to use them and not let them go to waste.  We were sweating the weather since just two days before, we had gotten almost 11 inches of snow.  The snow was still on the ground all the way to Asheville but all of the roads were clear. It was so pretty to see the mountains covered in white.  We had packed a picnic lunch and found a pretty spot in Ocoee Tennessee along the side of the little river in the mountains.  Of course it was  too cold to eat outside so the explorer did just fine keeping us warm.  
 

Lots of Snow in Dixie

looking down the drive way

Our first Christmas tree

The deck chair

The deck window

Outside the sun room

Find the fire pit!

10 inches

perfect cover of the fire pit

10 1/2 inches 

Living room window feeder

green house slide

chicken mansion

Garden table

Garden swing

It FINALLY snowed and boy did it SNOW!  All winter long, the weather people would predict that we were going to get 3 to 5 inches of snow and there would be nothing.  This time when they said we would get 3 to 5 inches of snow and we got almost 11 inches.  It started around 1:30 pm and snowed all night.  It came down around an inch an hour.  It was ever so pretty and stacking up fast.  After it got dark, we kept turning the outside lights on so we could watch it.  The next morning, we couldn't believe how much was out there.  It was like we "really lived up north".  I went to the basement and collected my " snow clothes"....ski pants, quilted vest, rain boots and jacket with a hood.  It didn't take me long to get ready to walk all around Brambly Pines in snow half way up to my knees.  Brambly Pines is never prettier than  when it snows.
   The best part is, we get to enjoy how pretty it is and then it's gone in just a couple of days.  We don't have to deal with having to shovel, plow dirty slushy snow and have the dread of more coming.  Here in Dixie, we cross our fingers that we get snow at least once a winter.  Next....beautiful Spring flowers!  We live in the perfect place!!!