Saturday, August 30, 2014

Stone Mountain-Aug. 23, 2014-Yellow Daisies In Bloom!

Happy to tell you that Richard and I can still climb Stone Mountain!  It was hot last Saturday so we made sure we got there early in the morning, the sun was just rising over the mountain and it wasn't too blazing hot, not just yet anyway...and at the top we were rewarded with a cool breeze and flowers!

 
 

The Yellow Daisies were blooming on the last 1/3 of the climb up the mountain and also, on the very top.  Such a welcome sight!  We very much look forward to seeing them bloom every year.  They are very special flowers, they only grow on or next to this type of rock and only within a 60 mile radius. (40 mile? I have read both figures.)   Yellow Daisy or Confederate Daisy -there, click on that name if you would like to know more about it!
Of all the people that were on the mountain, we only saw, I think, about three other couples taking photos of these beautiful flowers. 
 
Here I am, at one of my favorite places, on top of Stone Mountain and I am waving to you!
(And Pat, in the Outer Hebrides...I think I am looking in your direction!)
 
The skies were hazy, it was hot and humid but you could still see the Atlanta skyline. In the Autumn, it will be much clearer.
 
 
 
 
 
The Yellow Daisies also have a wonderful fragrance, especially so in the early morning, and it was nice to sit near them and smell the flowers and hear all the bees with their soft buzzing.  And the sight of all that yellow against the rock with the blue sky above...just gorgeous.
 
You might not see our faces very well but Richard and I both are very happy in these photos, just drinking our coffee and enjoying the flowers and the view.
 
Lots of people come up by cable car instead of hiking up like we did, but still, you would think that more would have commented on the beauty of these Yellow Daisies! They are magnificent!
 
 
 We are looking back as we are leaving, already looking forward to our next visit to our beloved Stone Mountain!  Hope you are finding great beauty in your part of the world. 
Love to you all!
 

33 comments:

  1. It looks like you spent an enjoyable day. I have to comment on your hear picture. It just took my breath away. The contrast of the yellow flowers to the stark gray rock is just stunning. The view in the distance adds to the effect.

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    1. Thanks! Richard takes most of the photos on my blog and I think he does a great job! These flowers also bloom at Arabia Mountain and Panola Mountain...some years they bloom at different times and we get to enjoy these flowers from late August until mid October!

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    1. Oh yes! I thought that is what you meant! No worries! :-)

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  3. When you were standing near the edge did Richard ask you to 'step back a bit?'

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  4. Many folk take the beauty that surrounds them for granted...it's obvious that you and Richard don't, Kay.

    Wonderful photos capturing a beautiful day and area...and daisies. I love daisies...their simplicity is their beauty. :)

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    1. The wildflowers are just amazing, and on these monadnocks they are so plentiful! You would love these daisies!!

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  5. I don't recall ever having seen the cable car before. You obviously don't pay much attention to it. Yes the flowers are much better, it is an amazing and beautiful place. Thanks for sharing it with us.

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    1. Richard will take a photo of the cable cars when they meet each other...one going up and one coming down...but I don't know if I have ever shown you one of those photos! I think that in 31 years, we have been on it twice! We like the hike up the mountain. When I am too elderly to make it, I will take the cable car and be thankful for it!
      Happy to share this with you!

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  6. Kay- do you have any idea what species those daisies are? I would love to know. Are they found only on that mountain?

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    1. They grow on the soil that collects on the rocky outcrops of the Piedmont region...so I have seen them on rocks near my church here in Conyers, and it seems that there are some that MIGHT be in South Carolina, but if you want to see them get yourself to Stone Mountain, Panola Mountain and Arabia Mountain....monadnocks that are near to me!! (Click on that link that I have now added to this post!)

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  7. It's so pretty, i'm not sure i'd want to leave!

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    1. We never want to! We want to stay all day! We have been going there for years and years but it is getting very busy now, but we still know how to get away from the crowds!

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  8. It's really lovely, and even more so with the yellow daisies.

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    1. Stone Mountain is nice in any season, each one has its joys, but there is just something about that Yellow Daisy that makes it such a treat!

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  9. Since Pat hasn't responded to your wave yet, I will. After all, if it's in her direction it's in mine as well - what's a few hundred miles when you are across the Atlantic?
    Another lovely walk, as always, and thanks for taking us with you.

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    1. Hey John! So happy to see your comment!
      Oh I am waving to you and JO also! I LOVED the Loch Ness Monster post-card that you sent us, as I love all your post cards, thank you!
      Happy that you could join us, you would love the Yellow Daisies!
      I waded through quite a few puddles today at Arabia Mountain and I thought of Jo paddling in that water when you were in Scotland, with the golden rocks at her feet!

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  10. Your happiness is clearly visible in both your faces, Kay, and rightly so - such a beautiful place on earth, and the two of you able to enjoy it together on such a beautiful day!
    In the 6th picture from the top, there is a fenced off area with a building just visible on the left side of the picture. What is it?

    Maybe people do not notice the wonderful yellow daisies that much because they haven't got that much an eye for detail. Hopefully, they will at least have an eye for the bigger picture and, like you, drink in the atmosphere. I often wonder at the things people seem NOT to notice!

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    1. Yes, you know how much we love our mountains!!
      There is a building on the top of Stone Mountain, the cable car goes into one side of it, and there are restrooms there along with a small gift shop and a small shop that sells bottled water, sodas and popcorn and chips.They even have large framed posters on the walls, telling visitors about the Yellow Daisies, the lichens and mosses, the Diamorhpha, the Dayflowers, the Spiderwort, the Coreopsis, but then, you have heard all of these names from me! HA! :-) Once again, I wonder how many even look at this info, and it is right on the walls of the building!!

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  11. How lovely and what a treat to have such a beautiful "walk" up Stone Mountain on a sunny, warm Hebridean morning Thank you for the wave.The yellow daisies are just lovely. I remember that view of the Atlanta skyline. We must have been lucky when we were up there as very few people were around. Your pictures seem timeless - everything looks just the same as 25 years ago - just the fashions have changed! I am now off to walk to the beach - I'll give you a wave from there! x

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    1. Hey Pat!
      You remember you told me recently to get to Stone Mountain and take a photo of Atlanta in the distance!!! So, I thought why not stand there waving at the camera like the nutcase that I am, so I could put this on my blog?!!
      And there were LOTS of people there! But we try to get away from the worst of them, and Richard waits until there are not many around when he snaps a photo...we were there early too, you should have seen the hordes of people that were coming UP the mountain as we were going DOWN!!
      Hey! I think I see you on your beach now...you are looking good!! Take care! xx

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  12. You can be proud of that accomplishment and what a lovely reward you had. The sights to be seen are worth the climb. Beautiful pictures for sure. Here we have brilliant Brown Eyed Susans blooming and they too are a welcome sight right here in my yard...no mountain climbing for me. Happy Labor Day weekend !

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    1. OH, I ADORE Black eyed Susans! Funny, I notice you call them Brown eyed Susans and really that should be correct, the centers are very dark brown! WE had a voulunter Black eyed Susan plant that came up (from our friendly birds, I am sure) and the plant bloomed like crazy! The flowers were just behind our deck, so we enjoyed them for weeks and weeks, right in our own backyard, and it was nothing that we even planted! :-)
      Happy Labor Day Weekend to you too, most appreciative one!!

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  13. Hi Kay

    Stone Mountain surely is beautiful, and that view..........

    Not sure that we can offer anything comparable but we are really looking forward to seeing you both shortly. Also, your father looks incredible in the previous post. I've never met him but I imagine that it is his positive attitude that allows him to be so active in his late eighties. And being so active no doubt makes him even more positive. A virtuous circle.

    The accent is very engaging and just as I expected.

    See you soon and safe flight

    Henry

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    1. You would have such a good time with my Dad, I just know you would, he is very funny and he very often makes me cry with laughter!

      Accent? What accent? HA!
      Thanks for your well wishes! :-)

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  14. They are so dear! How could anyone not see them and feel encouraged about the beauty of the world......? I love these yellow Confederate Daisies. (I always love small flowers...Bluets, aka Quaker Ladies or Houstonia are my favorites, as well as the English daisies and the tiny veronica that inhabit my lawn where no herbicides are ever used.) Is that sprawling Atlanta off in the distance?

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    1. Yes, that is Atlanta! Downtown, Midtown and Buckhead! You are right it does sprawl a bit! LOL!
      I love the tiny flowers too, we saw some today that were almost like miniature flowers but they were perfect! I don't know what they are called! xx

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  15. How amazing to and special to see something which is so unique to Stone Mountain! Richard did a wonderful job on the photos as always. I saw amazing beauty today in both the quilt show I visited and in the truly stunning landscape of the Yorkshire Dales which we passed through on our way there. xx

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    1. Thanks, Julie!
      And I have seen a lot of Yorkshire on several blogs that I like to read, and it just looks so pretty!
      A quilt show! How wonderful! Did you know that quilts were once used by the Underground Railroad to show that the quilt hanging out in front was a signal that it was a safe house? I find that fascinating and love that they were used for that. xx

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  16. Oh my gosh! So very beautiful! I do so love daisies. They are such happy flowers. I think of sunshine whenever I see them.

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