The front of the camp. Ever evolving...

One of the planters... a hummingbird magnet.

This is detail on the carving that stands outside the camp door. This was done entirely by chainsaw and is just amazing.

The gazebo.

The swing.

The camper that we actually sleep in when we're at camp.

Putting in our pump.

Our outhouse. Isn't it sweet? :-)

Our icebox - now in the camp.

And one of the things I love best. Our bathtub. Yes, we've taken baths out here. A bit icy, but now we've got one of those camp shower bags that warm water in the sun.

Wildflowers around the camp.

Did I mention.... I love this place.

Oh what fun you all are having and I am jealous! I love camping and we haven't done it in YEARS!
I am definitely more the 'country/out-door' girl and hubby is the 'city slicker!! I know camping is a lot of
work but the relaxing part is that it's not the routine and I love being resourceful and coming up with ways
to make things work with the least available!!!

So, do you rent the 'porta-potty' or did you have to buy it and I hope you don't have to do any 'disposal' work!!!

The turkey looks really yummy! My parents did that one time, deep fried it and I actually still
have the wrought iron propane burner to set a big pot on to do the job. Unfortunately, I let my SIL have
the HUGE pressure cooker my parents used to cook the bird in so I will be having to find another if I
ever intend to do that! I know it can be QUITE DANGEROUS if you are not very careful!

I sure envy you your experience!!! I'm SO GLAD you have the ability to 'get away' like that!!!

Thank you, Joyce--I really enjoyed the 'update' and I still love your new hair-cut!! :o) Oh, and
I love the way you are furnishing your 'cabin'! So neat!!!

Oh--and I also LOVE the tub scene!!! It's actually very picturesque I think!!! Beats a cold mountain-stream 'bathin'
like we had to do when visiting my parents where they had a set-up like you before construction began on the building
of their home! My Dad eventually set up a 'shower' made where they could heat water and pump it up into the piping
and down through a shower head! MUCH BETTER!!!

They stayed in that set-up for most of a summer and contemplated whether it would be a good thing for them to build a
permanent home to retire to there within the year!

When they returned to Florida they decided to subscribe to the local paper in that area and the very first edition they received,
there 'just so happened' that there was a 'for rent' listing for the house across the field (with a road between). The folks that
owned that house had been using it for vacations and planned on someday retiring to live there--built it for that purpose, but
decided it might be best to rent it out till they could retire. This location was way out in the mountains and it was just a 'God-thing'
that out of the only 2 other houses on that long road, that one became available in such a 'timely' fashion--it seemed to us all!

My folks were able to stay there until their home was completely ready for moving into!!! We all considered it a sign that
they were going in the right direction--moving from Florida to the mountains of N.Carolina!! It certainly turned out
to be a very good move for them and they had a really wonderful 12 years living nestled in the mountains, with a stream
out front with rapids and a nice pastureland in front between the house, stream and road. My mother remarked, not long before
they were in the head-on collision that took their lives, (about 30 mins. away from getting back to their home) that the last 12 years
were the best in all their lives.

God is good and His blessing was very bountiful to allow them that good time of life!!

Oh, and I HAVE TO ASK--I love old books and in one of your pix is a really thick book stacked on your green table.
Can I ask what it is? :o) It looks leather-bound and well-used!

Gee,Joyce,kinda looks like my back yard right now! I live in the woods,except most of my property is downhill from me! I have no desire to go down there,and fight the poison ivy and berry bushes,not to mention falling down the hill! Nice job working on your lot,though! I know how hard it is to carve out a place in the woods,as that is what I had to do just have a hosta garden. Do you plan on adding hostas,or are there too many deer there? Keep up the good work! Phil

What a lot of work but it looks cosy and inviting. Not for me. LOL I'm a country girl that has become citified. Is there room to park our RV?

Enjoy.

Connie

Janice, no pressure cooker involved in our camp cooking. The turkey was done in a smoker which burns charcoal briquettes (for plenty of long lasting heat) and apple wood (for flavor). The turkey smokes for several hours and comes out like you see in the pic. And it is absolutely DELICIOUS! The antique book you saw isn't really and antique and isn't leather bound. Gary loves crossword puzzles and it's a crossword book. We do have several antique, leather bound volumes at home though, a couple of bibles, an illustrated dictionary, and an illustrated livestock encyclopedia. They are all prized possesions. One of the bibles in in Finnish.

I haven't seen any poison ivy on our property, hosta freak, but we do have thimble berries (some really great berries that grow here and very few other places) and raspberries. They are getting ripe right now and last weekend we saw bear skat with evidence of berry eating :-) That makes you wish you were there, right?

Connie, we have over 5 1/2 acres and room to park numerous RVs. We have a generator for electricity. So you could be as comfy as any campground you've ever stayed at so long as your RV is tanked up with water (otherwise you'd have to pump ours) and has a working bathroom! All the comforts of home :-)

Okay--I apologize for dominating your thread, Joyce, but I HAVE TO comment on your 'Mezzo Trailing Red' in
the baskets on the front of your 'cabin in the woods'! I love that plant and saw it for the first time, this year, and
snatched a hanging basketful of it. I'm so excited because it is a no-fail plant, that can be easily grown indoors overwinter
if you're so inclined! Usually that just doesn't work for me, on the whole, because we aren't situated the best for sunlight!
I usually get them to 'hang in there' till about 1 month before I could put them outdoors! grrrr

Here's the description of this wonderful plant:

"Mezoo Trailing Red is a glossy green succulent with cream margins that can be used
as a groundcover or as a spiller plant in mixed containers and baskets. The red in its name
comes from dime-sized flowers that accent the plant. It is tolerant of wet or dry conditions
and high or low pH. In other words, anyone can grow this plant anywhere. This plant can
be a perennial in zones 9-11. In zones 3-8 it is an annual only."

I think I might be able to grow this one, overwinter--maybe!!! Or, at least keep it alive! :o))

Oh--didn't see your posting before my last, Joyce! I just had to hop back in and tell you we have
so many Bibles--kinda embarrassing, really--we should be giving them to those who don't but I have
each for a special reason.

One really old, old one was printed in 1847, a tiny leather-bound red one. It's in German
and is significant to me, because I was born in 1947, so it was printed 100 years before I was born!
And, some portion of my roots are from Germany!

Then, there is the one that is leather-bound and was printed in 1854, one hundred and one years before
my brother (now deceased) was born and has a very detailed record of my grandmothers lineage, which takes us
back to 1811, when Col. Austin Peay was born in the area just north of Columbia S.C.! Much discovered about
this family in those times, much that at first made me wince, but found out much more to be thankful for, for a
heritage that acted humanely and gives me a link, spiritually, to them and explains generationally (is that a word?)
how I'm where I am!

Now, many more of my Bibles are not so old, but each in it's own right is VERY valuable to me, and I HAVE
given many away!

I have many more old books, but these are my most treasured.

Oh, one more old leather-bound and strapped Bibles we picked up in the Netherlands when we lived there!
It's in Dutch and our younger daughter, has it now--well over a 100 years old!!

I love the written word, and books!!!

Oh, when is the next time you're having turkey? I might just have to follow my nose, when you do! YUM!!!

Joyce, your cabin looks great. You guys have accomplished so much in a short time. How long of a drive is it from your house to the cabin? Love your hair and the turkey made me drool.

Janice, I'd forgotten the name, but I love the Mezoo Trailing Red too. It is so pretty and so unusual! And, we're doing turkey again on Labor Day Weekend. Come on over :-)

Mctavish, it's about 15 miles from our house, so we can be there in a matter of minutes.

Thanks to both of you on the hair compliments :-) It's certainly quick and easy to take care of, and I do like that a lot!

And Mctavish, you're invited for turkey dinner too! All you guys have to do is show up!

Oh, hosta freak, in answer to your earlier question... no hosta at camp unless they are 1. very common CHEAP hosta that I don't care about, or 2. heavily fenced in.

They feed deer in the town a mile from our camp in the winter. Last winter we saw as many as 150 at one time in the park where they feed.

All I can say is WOW!!
What a wonderful camp!
I don't think it will happen this year, but next year we are undecided as to where are travels will take us.
So you never know!!

super.. if only it werent a 10 hour car trip..

the only thing i dont get.. is the TV ... ??????

and what a hoot.. presuming the pix are current.. sweatshirts in august.. lol .. ah .... the great white north .. what are your two seasons again.. winter and mosquito?????

ken

That's about right, Ken! Only we call 'em (the seasons) Snow and Mosquito! Although it was nearly 90 today... I'm melting, I'm melting..... The TV is for rainy days and teenagers :-) We don't have any service but it has a VCR player in it so they can watch movies instead of being bored! KIDS!!!

i figured as much.. but the drone of the generator.. for the kids to watch the tube must become teeth rattling at times ..

though i suppose it is better than the whining of the kids ...

are they all videos of hosta.. rotflmbo .... that would probably get them outside into the rain.. a good 6 hour video of plants .... lol

ken