UGA

We got back late last night from a weekend trip to Athens, Georgia.  We took Grace for a tour of the college campus and stayed for a football game in Sanford Stadium!  It was such a fun weekend filled with friends and fun.

Grace is interested in UGA (Bryce and I both graduated from there) since they have a really great study abroad program in partnership with Oxford in the UK.  The tour was really interesting and made me realize that while I may have graduated from UGA, my college experience was at Young Harris College.  We just all moved together to UGA and carried on there!

After our tour, we met my best friend from college, Angela, for dinner.  We hadn't seen in each other in far too long but it felt as if it had been yesterday.  A testimony to our friendship!  It was so good to see her and visit.

Unfortunately, Saturday morning we woke up to rain and it didn't stop all day long.  It was certainly an experience to tailgate and watch a football game during a tropical storm!  It sure made for some fun memories!  Thank goodness they managed to pull out a win against Kentucky!

We also got to visit with our dear friend, Brian, and his son Jason.  It was not enough time but it was so nice to see him.

The day we flew home, we were able to see the Parsons!

A Rustic Hot Tub

A while  ago, Grace asked Bryce is he would make her a rustic "hot tub" to soak in.  After some YouTube watching, he got to work on it this past week and we were able to put it to the test this weekend.  While there are some tweaks that need to be made (it currently takes a long time to get hot) it was quite fun and Grace really enjoyed it!

The wood fire heats up the water as it flows through the copper coils.  There was a lot of science talk as this whole thing was put together.  Physics in real life!

Bryce also made a cedar topper for the tub (it's a feed/water trough that we picked up at a farm supply store).  

All in all, it's a fun addition to the farm!

Dahlias

For a while, it was looking as if the dahlias might not make it this year.  We've had a lot of insect pressure on the petals and we were a bit flummoxed over the short stem length.  However, here we are at the end of the growing season and the dahlias seem to be coming into their own!

The symmetry and perfection on some of these flowers just leaves me in awe.

The insects don't seem to bother the pom pom ones as much as the frilly, loosely petaled varieties.  Also, they last longer in the vase!

The Cafe Au Lait has been producing many blooms but it's interesting to see all the color variation on the same exact plant.  Here, it has a blush to it while many of the other blooms are super creamy.

 This pretty dahlia won me a first place ribbon in my garden club horticulture show!

While I love dahlias, I will admit that I think a few varieties border on a bit too much for me.  This one is right on the edge but I still like it :).