Christmas at Garden Lake

I like different. I'm definitely an "outside of the box" type person. I had a boss once who actually introduced me to people as his "outside the box" designer. I like to get online and look at the local real estate website of houses that are for sale. Seems like 75% of them have the same cookie cutter look and design. I can look at a house and tell you all about a person.

This house.....is definitely outside of the box!

If you have been following my blog for a while, you will remember Garden Lake. If not, then let me tell you about it. It is the home of one of my garden club members, it is on 35 acres, and has a beautiful pond. it is also home to some beautiful creatures like peacocks and black swans. I will share those pics with ya'll next week. The owner is very creative, and not afraid to risks. What I love about her home is that its HERS! Meaning, everything in it has a story. Every piece of artwork, every object, furniture, etc. In her living room she has a HUGE oil painting of a flamingo. It was painted by her daughter, and it is very, very good.

Take this room for example. This is the Men's Parlor, Trophy Room, Man Cave...whatever you call it. It is full of game tables, animals and liquor! Just a fun place to hang out.

She has several trees throughout the house. They are just as unique as the owners. This is the hunting tree in the Trophy Room.

Do ya'll know what these are?????

They are music scrolls that go to the old pianos!!! Very cool. And yes she has the piano...I just didn't get a picture of it.

Because every bear should have a Santa hat!

I myself have a hunting tree, and I must say I am highly envious of this armadillo

 ornament and must have one!

Christmas tree on the sun porch.

This is the kids/grand kids tree in the living room. The owners have 6 kids and 15/18 grand kids (I say 15/18 because I can't remember which it is LOL)

Moving on into the formal living room....

Throughout the years there have been several swans at Garden Lake, so it is only fitting to have a swan tree.

The formal dining table

Dining Room Christmas Tree

There is a black and red tree in the master bedroom. The overall picture I took didn't turn out really well.

And last but not least.....the peacock tree (my personal fave)

There are several peacocks on the property that roam freely. They are the most beautiful bird in the world to me. The peacock you see here was one of theirs that died from natural causes. I took some gorgeous photos of the other peacocks that I will share with ya'll next week.

We all got one of these precious ornaments to take home with us to remember this years garden club party. We had a great time and always enjoy spending time at Garden Lake

Garden Lake In the Fall

One of my absolute favorite places in the world is just 20 minutes from my house...Garden Lake. If you have been following me for a while, the name Garden Lake should sound familiar to you. I have done several posts on it. A lady in my Garden Club lives here at Garden Lake with her husband, peacocks, geese, ducks, swans, and I am sure I am leaving a few others out! They did have 2 turkeys and 2 white swans, but something had them for dinner! So sad! Garden Lake sits on 30+ acres, and is surrounded by 100's more. The driveway takes you deep into the woods, where you eventually come to the house. The house faces a huge pond. It is an amazing place! The oak trees provide ample shade for the front of the house. This path leads you to the front door. I never know which door to come to when I visit! There are 2 doors at the front of the house, and then 2 doors on the side of the house! I usually just knock on all four until I get an answer!

As I mentioned earlier, the house faces the pond. There is another path that leads down to the pier. if you look closely you will see one of their feathered friends on the pier!

The old oaks are draped in Spanish Moss, and it is beautiful.

Some more feathered friends. Again...look closely and you will see that the geese have eggs.

A view of the lily pads from the pier (its a bit blurry)

One of the peacocks walking up the stairway, trying to get off the pier and away from me!

Looking up at the house from the stairway. At night some of the peacocks roost on the house!

I believe these are swamp sunflowers. I just picked some of these up. They grow wild in certain areas. Makes for a nice view.

The sun was beautiful peaking through the trees.

If I lived here, I would never leave...you would have to tote me out! I am trying to get Liz to hire me as their grounds keeper! (Hint, Hint Liz!!! She reads my blog...LOL!)

I noticed a few of the hydrangeas were still blooming.

I don't know what these are...I know she has told me before. They grow in several places on the property.

This little arbor is on the side of the house. It is usually covered in a Passion Vine, however...someone else decided to move in and take over....

It has even attached to a tree above the arbor, and continues to grow up into it!

There were several Firespikes around

Then I noticed something.....the white peacock! There were several regular peacocks...and then this one! Very pretty!

I noticed when I downloaded this picture that they all have their heads tucked in the same way! Camera shy maybe?

The peacocks are a bit shy as well.

Their are TONS of camellias on the property. They are loaded with buds. Some of them have already bloomed.

I got to cut this trifoliate orange in half and taste it....well ya'll don't waste your time! It puckered me up! Whew was it sour!

Ginko tree....a big one at that! You don't see many Ginko trees here at all!

The leaves are fan shaped.

Once I finished walking around, it was time to go inside and have our meeting. She had the place decorated so cute for Halloween, and ya'll know I LOVED that!

I loved the candles! We all got a little goody bag as well.

She had tons of Halloween decorations...but I decided to narrow it down for you.

You can see my other Garden Lake posts by clicking on the link below...and you should really check them out! Enjoy!

Garden Lake

Garden Lake Part 1 - Flowers

There are no words for me to describe Garden Lake...I am speechless everytime I leave there. Garden Lake is a 32 acre home/garden of one of our Garden Club members (we are blessed to have her). It is a sight to behold. It is one of my favorite places to visit. Lucky for me Liz (the owner) lets me come and visit with her and take pictures of everything I see. She doesn't live very far from where I work so today I was able to take my lunch and ride to Garden Lake. There is so much to see...so I narrowed down the pictures and created 5 posts...thats right FIVE POSTS! They are broken down into categories. I hope you enjoy the pictures. Amaryllis Snowball (Snowball something..I forgot, so much to take in!)

Tulip Camellia

Strange formations on a tree. Bug maybe?

Pink Dogwood (down here...pink dogwoods are VERY rare)

Wild Periwinkle

Sorry...I don't remember this one....

Mayapple

Japanese Cherry Tree

and again

Buckthorn (I did some research on this one and found out that it may not be a good plant to have around)

White wisteria (this is also very rare down here)

Wisteria mixed in with the azaleas

Japanese Magnolia

This is some type of orange...Phillip over at Dirt Therapy has this....but I am drawing a blank as to what it is called