Opening Up The Creek

I've mentioned that we have two creeks that run along below (about 30 feet) the cabin...one coming from the South East and turning North West, the other coming from the NE. They merge behind the cabin at the NE corner.  One of the projects we've always had in mind (from the time we bought this place 9 years ago) was to open up the area around the creek so we could see more of it...specifically, cutting the rhododendron surrounding it, not other trees.  Then we built our deck, which gave us a perfect vantage point to view the creek from the cabin.  This morning, we began stage 1 of that project.

This is the creek coming from the NE after opening it up...we may cut some more but are waiting to determine that...

 ...this is the before picture...makes a big difference!

After some clearing, this is the creek coming from the SE, where is merges with the other...may cut more here too...

...and before...

Stage 2 will be to clear the area between the corner of the deck and the spot where the creeks merge.  I am standing at that spot to take this photo...you can see how overgrown it is...you have to look very closely in the top center of the photo to see the deck posts...this is the 30' drop...

 ...this photo is taken from the deck looking down...the creek runs in the center of the photo from top to bottom.  Once we have cleared this area and can see what we can see, we will then decide if we want to cut more around the creek.

They say during the Civil War, men who didn't believe in the war and were unwilling to go into battle, would run into the woods and hide among the rhododendrons and laurels, they were so thick and twisted together a person could get lost in them...I can attest to the thick twisted and gnarly web they create!  In fact, we will be using everything we cut to finish our rustic deck railing, taking advantage of the wood's beautiful twists and curves...the picture below shows what we started, neither section is finished, but it gives you the idea...

One unfortunate thing about the rhododendron this year, we've had so much rain that most of the blooms rotted before they opened up, and if they did open, they shriveled up and dropped off the branch before they could be fully enjoyed.  I was happy to find this lone little bundle this morning, not sure why it survived, but I'm glad it did!

I'll keep you posted with our progress!

Thanks for reading my blog, you are the best f/f/r/s/f's, see you tomorrow,
Lise