Flutterbyes!

That's what my sister called them whe she was a little tyke, and the name stuck. They DO *flutter by*....And the ones here at Lake Norman are stocking up on the nectar of my favorite blooms.

You don't have to plant butterfly bushes to attract our fluttery friends. There are lots of perennials that the pretty creatures like to sip from. The Monarch in the photos is sipping on a perennial called Leucothoe. It's a great southern plant, hardy for whatever winter does to us - loves full sun for at least part of the day.

Another good one for butterflies - though they were shy & vanished when I took the photo - is the only variety of lantana hardy for the Piedmont. It is Lantana 'Mrs.Huff', which has a very distinctive flower of multicolors. In the same bloom, you'll find random & delightful shades of pink, yellow and orange.

You can plant a small one from the nursery and it will grow nicely over the summer, feeding the butterflies, and then disappear altogether in the winter. Right to the ground. But don't forget where you put it. Because it'll be back in late spring - and each year, it gets to be more and more like a small shrub filled with a bounty of color.

See you on the lake,
Eloise

Logs Keep Their Cool

Have you ever wondered why it is that log homes keep in the cool air conditioned air so well...and keep out the cold in winter?

A lot of it has to do with the tree's natural rings, which, any school kid can tell you, swirl around and around, deep within the log. You could think of it as any temperature transference getting 'short circuited' by those concentric rings in the log's pithy center.

A well-built log home should perform as well or better than brick or stone in energy conservation. As the builder of the home in the photos is fond of saying - you could build several stick-built homes out of just one of the walls of this home - that is if you wanted to mill all those logs into boards!

This 3/4 bedroom 2 bath home is on the market, by the way. Asking price is $319,997 .

The home's location is in a lovely country setting (eligible for 100% USDA financing) but close to all the major Mooresville amenities, which are only a minute or two away! Lake access only a few minutes down the street.

Affordable, newer-construction log homes are few and far between on Lake Norman.
If you're interested, call 704.582.1312, and ask for me,

Eloise