Out &. About

 Rarely do I think of it anymore but I was once known as Out & About Photography, a name that described what I did although as it turns out, there are plenty more who thought of that name long before I did. I always tell my friends, remember Ecclesiastes, "there is nothing new under the sun", and during my brief time on earth I have seen that played out over and over again. Haven't you? Lots of technology is just a faster version of something that already existed in a slightly different form. Enough already!! 

Actually, with that in mind, people have been singing and praying forever, worshipping in slightly different ways. Ann has introduced a prayer/meditation type of worship in our church called Taize after the town where it was practiced at the end of WWII and continues to this day. Should it interest you more, here is the history in a nutshell. 

Held once a month at the newly restored Harshaw Chapel, last month it was sweltering because the air conditioning had failed, however, with diligence from Mr. Trustee, this month it was nice and cool inside,

in spite of it still being hot as the dickens outside. Coming back from my walk around noon, (my first mistake), I arrived home drenched in sweat. Seemingly,  it is never going to cool off! Just checked my weather app and it is 7 degrees warmer than normal and it is not going away anytime soon. Boo hiss1

Boo brings to mind that we bought candy yesterday for Trunk or Treat and if you didn't know the price of candy had skyrocketed before, now you do. 

I wrote about that light fixture that broke but had no image to explain it better. I wrote about it here, a post that had few readers.  One would think that I would have some sort of idea about when to post blog posts on Facebook, so that the most people who want to could read it, but one would think wrong. After nearly 20 years for crying out loud!  That said, I have never been very good at self promotion so perhaps that accounts for my lack of social media savvy?

Let's go outdoors to see a few things of interest, shall we? Oh wait, the kitchen is calling!

I mashed the last of my potatoes on Sunday evening and Bruce declared them the best he'd ever eaten, which while that might be a stretch, they were definitely good. I cannot wait to do it again!! And with the garden in mind, the strawberries are forming. This tiny one was consumed by me, rather than the birds!

It too was very tasty. Now to be faster than the birds!

I have told you this before, but it bears repeating, be skeptical of your phone's identification when you don't already know what something is. 

The "id" claims it is a birthwort when I know better. It is a flowering green bean! I picked another pocketful the other day and we ate them and finally I have enough okra pods to prepare them. So looking forward to that! 

The new radishes are growing but the outcome remains to be see.  If there are fruit, it will be a miracle. 

Extra! Extra!! A sneak peek at the sunflower as it opens. Unlike the others I've shown you of late, this one is all mine, planted as a seed a while ago. (a flimsy way of saying I cannot remember)

Oh how we are going to miss the hummingbirds when they migrate.

Last Friday was September 11 and we did two meaningful things. The first more so than the second, however the second thing was important for a different reason. The town was holding a 25th anniversary memorial and the folks came out. Mayor Radford spoke first, welcoming the crowd and explaining that there would be a bell ringing at 8:46, the moment the first tower was hit.  Yeah to Laura for making that stage happen because it is a huge addition to our little town. 

Also the bench where we were seated. 

It is such a wonderful gathering place for all manner of events. We arrived early and because of our second event we left before it was over,  but not before listening to this gentleman who described his experience as a firefighter at ground zero on that fateful day.

It was very moving, as was the ABC special we watched a few days ago. He thanked everyone for coming out and remembering that day as it is fading from many folks memory. Imagine how many children have been born since that day? 

I am sure it is the same with you dear readers, lots of activity in bunches. We had agreed to forgo pickleball to go on a hike with our friends from church who enjoy that sort of thing. The payoff for me was waterfalls. As is often the case, it was sold as not too difficult aside from the beginning when it was quite steep. We fell for it.

Not so fast!!! While there are some flat areas, more often than not it required either going up or going down! Nancy and I discussed which direction did we think was harder and this fake hiker thought both ways are hard, whereas Nancy went with the going down. What do you think? As to the waterfalls, I was underwhelmed, in part because the light was so harsh it made getting a good photograph next to impossible. Larry, on the other hand did great with selfies of the group.

Look at all those smiles! Larry was also kind enough to take the photo below showing us going over a log bridge, definitely not mentioned when we were deciding whether to go or not!

Here's another image of the bridge with Nancy and Vera, and Dr. Dan in the foreground.

He is the doctor that was SO helpful to me this summer. I don't know what we would have done without him. He personally called the gastroenterologist and the cardiologist to get me in quick. He's most definitely a gem.

We were hiking the waterfall trail in Deep Creek in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Bryson City, a little more than an hour drive for us.    The photographs provided in the link are much better than mine because the lighting is ideal and they were taken when a great deal of water was running. We have had a drought this year so the water flow was considerably less.

The good thing about it was that I could do it. While I like being with friends in nature, I am still not a hiker by any stretch of the imagination.  There did seem to be plenty of water in the river that runs through it. 

Lots of tiny wildflowers were blooming in shades of purple, white, pink, yellow and a bluish color. Mostly they were tiny and perfect like this one.

As always, driving through the Valley outside Andrews fills me with joy.

If you are considering doing something wild and crazy like we have done, I say go for it!! 

your friend,

Gail

A Spike Ball Hill

 Oh my goodness friends!! Sunflowers along the highway!!

Because Bruce is so tied up with all these church projects lately, we are not going many places just to roam around. Last Friday I suggested that we do so, but as it turned out, he had a meeting late morning so we could not go very far away.  Nearby Andrews would work to take a walk in the woods, partly along the Valley River, the same one that runs adjacent to the river walk here in town. 

You begin the walk with this view which I am very much looking forward to seeing again soon when the leaves are changing!

As I have had to report, ad nauseam I might add, it was another hot day, so the upcoming shade was welcome. It is only about a mile walk but pretty with bonus points for said shade. As is always the case, I am looking, looking in every direction and what should I see down a small knoll but a cairn along the river. Mr. Peck is posting our find to his facebook page.

The smaller river rocks were so lovely and smooth.

A view of the river.

Isn't it a wonder how people can stack those stones just so? Life is so full of wonderful things if only we take the time to notice them so says the optimist in the room!! 

On our way to Andrews I had a passing glance at the roadside spectacle; on the way back I was locked in on where were they?? Closer to Murphy than I thought, finally they came into view up ahead. 

Woo hoo! Writing this I am transported back in time, more than twenty years ago, when Bruce and I first went to England on a mission to see the town from whence his ancestors came before heading to America in the 1600's in order to escape religious persecution. Our destination was a tiny hamlet if you will, Hingham, located in East Anglia. Plenty to be said about that experience, but I will confine it to just this---rapeseed fields were in bloom as we made our way in a taxi, the driver of whom told us what the fields of PURE Yellow were. Oh my goodness, what a sight! Should you be interested, there are plenty of images online! 

I see a tinge of color change on the tops of a few trees. Do you? Actually I have been documenting the trees along the riverwalk as the month progresses. Here is yesterday's look.

In the foreground there are plenty of wildflowers which were everywhere.

Before long the hummingbirds will make their long trip to Mexico and Central America for the winter so I celebrate every sighting at our feeder and on the zinnias. And, with any luck every now and again I see one out and about like I did yesterday.

Much to my surprise I also saw an Osprey for only the second time since we have been here. 

Back on Campbell Street, we love our big trees that provide us with not only beauty, but shade as well. As with most things you take the good with the bad and in our case the chestnut tree is great until the nuts encased in what I am calling spike balls, begin falling, falling, and falling. To date, Bruce and I have picked up, one by one, 11 buckets full making this little hill of misery. The spikes on the outside are very, very painful when they puncture your skin and sadly, it does not take much for that to happen.

One afternoon I was barefoot to water my garden and the new plants on the other side of the yard. I thought I was far enough from where they drop; alas that was not the case and I have a tiny splinter of one in my left foot. To tell you the truth, I actually think the tree is in the Ledford's yard along the little wall but the canopy is on ours. Looking at the photo it may not look like much but if I had to guess there are several hundred there. Along with their magnolia pods friends. 

Finally, a giant rainstorm on Saturday afternoon which was actually quite violent, as if making up for lost time as there has been almost no rain for weeks. I was so surprised to find three stalks of my floundering zinnia plants on the ground.

The powdery mildew has taken it's toll on the leaves and if you have no idea what I am talking about here's what I mean.

I decided that while I still had flowers I would bring them in the house to enjoy.

Aren't they just so cheerful?? Then again, when you realize you have been housing a worm for days it give's one pause. Yikes! And this was from a small vase on my kitchen windowsill!!

Not far from where I prepared a favorite dish that I do not make nearly often enough because it is a bit labor intensive. Then too, with my small amount of kitchen counter space, it takes a lot of chopping and ingredients. That said, it is so worth it.

The book behind the pan, which is what I made it in, is filled with favorite recipes that I find useful rather than digital form that I have to keep refreshing. While Bruce was at the gym, I prepared the salad and was looking forward to consuming it with him a little later. Well, indeed it was later, very much later. And do you want to know why?? 

But of course you do!!

In our unique pantry there is a pull cord for the light. While I was getting the peanut butter out of the pantry for the noodle salad dressing, pulling the cord in the usual way, something not so usual happened. The light came out of the ceiling and was dangling. Mentioning it to Bruce when he returned was my first mistake. And why would that be so? Because he is always responsive and got right to it, imagining it would not take very long, but then it did, in part because it is old wiring that one has to make sure works with new fixtures and so and so. Eventually, we did eat the salad that night, and then again, and again, because it makes so much!! And you know what? We did not mind in the least as it is so tasty!

The garden is looking good! Look at this okra flower!!!

And the dahlias, oh how I love you!

And to think this joy comes from a $2 pack of seeds! 

Clouds!! We have had very few of late so seeing this was also a joy.

Aside from playing pickleball we had a quiet Labor Day. Actually I have had some quiet days and have filled them with reading, something I have been not doing enough of. To be a writer, one needs to first be a reader and I have been neglecting that side of things. Currently I am reading, How to Read a Book which I was doing yesterday afternoon until I got to a place where the main character was making a very poor decision and I felt so bad about it I had to put it aside. So, yes I think it is good. The review I linked to above is not anyone I know, but I do see the review was from later 2024 and our little library is labeling it as new fiction. New to me anyway!

This time of year there are spiderwebs galore, but usually I don't see the spiders. This time I did.

I neglected to mention they are, thankfully, outdoors!!

One very great thing about living in a small town is that you have the opportunity to know the shop owners. Not saying you can't in a big town but here it is more likely. And the great thing about Murphy is we have some pretty darn creative souls owning the downtown businesses. Gray Matters always has the best windows, but this time they took it outside. 

Look what was parked outside their door!!

Jeeps are popular here but I've yet to see one that is tickled pink! 

Our garden journey together is not over yet because I planted new brocoli plants and hope they do well. In addition to that I planted both arugula and radish seeds, both of which have sprouted,  and I believe I mentioned the garlic in this last  post.  As you can see, I do not want this excitement to end! 

It's a good thing I saw this butterfly when I did because there have been so few this summer.

My goodness there is a bug too! 

Recently I came across this: "The amount of beautiful things in your life depends on your ability to notice them." 

Sounds about right to me!!

your friend,

Gail

A Pocketful of Green Beans

 Finally, enough for a meal! Tuesday morning, during my garden survey, I discovered green beans on my wild plants and filled the pocket of my dress with them. I took this photo days before so with what I picked and the pictured beans below, we managed to have them with our dinner. Turns out they were pretty tasty!

My tomatoes were mostly small so when the above medium sized fruit appeared it needed documenting along with a few shishito peppers. D'Anna pulled up her spent tomato plants but mine are still growing, in part because the sun has moved allowing more sun to shine on our garden. One thing I have learned is that no two flowers are alike which is pretty darn remarkable in my opinion. Here's some of my zinnia and notice the tops of them to see what I am talking about.

The plants have gotten very tall and absolutely smothered in powdery mildew, something I read about before planting, but still was powerless to keep it at bay. Don't believe everything you read online because although multiple people swore by spraying the plants with diluted milk, I now have even more mildew.

As well don't believe everything your phone identifies because often enough to distrust it, the identification is wrong. Three different plants came up for the zinnias, none of which were correct. Roses it claimed! Thus, I have lost confidence in our "friend" Siri! For those of you who do not have an iPhone, that would be our "digital assistant".

All that to say that I will plant them again because they are such fun cut flowers, bringing charm to every indoor space.

Speaking of charm, we drove over to Blairsville to check out the new Marshalls and what a lovely treat that was. While there we went to a few thrift stores and I found this cup that while I thought was a dollar, turns out it was $7.00. Nevertheless I still brought it home.

Turns out it is a rare pattern from a century old Bavarian maker of china. To my eyes it is super cute and it is just perfect to hold the pennies I collected on the foggy August mornings. We shall put that theory to the test; here's hoping it works better than the milk treatment for my zinnias!

In my last post, I mentioned our visit to The Crowne in Brasstown where our plate was so pretty, and I tried lentils for the first time in the red pepper soup.

We ordered the same and then shared one of Bruce's favorites, a delicious rendition.

This has been a sad year for hydrangeas in not just our yard, but my neighbors as well, however I still have a few beauties.

Just what you have been waiting for....I finally got a photo of Lucifer who is actually quite a beautiful cat but my birds were here first so I dislike him for that. 

Going out for my garden tour, including planting some garlic, he was laying there like he owns our yard!

Do you see my one and only regularly formed cucumber? I am pretty sure it is my fault for planting it in an area that was shaded by other plants. Of course I never dreamed the Italian parsley would get so big. 

For posterity, below.

This is our new bed that is now completely covered with falling leaves from the tree above it. What you might also notice is the relentless sun that has plagued us for about ten days. Good grief it is far hotter than suits me! Of course everywhere is hot isn't it? Remind me of this when winter arrives and I complain about it being too cold. Actually I don't mind the cold but I do mind having to wear so many clothes. 

Driving through Andrews on our way to meet up with friends for an easy walk alongside the Nantahala River, I never can resist photographing the beautiful mountains, and in this case, fog, and corn in the fields!

The walk was right up my alley...flat and fun.

The fun was even more so because I found someone who does not mind walking slow in order to take everything in. Nancy is a tiny little thing.

Eventually we caught up with the rest of the group.

Larry and Nancy have both done some amazing athletic feats in their day, Larry more so than Nancy because he completed, not one, not two, but three Ironman competitions!! The lady on Bruce's left used to do some amazing races in both canoes and kayaks on whitewater no less. And then there is Gail who knows how to take a pretty good picture! You already know David and D'Anna who just learned that they are to be grandparents!! As you can imagine, they are over the moon.

On our walk back to the car we came by where they launch the rafts on the Nantahala River. 

Those are some brave folks rafting solo! 

Eating at the restaurant at the Nantahala Outdoor Center, D'Anna had said the pancakes were really special.

Wondering what could be so special about a pancake ,I did not order them but shared a bit of hers and by golly she was right...delicious!

One crazy thing about that visit was we ate there on the same day two years ago on Tom's birthday! 

Later that day we met up with John and Laura downtown, and oh my word this cloud formation is fantastic!  This is a good view of the downtown improvements orchestrated by Laura and her team.

After much brouhaha, folks have become accustomed to the round about. 

Look, something is happening with the house across the street!!

We do feel for the folks who bought that house as it has turned out to be more work than I believe they imagined. 

I admit to very few walks of late because I just cannot take the afternoon heat but one day I attempted to and I thought what better picture to take than of the river from the bridge, one I have taken many times before. 

You may not be able to see it in the photo but there is the beginnings of yellowing of the leaves. Subtle but noticeable now that we have been here a few years. Wow, hard to believe. 

Wondering what it will look like on October 1? Hang around and I'll show you the changes that will, hopefully, bring on cooler weather.

But then again, I won't be able to start mornings with a garden tour. :(

your friend,

Gail