Frozen Fog! Say What?

One morning last week, it must have been Tuesday because I was walking to church for my volunteer work. Nine in the morning it was. Before leaving our home I noticed that the everything just looked different and indeed I was not imagining it because when I got to church I asked Maggie about it and she said it was on the television news earlier in the morning. It is a bit of a stretch; the closest television news comes from Chattanooga, some 91 miles away. Still, I suppose they talk about our area, however, I've never checked it out myself. Anyway, she said they gave it a name she could not recall.  Sleuthing around a little when I returned home I discovered the phenom I was seeing is called "freezing fog". Here's a little explanation. 

And here are the photos I took. Note the top of the courthouse behind the fog. Those trees!!

Once I came down our little hill I turned around and it looked mighty intriguing. I started to type cool which would be a little silly wouldn't it? It did create black ice as I learned later but fortunately my walk was without incident.

Our street is the road at the top left of the picture. Before leaving the house I took this photo of the ice crystals on our mailbox.

At my age having new experiences is just what the doctor ordered! 

Not just what the doctor ordered is the propane bill that just came through. Holy cow!! This home is equipped with a dual heating system meaning if the temperature goes below freezing the propane gas kicks in. When Mr. Vespasian explained it while we were looking at the house, it made no sense to me, however, now I know how it works and it works quite well presuming you have the funds. This week they filled up the tank because we had used a lot this cold winter, I believe it was 150+ gallons. Who knew propane was so expensive? Not me. While I will not enjoy paying the $550+ bill, I can do it. My heart is sad for those who will be choosing between heat and food. 

That said, the weather today is super with a beautiful bright blue sky along with abundant sunshine. Pickleball was so much fun yesterday morning because we were comfortable, so much so that we played for longer than is typical of late. While taking a walk later that same day sounded like a good idea, I was glad that I had packed a book in my camera bag because mostly how I spent that hour, sitting at a picnic table in the warm sunshine. Families were out in full force.

So often during the winter I am mostly by myself in the huge park, but not on this day. The crack of a bat from the practicing girls softball was the background noise as I read a fun little book I'd gotten at the library. A detective novel it is. I don't know about you, but I am enjoying mysteries far more often these days. We watched a super series on Agatha Christie and how she became the world's best selling author. Over two BILLION copies!! Unreal. In that vein, last night we watched an episode of Midsomer Murders and it was really something! Kept us guessing until the end. How they have come up with plots to fill 23 seasons is beyond me.

Okay, so back to the park. The temperature around five in the evening was nearly 60 degrees when this happened: two boys were kicking a soccer ball which flew right by me on the ground and into the river!!

I could not imagine that he pulled up his pant legs and went into the river, but that he did and was successful.

No matter the air temperature, that river water must have been very cold indeed. I would say that there were probably overnight freezing temperatures all through January, however, we are getting a ten day reprieve which will be nice. Everyone is so curious how we are doing in the cold and for me I am good, however, Mr. Bruce oftentimes wants to turn up the heat! I have been encouraging him to dress for the weather. 

Especially in the basement! He has two space heaters that he runs liberally, as well he should, because it is quite chilly, however it has not kept him from building another bookcase for our office.

He's making excellent progress since the photo was taken on Saturday afternoon, in fact he is nearly finished. We do love a good bookcase.

Additionally he has hung some things we brought back from Orlando, pieces with sentimental value and we all know that I am the sentimental sort. Who knows how long ago it was but his parents bought the round hanging over the door frame for us, the type of art I cannot recall. 

Here's a better look at it.

Normally, well listen to me, all eight months that we have been here (!), I have a trailing plant in that alcove, however, the heat comes from the floor just below and it was hard keeping the heat off of the plant. For now it looks like the above.

Upstairs in my sewing room I brought both that little shelving trolly and the artwork displayed above it.

Our deceased sister Carol did that for a 25th anniversary present. Reading what she wrote on the back brought tears to my eyes. 

More sentimental stuff my friends!! The kitchen cabinets go to the ceiling and are pretty much worthless they are so high which gave me the opportunity to put one of them to use for something else. Many years ago Matthew gave me a sailboat set of salt and pepper shakers. (see below) At the time I had no idea that people collected s&p shakers, however, since that time I have discovered that indeed they do. The bright orange ones were a gift from some neighbors and a tiny bit of a collecting bug bit me. 

Indeed I turned the empty space into a space that brings me joy, thinking of those who have been good to me over the years. I have to admit to buying the yellow owls on the top left at our favorite downtown antique store. Made in Japan in the mid 50's well, if you have read this blog for years on end you know I have a reputation for liking owls. Not that I have seen any lately, but I'm still a fan!

Should you be an owl fan, and I do know there are some amongst my readers, this post from April 2017 is titled Mostly Owl Related. Looking back at it, there are some really special photos in that post even if I do say so myself. Check it out.

Robins were visiting Orlando during our visit because the camphor trees behind our home are filled with berries. I have no idea what all of the Robins are eating here in the mostly bare landscape, but there sure are a bunch of them.

Here's a fun close up.

Following my time at church this morning I took a walk. Unlike yesterday afternoon when I was pooped, I felt good and energetic after a good night's sleep.  As stated earlier, the day is gorgeous and warm by NC standards. I'm including a few areas below that have been featured before because I cannot wait to document the next few months.  The miracle that we call Spring is but six or so weeks away. 

It boggles my mind thinking about the upcoming changes to the landscape.

All of the bareness will be no more.

A friend recently exclaimed how my images would be encouraging folks to move to Murphy. I wonder if that is true? 

I will close with a crazy thing that happened in the last few days. I received a lengthy email from a woman with a compelling subject line. In Any Language 95/200. The gist of two very lengthy emails is that she bought the above named print of mine in a second-hand store and wanted to know if I would come and speak to a group.......it went on and on. I politely declined, but I did respond that it pleased me to no end that one of my prints was having a second-hand life. But of course!!  

Along those same lines as we were standing in line at Ingles I picked up a thrifting magazine that had a labeled price of $14.95! Can you imagine a true thrifter buying a magazine at that price? I sure cannot.

The weather is meant to stay fairly warm both here and in Orlando. Haha...the day we left the temperature began rising and this very day it is nearly 40 degrees warmer than when we were there!! 

The family is thriving both here and abroad.

Could we ask for anything more? I should say not.

your friend,

Gail

No More Whining!

 Whining is unbecoming, don't you think? So why was my last post so full of it? 

Good question.

Once the mountains came into view, all of that negativity washed away and while I will be recounting a little more about the trip, being factual rather than emotional is my goal. 

Milking the photos of Christian and Fallon that I took for all they worth.

Most definitely a highlight of our trip! Our hope is to return in a few months when he has had all of his shots and the winter weather is gone. Yeah for Spring! At least as far as the nasty viruses are concerned. Have you read that there is a "quad-demic" going around?  (read all about it with the link)

While our bird feeders here provide loads of entertainment value, I was so hoping to see some big birds in Florida on this trip. Only an hour following our arrival, Bruce had a super good find and called out to me as I was unloading the car. Grab your camera!

This guy was pounding away at a tree near the mailboxes. Woo hoo! 

Driving home from the dentist I thought, why not go and check on the peacock neighborhood? It never fails to delight me.

I saw probably about twenty five on the couple of streets and it was not raining; truly a bonus. 

Have you guessed that I am in a bird segment? Oh how I wish there was more to share, however, on the free day we had to go to the Wetlands, it was pouring rain. To say that I was highly disappointed is an understatement! This is the time of the year the egrets, spoonbills, blue herons and cormorants are building nests. Not to mention the wood storks. All of the big boys! Of course I am using that term loosely because without girls there would be no need for nests would there?

As some already know our condo is on a small lake that usually is great for bird watching. Don't be fooled by the blue sky in this photo because there was very little of that on our trip. This is an Anhinga for those who could care less about birds.

There was a cute palm warbler in a tree.

A little blue heron checking his reflection amongst the aquatic plants.

A red winged blackbird was amongst the downed reeds and looks as if she is gathering material for a nest of her own. By the way, the first time I saw this bird I could not believe that it was a red winged blackbird because I saw no red. Turns out it is a female and as is so often the case, the male and female look very little alike.

One of my very favorite birds is the loud limpkin.

I just love the brown and white pattern! 

It was nice to see the lake again,

and the only thing that would have made it better was a sunrise. Not happening with the gloomy weather much to my disappointment. I am mostly a very simple woman who finds joy in the simplest of things. 

Speaking of lakes, there are two in our complex and it was not until the day before we returned to North Carolina that I went to the bigger lake to see what I could see, in spite of the cold and wet weather. Not a whole lot except for this great blue heron that was all tucked in, warding off the cold.

One last nature photo that might make you smile.

These days I drive very little but when I am home I do put the MINI on the road, and in this instance, I left at eight in the morning to drive all the way across town to have an oil change. 

Would you look at that! It is raining. Finally I arrived and I took a seat in the waiting room adjacent to Interstate 4.

My oil change came with some surprises as they checked the car and got back to me that there were some serious repairs that will be needed sooner, rather than later. Oh joy! I did enjoy my quiet time there reading a marvelous book called Tara Road by Maeve Binchy. My advisor said I could wait for a little bit, especially because the car is just sitting in the carport. Maybe after we get over the HVAC system replacement.

Bruce arranged for the new system and we were very fortunate that the contractor had a unit in stock and workers that could install it. Bruce emptied the closet for easy access.

The system is in the top of the closet and the fellows needed all the room that we could provide.

On the first day it was raining so they installed a new version of the inside equipment pictured above, followed by the outside equipment on Thursday when it was still raining but not quite so hard. The fellows were top notch which was a real blessing. Janet came by for a visit that afternoon, followed by Anne and then Mary invited us for a delicious roast chicken dinner at her place down the street.

We had lots of meals out with friends including Joe and Cynthia who met us a Chuy's for dinner. Fortunately the restaurant was not very busy, so our server did not mind us sitting there for nearly two hours. A lovely couple who we do miss.

A marvelous night out at F&D Kitchen with David and Michelle was our Monday night date. 

The food was delicious, the company even better with great service as well.

Both Bruce and I spent time going through our place and packing things to bring to our home here, including more sewing supplies, some art work, tools and kitchen equipment. Although we have had good luck with thrift stores, shopping in our own home was very satisfying.

Now that our cars are serviced, our teeth were cleaned, our condo cleaned and organized, our eyes examined, and our family and friends all visited, it was time to head north and wouldn't you know it, the sun came out for the first time in nearly a week.

It was an uneventful drive to Valdosta, only a little over 200 miles from home, but as was discussed in my last post, the site of a Drury Inn! Because we were there fairly early, we popped into a TJ Maxx across the street. Who do you imagine these tables are designed for?

The store was jam packed with merchandise that is for sure. Because the mall was right there we went into the JC Penny's store as well as the mall where I saw this that I thought was fun. 

Surprisingly the mall looked mostly full of stores and it won't surprise you in the least that Bruce had a chat with the manager of JCP who told him that it was nearly 80% occupied. Good for them! Maybe it was because we had just seen darling Christian but as we were walking into the store I was reminded of how I used to buy clothes for our little ones at the JC Penny downtown on Orange Avenue, just down the street from the Beachem Theater, all places from our childhood in Orlando. Long gone, replaced by plenty of bars that seemingly are the cause of some troubles in town.

Piles of snow were in front of most places and in the case of the hotel, on the furniture as well.

It still amazes me that the panhandle of Florida received so much snow! We saw the remnants as we drove out of Florida. Which reminds me, as we were driving south in Georgia, we began seeing loads of downed trees which Bruce thought was hurricane damage. Sure enough, looking it up, it was damage from Hurricane Helene on the destructive path toward North Carolina. 

Day two was mostly smooth sailing even through the mountains which also had remnants of the winter storms. Holy cow it looked cool! 

We arrived home with enough daylight to empty the car and put most everything in place. 

Whew!! The good news is that we now are better equipped for our next visit with our place all tidy and  a driving plan in place. I'm pretty confident that masks will not be required for next time.

Until we meet again little man!

your friend,

Gail

A Winter Trip to Orlando

More than likely we had too high of expectations for this trip, but then again, maybe things just were not nearly as smooth sailing as they should have been? There were some high points with more than we would have liked, low points. 

A week ago, at 7:30 in the morning, we left our sweet little Campbell Street house to begin our journey to Orlando. The temperature was 27 degrees with snow remaining in the back yard. John and Laura agreed to feed the birds, a task that they took to heart, even filling them up yesterday morning in six degree weather!! 

Right away it was challenging with a dirty inside windshield and no cleaner in the car, the sun blaring in our eyes and some funky action on our dashboard. What did it mean we wondered? Nothing in the manual gave us a clue and when I called Subaru not long after we left, the answers were unsatisfactory. We only hoped that we could make it without incident! Then there is the matter of Blood Mountain to traverse.

I get it, we are not talking the Rockies here, but still it is a bit nerve wracking with all of the dips and extreme curves, not to mention wet areas that we wondered if what we were seeing was black ice. Finally we were out of the mountains and eventually came to some green pastures.

Because the days are still quite short, we stopped in Valdosta, GA and were so glad that we discovered the Drury Inn. After a stressful day, we were so happy that they not only served a free breakfast, they served a free evening meal as well, allowing us to relax and put the day behind us. Much to our delight, the food was fantastic and ample as well. So marvelous that we are staying there again tomorrow night on our way back. 

The morning drive was mostly uneventful and after a little over four hours, our exit came up. 

We were home for only a short time and friends and family began coming by for a visit. I had let David know we were on our way and he came right over and it was so good to see him. Should you not know who David is, he is one of our beloved sons. We met Nancy at Hawkers for an early dinner and I am sad to say that Bruce was disappointed in the food, something Nancy had warned us about. One of our favorites, that dinner was a harbinger of many disappointments to come. The company was good though as was the company once we returned home when Mary came to see us.

Bruce went to his 8AM appointment at Subaru and I cleaned house. Apparently in the last week or so the air conditioner quit working properly and all of the hard surfaces (!!!) were covered in mildew. Nancy, bless her heart, cleaned it all but it needed a second cleaning. So what I mean is all of the dining tables (3),  and all of the beautiful walnut floors, covered in mildew!! Bruce was at Subaru for 6.5 hours and while that is not easy, the good news is that the problems he was encountering were known and part of a recall that we were unaware of. Thank goodness because the bill would have been $1, 000!

The good news is that we got to see our first grandchild on Saturday afternoon and holy cow is he a cutie!

We spent time inside with masks on, followed by a neighborhood walk. Grandpa was doing what grandpas do and that is having them grab a finger. Actually, when I took the photo it so reminded me of my dad doing the same with our boys.

When we returned we sat beside the pool and their first "baby" joined us. Actually that sounds sort of creepy to me, but as we all know by now, I am old fashioned. That is Winnie on Bruce's lap.

Which gives me the opportunity to brag on her as she has been quite good at being unseated as the queen of the roost! We had a wonderful visit with Bill by the pool. Fallon and Christian made an appearance and that is all we saw of him on this trip. 

As a new mom, and I do remember being one, ever so slightly but I have not forgotten everything, protecting your child comes naturally. That said, had we waited another month or so things would have been different because not only would some of the horrible viruses that are going around settle down as the winter winds down, Christian will be vaccinated so she will have a much greater level of confidence that he won't get sick. 

We did not wait because we wanted to attend the memorial service on Sunday afternoon. Here I am with my remaining siblings. 

Gail, Nancy, Pat and Lisa is the line up these days. Some of you don't know that we have lost two sisters which is one reason we are doing our North Carolina adventure. "Doing all that we can, while we can!" The lineup used to be Pat, Maureen, Gail, Carol, Nancy and Lisa. 

Lisa and her best friend Greta who helped her through the many years of Danny being unwell. The blonde wearing glasses is Lisa and Danny's youngest daughter, Emily. She and her sister Amanda were also fantastic. It was a group effort!

A retired firefighter, many of his colleagues were there including a woman that we are related to in a round about way. Margie is the sister to our sister-in-law Judy who is married to Bruce's brother.

She was a young policewoman who spent a lot of time at the firehouse and knew Danny before Lisa did. She had some funny stories to tell as did lots of folks, including those he worked with at the Pride of Paramore when he was a fairly young man. I especially felt sad seeing the truck when we arrived.

We used to spend most Christmases at Danny and Lisa's spacious home in Longwood. He was a very good man who will be missed.

Sunday morning I was so hoping to go to one of my favorite birding spots but unfortunately God had other plans. Rain, rain and more rain! I just heard from Karen a friend who lives here who said what a miserable week it has been, to which I agreed, and also how sorry she felt for tourists who spent so much money to come here only to find it cold, damp and dreary. I seconded that idea!

We spent a considerable amount of time going through our things and looking for things that will be useful on Campbell Street. And then it was Monday and looking back on things, I realized our schedule was far too ambitious. Nonetheless, I had a 7:30 teeth cleaning followed by Bruce doing the same. I was telling Matt how much the office where we have gone for nearly 40 years has changed. There is no way in hell that Dr. Arenz would have ever agreed to something like this.

I should be celebrating that all was good but I have to admit, I left there thinking what the heck! Before I go though, I had a new hygienist who displayed this cool map in the room. She and her current husband have been to all the parks shown.

Not only did I learn about her travels, something else in her space prompted me to ask about the photographs. Oh my goodness, I was so unprepared for her sad story of an abusive policeman husband who not only killed himself but their two children, aged 8 and 10, when she went to work!! She told me it made the national news and who is surprised? 

What in the name of heavens do I have to complain about?

Which sounds really noble and all but more complaints are coming and I'm not proud of that!

For years we have gotten our glasses at Costco because not only do they have a wonderful selection they have a lot of value for your dollar. As such, since the nearest Costco to Murphy is about two hours away, I made an appointment for both of us to have an eye exam on Monday evening. So far so good. Until we learned that unlike what we were expecting, they cannot mail progressive lens glasses to us. Bummer, bummer!

Time to get moving....see you again real soon.

your friend,

Gail