Deerwoode Reserve

 On Thursday morning, more than a week ago, we began the day by meeting a realtor who was going to show us two condos in the Connestee Falls development. We hopped in her car because she said the roads were winding and there was a good chance we might get lost. Good call! Once in the development, and on said roads, she kept turning around to talk to me until such time as I spoke up that she was making me a nervous wreck! Although she too is from Florida, she's been there long enough to become accustomed to that kind of driving. Mostly she stuck to my plea!

It's a lovely place with big trees along with big views. Plus lots of flowers that caught my attention. I loved them all, but for some reason I am crazy partial to dogwood blooms.

That said, the white irises were pretty great too!

The first place was plenty nice and mostly in our price range, however, it had no real view and was too dark for my liking. The second place was fantastic inside, about 100K more than we wanted to spend, and had a super ugly color combination on the door and trim that we would not be able to change.

Bruce, however, was plenty keen on the one above, but then again, there was the matter of the price. This one did not have a mountain view, but there were plenty of beautiful trees that we were seeing in their springtime glory of intense greens. The development has some great views and four beautiful lakes where you can imagine Bruce would just love to go fishing.

Alas, the tour lasted three hours because she showed us everything, even the pickleball courts and beautiful clubhouse! A fairly young and charming woman, the time passed quickly. I'm pretty sure, although not 100%, that I took the photo below while there.

Perhaps you are wondering why we are even thinking of something so daring? Blame it on Vancouver. Ever since our time there I have been longing for mountain views, as well as cooler summers. This Florida gal is just plumb sick of the relentless heat. Thanking Katie for her time, we next made our way to Ingles, a really great grocery store found in the South. As an aside, since we've been home, she's been emailing property listings from all over the area, none of which has been perfect for us. The truth is, if we do something like this, we cannot settle, instead it has to be just right, or why else do it is my thinking!

After picking up a few groceries, but mostly prepared foods, we drove the short distance to Deerwoode. One of the absolute greatest things about the place is that it is so close to downtown, yet a world away. Driving up to our cabin, look who greeted us!

Obviously I was most pleased with our welcoming committee of one! We stayed in the Meadow Cabin, one of about ten on the property. It is cute without being too much. The living area,

has a nice couch and the chairs flanking the door are good too.

The bedroom was cozy with a great air conditioner adjacent to what I claimed as my side of the bed!

A couple of years ago we stayed at another place that, while cozy, had just plain ugly furnishing so I very much appreciated the restraint shown while decorating this cabin. A little goes a long way!

There is not only a porch, but a covering beyond said porch, which was great when it finally rained one evening.

Did I tell you that it was hot? It was way hotter than I'd hoped for, but you take what you can get! They have thought of everything to make guest's visit comfortable. After unloading our bags, we immediately took to the picnic table to eat our lunch.

We spent most of the afternoon under the shade trees, except for when I went exploring the immaculate property. Scott and Dionne are from Lakeland, but while looking for some property in the Brevard area came across this beautiful place and immediately went into full-on sales mode. They sold their Lakeland home, flooring and remodeling business, along with two homes in Connestee in order to buy it from the owner who has worked the land for the past 55 years. Since the purchase they've done some renovating and continue to do so as time permits. This is just their second season receiving guests. As to Bill, the former owner, he returns each day for hours on end to work in the garden in spite of the weather. He's 84 years old. 

Look carefully on the left side and you will see him in action. Apparently he has many tales to tell of his years running camps here. In addition, during his tenure he planted 40,000 trees, loads of them in straight rows.

As well, he put up bird boxes and lots of them. The 175 in total can be found all over the place with what I learned are tree swallows flitting in and out, flying acrobatically through the air and sometimes right at you!

Here's a female whereas the gorgeous teal colored one I showed before is, what else Gail???, the male.

Already you are getting the picture, right? Bird heaven, tree heaven, mountain heaven....

what more could I have asked for?? A river perhaps? Check that one off as well as the French Broad River winds around their property.

If only I'd been able to photograph the hundreds of fireflies who took to the meadow and trees once night fell! Oh my gosh, only the second time in my life seeing that magnificent display of our God's creativity! 

Still more to say about our time there, but should you care to see more photos without a narrative, here's a little album I put together for my publisher. 

I wanted to leave a little room to talk about this past week. Nance got here and on Wednesday night Maureen's beloved friend Sheri took us all out to LaCantina for an amazing dinner/party she just knew  would have made her happy. Our last visit there was actually to celebrate Maureen's 70th birthday. (good picture of all three ladies in that post!)

Unfortunately, Lynn was unable to join us because she's been under the weather with Covid!

Thursday the photo shoeboxes came out again...

Looking through three packed boxes, the photos of Maureen were few and far between. Duh!! Looking in a drawer in the guest bedroom, I discovered a small brown envelope I'd put together before. Yup, you guessed it. While doing the same for Carol. Loads of great photos in that envelope, including this one I took while on a trip to NYC together many, many years ago.

Thursday night another longtime friend and his wife, David and Carol, opened their home for a memorial time to celebrate Maureen. Old and new friends, including her occupational therapist from Westminster came. He's wearing the black scrubs and Carol is seated in the coral dress.

Heretofore, Carol was a stranger to me, however, the therapist, who said he was attending the first service for a patient in all his years of practice, began working with Maureen from day one when she was trying to recover from her second hip. A wonderful man and exemplary example of someone working in healthcare who really does care. Sadly, that's a rare commodity these days.

Although we were missing Matt and Jonathan, the other cousins lined up for a photo, the first in a very long time.

Of course you know Bill and David. Laura, one of Nancy's daughters is on the left, and that would be Rich, her son, and Elizabeth, her daughter, on the end. The year 1979 was a busy one for some of the Price girls with Lara born on January, 4, Rich, February 4, and the twins on April, 1. Whew, when I think back to the family gatherings with all those little children! Rich has two sons, whereas Elizabeth has two daughters. She requested no funeral, just parties and her wish was granted. May she rest in peace now. 

Speaking of peace, in spite of hearing the news of Maureen's death on Saturday morning, it was easy to find at Deerwoode Reserve.

your friend,

Gail

Some Bittersweet News

As has been expected, Maureen died last Saturday. While it grieves me to type that sentence, both Bruce and I are rejoicing that her suffering is no more. From what I understand, she died in her sleep, another blessing. Searching for blog posts mentioning Maureen, this one from December 2018 tells the story of what was the beginning of her downward spiral. Parkinsons disease is usually associated with tremors and if that were all there was to it, a person could adapt. Unfortunately, there are a host of consequences, none of them good. I last visited Maureen on what would have been Carol's birthday had she lived. She was completely unresponsive. Lynn, a longtime friend of ours, arrived at the same time and neither of us could get through to her, however, I didn't expect it to be my last visit, but then again, how would I know? The truth is, she has been "gone" for a long time now, so while grieving, I am relieved that she has been released from this life of misery.

Now we are down to three sisters. :(

In other news, Matt has had Covid. Although his symptoms have been mostly mild, it has taken a good long while to get a negative test. Another post that mentioned Maureen is this one written in the early days of the pandemic. My goodness, clearly from what I wrote, I never expected this virus to still be with us in the middle of May 2022! Matt is not the only one who has recently had Covid....about six other folks we know have had it as well. Who knows how we have so far escaped it? Hopefully we were not exposed during the trip we just returned from yesterday afternoon, thus no blog post to speak of last week.

And where did we go you ask? 

We are considering buying a summer home in North Carolina, thus we went for a visit and viewed two condos, one of which was super pretty, but more than we hoped to spend, the other was okay, but too dark for my liking. The truth is that this is probably a terrible time to buy a property what with prices everywhere skyrocketing. It's hard to predict if a crash is coming; any property we might find now may become worth less than we payed. Both were located in a lovely planned community called Connestee Falls.  There are four lakes and more importantly, dedicated pickleball courts! Named after a beautiful  double waterfall,

it has a lot going for it, that is if you don't mind driving on super windy roads!!

Let's back up a bit and I'll tell you how we got to this point, shall I? 

This trip was not very well planned as we hemmed and hawed before finally deciding on Monday to hit the road in the morning. Packing our bags, along with our pickleball stuff and a cooler. we took off later than was ideal. The important thing is we were on our way. Taking the interstate, we first stopped just outside of Jacksonville at Buc-ee's which we'd heard so much about.

That would be Buc-ee in the back of the truck. Picking up more snacks and gas we continued on our way. The wages paid there are really something.

Do you think this roadside message could be any clearer?

Outside of Brunswick, we got back to our roots, taking state roads where you never know what you will see next. The reason it takes us longer than most folks is because my dear husband never complains when I ask him to turn around so that I might get a photo. In this instance, well can you blame me?

Adjacent to the old VW garage I thought this was kind of clever. Take note of the gasoline price too.

Fortunately, on this trip, the Subaru got pretty good gas mileage and unlike the MINI takes regular gas. We saw it as high as $4.50 per gallon!

Wildflowers graced the side of the highway and it was here that Bruce finally pulled over in order for us to eat the sandwiches I'd packed. Great location, right? 

According to their Wikipedia page, it is not somewhere you would want to live! Mostly it was smooth sailing with little to no traffic on the roads, however, we did come across some construction where I just marveled at how red that Georgia clay is.

We drove by farms, fields of corn, and one with bagged Vidalia onions. Bruce was a man on a mission hoping to get to Brevard by nightfall, some 570 miles from home. Stopping at the Georgia welcome center I picked up several brochures, one of which was for The Georgia Guidestones. Reading it with interest, I put it in my bag. Well, lo and behold, later on I saw it was just ahead on the map I follow on the iPad. We just had to stop! Should you want to know more, click on this link, to learn how an anonymous man paid to put this in Elberton, GA!

Onward into a corner of South Carolina that is as pretty as can be. 

On our last trip to Brevard, we came in on the eastern side of the city and let me tell you, the last bit in S.C. was as scary as can be. This time, coming in on the western side was plenty windy but nothing like that last trip! Finally, as it was turning dusk, we made our way to a Holiday Inn Express that I'd booked while we were on the road. The only redeeming feature of that place was the blooming dogwood just behind the hotel!

All joking aside, it seemed as if they were not immune when it came to having enough employees just like every other business. Plus it was close to Pisgah National forest where we went just after breakfast. The Looking Glass falls did not disappoint!

Unlike the pictured woman we did not go out onto the rocks, although the spray is so fierce we could feel it on the viewing platform. Before that, however, we pulled into a little area, climbed down a bit, so that the birthday boy could do a little fishing.

Indeed, it was Bruce's 69th birthday and a lovely place to celebrate him it was. Moseying through the Davidson River campground, I saw this super cool mushroom. Taking the picture I was thinking of Maureen who loved this sort of thing. That said, it has been years since she's even been outdoors if you don't count our Covid visit in the parking garage.

From there we drove into downtown Brevard, one of the reasons to move there because it is so cute and lively! That said, Bruce had a heck of a time navigating the parking machine with this kind man helping him out.

Our friend Rhonda has a second home in Brevard and sent me a list of restaurants she thought we might like. Indeed, The Square Root was the one where we ate on our last visit. The brussel sprouts were fantastic, as was the pimento cheese.

Lemon cake for dessert! So pretty you hardly wanted to eat it.

Following lunch we drove to the realty office to make sure we knew where we were going in the morning. It is in a lovely setting adjacent to the falls.

It was during our stop there that I checked my map and next we made our way to the Brevard Health and Racquet club.  Oh my goodness, I saw on the map that we were super close to a place that I'd tried and failed to book. After checking out the pickleball courts, we drove to Deerwoode Reserve and it was the best move of the trip. Oh my goodness, was it beautiful and they even had a cabin we could rent for as many days as we wanted.  Instantly I fell in love with everything about it. The owner took us on a tour of the property which is 175 acres surrounded by mountains. Looking first at the Riverside cabin, we learned that it was already booked for the weekend. The French Broad river runs alongside it....duh, you guessed that already!

Because this post has gone on for a while, I will tell you more about this little piece of heaven on earth in my next post as Nancy has just arrived in order to be here for Maureen's memorial. But first the trees!

And the wide open spaces!

While we were there I took a large number of photographs that I think you will like. I sure loved taking them!

As I wrote when Carol died, it is important to do all that we can, while we can, because we never know when things will change.

your friend,

Gail

A Short Hold

Hi friends,

Forgive me for a tiny break in the action. Only for a week or so.

In the meantime, did you stay up for the celestial event? I cheated just a little bit. I got the first bit of the eclipse, went to sleep for an hour or so and got back up when the moon was its' reddest. So good.

 It's an amazing world we live in isn't it? So many, many interesting natural phenoms. I'll let you know if I see any more of them soon.

your friend,

Gail

Early Spring

Here I go again, matching the flowers at church! 

Both Cynthia and myself were admiring the arrangement when she asked about taking my photo and I said, "why not?" It's not half bad, unlike most of the photos I am featured in, precisely why I am more often than not behind the camera!

While we were up there I noticed for the first time that the Bible on the lectern is in large print! Now that's a darn good idea, isn't it?

Although I'm still not sure I would be able to read it without my glasses!  

Another Mother's Day is behind us, marking nearly twenty years since I was a motherless child. Funny though, in spite of the fact that mine was far from perfect and I mean FAR, memories of the woman who gave life to me are mostly of the later years of her life. What will my children remember about me? If later years memories are most prominent, then I suspect pickleball will enter into their thoughts. How it has made us very happy to be active nearly every day. Not to mention meeting all kinds of nice folks. In the last week or two, a man has been coming to the Dover Shores courts most mornings without a paddle yet wants to play. Each day someone will loan him a paddle and tirelessly help remind him how to play the game. Bruce has been so kind to David who we think is struggling with dementia. And it's not just Bruce, any number of players, who were all complete strangers to us a few weeks ago, patiently endure the games when he plays. It's a really sweet sight to witness.

So, back to MD, Matt and Tom both called and sent a gorgeous floral arrangement. 

David brought the orchid along with other goodies that undoubtedly Michelle picked out. Speaking of which, there were two new 1,000 piece puzzles in the bag. Yikes, I never do 1,000 piece. Earlier, while eating lunch, I hatched an idea and that is to get her to help me with them!! 

With a little help from Bruce, I finally finished this one that has been on the table for a few weeks.

Bruce got me the cutest card ever. Well ever is a bit of a stretch, but darn cute.

He washed my car, fixed up the front of our place with fresh mulch, AND made a frame for the heart above the door.

I had to chuckle a bit while looking at the photograph above. In this small space we have more art than many people have in their whole house! And how do I know this, you ask? Selling prints for ten years will teach one a thing or two! I cannot tell you the number of people who told me that their walls were empty. Yikes, that would never work for the two of us. In fact, each time we have moved, the minute the furniture is placed, the art goes on the walls. 

That reminds me, five years ago on Mother's Day, while Bruce was in Plano, TX with a project, the twins took me to lunch, followed by a viewing of the very space you are seeing above, arranged by David. Not that it looked like the above, as every thing in the whole place was varying shades of vanilla, but you get the idea. The two of them, after we did a Facetime with Bruce, pretty much dictated the price and the rest is history. Woo hoo!

Bill and Fallon brought pizza, and David and Michelle were there for a little while before leaving to visit  her Mom in Kissimmee. Jonathan called, so it was four for four! I must have done something right. Late last month he sent me a beautiful National Geographic coffee table book that is just as wonderful as it sounds. As is common with us, we talked about good stuff to watch on television. I began telling him about a series we had just completed when he reminded me that it was he who had recommended it! Hell to get old! Anyway, Clarkson's Farm on Amazon Prime was highly entertaining. 

Can you believe it? Almost half a post without a single bird picture??? We'll see if I can resist? I certainly could not in my last post that if you missed it you can read here. 

A trip to the library was in order last week and I saw two things of note during that drive. One is the torn down building at the corner of Rosalind and Central to make way for the Lake Eola expansion.

Secondly, on the drive home.....a distant fire!

Taken at the intersection of Gore and Orange Avenue, it was hard to tell where it was coming from. I tried calling Michelle, thinking it was perhaps on Michigan, however, it went to voicemail.  Heading south on Orange Avenue,  I was relieved it was not on Michigan, but sad for whomever's house on Miller Street was up in flames. 

Finally, after nearly two months with flowers, we have the tiniest geranium bloom that I am hoping with fill out in the next few days. 

Somehow I agreed to head the Resident Relations committee here in the village which had actually gone pretty well for the last two years because we had nothing to do because of Covid! That time is past and our committee is in the process of planning a big 4th of July party down at the pool beside the lake. With limited funds to spend, our property manager came up big time for us by asking some of our regular vendors for donations. With a wonderful response, the pieces are falling into place. She'd found a caterer that also has a little spot in a food hall in Avalon Park. Since none of us had ever heard of the barbecue place, Bruce and I drove out there to check it out. Before this visit, Avalon Park was a mystery to us as it is located a good ways east of the city. With all new buildings, it looks very fresh indeed. The food hall is also new and cute.

There are about ten different choices ranging from Cajun to barbecue, and lots in between. Here's what we were looking for.

We were happy to report to the committee that it was very tasty indeed.

One evening we went over to Johnny's to celebrate that windfall I spoke about recently. The money we didn't know we had to refresh your memory. I tried a tiny bit of whiskey just for fun.

That too turned about to be very tasty! 

The weather. Always something to be said about the weather, if only for posterity. Last week was broiling! Not as hot as it has been in Austin, according to Jonathan, but plenty hot. Fortunately it has cooled off a bit with highs only in the mid-80's. Thank God! I absolutely hate the heat anymore!

Okay, above I made no promises, so it is bird time! Remember how I've explained that when you hear a bunch of Blue Jays screaming that oftentimes it means a raptor is in the area? You should have watched this poor hawk getting a dressing down from about three very loud Blue Jays.

Eventually, after countless "dive bombs", the exasperated hawk flew away.

And here we have a Cardinal youngster that stopped in today.

Mom was in our tree while Dad is in the Magnolia tree outside the gate. Super exciting!

Another thing we did last week was visit Maureen who is not doing well at all. Today would have been our sister Carol's 67th birthday had she lived. There were once five Price girls, now there are four, and sadly we may be down to three in the coming months. Or maybe not, is our hope! Heading over to see her once I hit publish!

your friend, 

Gail