A Lot of Ground to Cover

It might have been the wind. Or maybe the cold? More than likely it was the spin on the ball that caused me to, in the words of one who witnessed it, crash and burn. I am nursing some sore spots, but otherwise I seem to be okay. When it happened, not so much. 

As it was, both Bruce and I were dressed in our shorts and skorts with several layers on top. Well, I am here to tell you, those outfits were no match for the weather. Instead of our usual arrival time, we first went and did our shopping and then to the courts around 10:00. Maybe ten people were there allowing for three full courts of play upon our arrival. I was skeptical because of the 36 degree temp, but of course the lure is great when you are standing adjacent to the court so I relented. Bad choice. When the ball dropped short in the court, landing funny because of both the wind and the spin, I ran forward to get it. One witness said the ball went under my foot causing the fall, another thinks it was forward momentum. Me, I am going with the spinning ball under my feet as I am generally sure-footed, believe it or not! Nonetheless, I landed on all fours and I am here to tell you it was no fun at all. Both hands hurt like mad because of both the impact and the nearly freezing temperature. Lori was kind enough to lend me her gloves, as well as cover my bare legs with her jacket while Bruce got a quilt out of the car. My right knee is scraped, but fortunately not badly. My left hand is still hurting but it should following such great impact. As long time readers know, that wrist has given me problems ever since my breaks, so it is no surprise at all that it hurts now. Anyway, I spent the remainder of the day in the RECLINER with both an ice pack and heating pad and I feel much improved this morning. 

Let's hope so because I am far behind in my posts! Onward.....

If you ever wondered about the difference in eggs, wonder no more!

Amazing how orange that brown egg yolk is! I had cracked these for something and now I can't remember what it was! My nearly 70 year old brain is all I can say. Anyway, it impressed me and I figured it might impress you as well, so why not make it the lead photo??

Our Thanksgiving was lovely with just the two of us because, although our sons and families were far away physically, we spent considerable time on the phone with two of them. Plus, we began this wonderful life as a couple. so we know how to be happy as such. The day began chilly, but not so much it kept us from taking a walk along the river before cooking.

While we are here I have been encouraging the man of the house to learn more cooking skills and he has taken it to heart, making the apple pie from scratch on Wednesday.

I believe we used Ambrosia apples and it was delicious, so much so that the baker had to sample it the day before the big day.

Everything turned out beautifully! And yes, we did buy a 13 pound turkey that has served us well for about four more days! The jigsaw puzzle on the table was super fun with both of us contributing to it's completion.

I brought it along with a few others thinking they would be a good way to spend time when the weather is inclement, as I expect it to be. 

I've decided that Fairy Cross bottle shop is like our neighborhood pub where folks gather to visit. We do have a glass of wine or two, but it is the camaraderie that is what's really special.

I believe it was this night that we met two CNN international journalists who are covering the war in Gaza. I have said it before, but it bears repeating, that you "never know who you will meet in Murphy." Not only is night falling earlier and earlier but by golly, we had a super sunset the other night, something I must admit I have been missing from our Florida life.

That would be the Murphy Art Center, barely visible in the quickening darkness, where our friend Linda will be playing the dulcimer on Friday night during the monthly art walk. I cannot wait to hear her! Of course there is the threat of rain which is a huge bummer because it is the night of the Christmas tree lighting! If you've watched any Hallmark Christmas movies you are well aware of how important that is to small town life. A window decorating contest is happening and the parade is scheduled for Saturday night. Where you can find the hot chocolate is unknown to me at this juncture, but I will be sure to report back should I find it in abundance!

Nancy has been such a help during our absence as has Bill who are both helping to keep the MINI going. If you can imagine, well I've no doubt that you can, but our mail has been a problem again in spite of me setting it up in advance. Anyway, I asked her to check our mailbox after more than two weeks of no mail and you guessed it, full as can be. She went straight to the nearby post office, filling the envelope with things like a new Medicare card for Bruce, as well as our car insurance cards. Yikes!! They claim it is sorted out, but a phone call will have to be placed, yet again. So that came in the mail from her last week and just yesterday she sent a brand new ornament of our favorite bird! She wanted us to have a personal one and she hit the mark big time.

We don't see nearly enough Cardinals for my liking, however, in the last week or so, one has been coming around including this freezing morning. As in today! Note the nectar in the hummingbird feeder!

I believe it was 28 when we got up this morning? Of course I had to go out and explore this cold world. 

The Beaver Moon in the morning sky.

A single deer was grazing at the end of the driveway.

That is somewhat surprising because for the most part we have lately been seeing them in small herds!

Obviously we are thrilled! 

Can you believe their color? 

During my Monday afternoon walk Matt and Tom called via Facetime and we had a lovely chat. I keep wondering if I will have much to photograph during the short, cold winter days, but gee whiz, interesting things just keeps appearing. I actually had to put the phone down on the ground when this happened in front of me. The color of this Bluebird is just fantastic!

Here is what is called a Burning Bush losing it's leaves but leaving berries behind for our avian friends.

Although this photo is rubbish it is documentation that I saw a Dark Eyed Junco! I wondered for a long time why they did not trim this bush and now I know why. I think Laura told me it is a Forsythia? Whatever it is, multiple birds are loving it for perching. 

I told you I went out exploring with my camera this morning and here's something I learned. Do not leave your equipment in the car overnight when the temperature plunges below freezing. It was finicky when I tried using it so no good photos of my first ever sighting of an Eastern Towhee here in Murphy!! Just pretend I took this Western Towhee here in Murphy rather than in Stanley Park in Vancouver! They look very similar. 

Indeed, if all else fails there is the changing morning sky, so often filled with fog. Speaking of Vancouver, I remember one day getting turned around while walking there as the fog was so dense I had no sense of direction. Should you care to go back in time here is the post about that. It also has a photo of our tiny Christmas tree and Baxter as well. 

All this typing is really helping my hand as is the ace bandage that we got from J & L who supply us with not only a beautiful place to live but all manner of things we don't have. A rolling pin for instance that hopefully we will use a little later today to roll out the gingerbread dough I made on Sunday afternoon. 

It's a wonderful life.

your friend,

Gail 

No Shame in Our Game

It's a grey and dreary day outdoors, almost a carbon copy of yesterday. Thus, a good day to make my annual desk calendars and order some new photography business needs. The prints are on order from RTArt, the stickers for the packaging are coming and the bio sheets the same. Get this...I use VistaPrint for all that sort of thing and have for more than a decade, yet rarely have I looked to a customer representative for help. Actually I ordered the stickers to bump the price up a few dollars for free shipping so when I added the text to the sticker, telling the young woman it was my blog address, she asked if I wanted a QR code instead. SOLD! Thoroughly Modern Gail!

There's an excellent antidote to the dreary weather and that would be our large, lit, and fully decorated with all sorts of cute ornaments, thrift store tree! Yup, we bought the tree from one of the four local thrift stores we visited, this one helping battered women. It is fantastic!

Here's how it happened.

We spend an inordinate amount of time at Wal Mart, whether it is buying groceries, or any manner of other things that we need. But of course, we checked out the artificial trees while on one of our innumerable visits. While that is not is our preference, for convenience sake we thought we might go that route. We also looked at Lowes, but did not pull the trigger at either store. The one thing I was certain about though was the need to find some interesting ornaments rather than the tubs of sixty colored balls being sold in both places. What is the fun in only balls? I'll answer that....none!

So last Thursday, instead of a field trip, we went thrifting. In the end we came home with this haul for about $35.

"Reach" was the second store we visited, having found a few ornaments at the first one which benefits the Humane Society. (Don't quote me on that!) With ornaments in hand, I turned around and what to my wondering eyes should appear, but a fully lit, lush 7.5 ft. Christmas tree with a $40 price tag. Because we had already scoped out trees, it is our guess that this one would be well over $200 new. The woman who worked there came forward to let us know that not only did all of the lights work, always a plus,  but there was a large wheeled tub to store it in. Now if we were in Orlando,  that would be a challenge as our storage options are limited, but here there is a huge attic where it can reside when we are done with the season. The only issue that might arise with that is getting it up the ladder to the attic, but I suspect Bruce will find a way. 

Normally we do not put a tree up this early, but when opportunity arises, we take advantage of it. The three pieces went together without a hitch and it was game on. Now most folks are not all that keen on thrifting, but if one can get over any bias, there are wonderful things to be had. In fact, I made some pumpkin bread that was out of this world, using a recipe from the Joy of Cooking cookbook I got for 50 cents. Those canisters? $3.50 each! 

While the kitchen is well stocked it was lacking canisters for my baking needs. Lots of folks never bake, but knowing already how much I like not only the baking, but the end result as well you understand my need.

While I am still in the kitchen, I do so love my windowsill with a thrift store find on there that cost, get this, .25!

I have no idea what that little figure was meant to be but it sure is fun. That giant pinecone came from a state park in Georgia. The dark ball beside it is a Black Walnut I picked up on my river walks and the little acorns are from the driveway. Wild plants from the roadway. Now you know.

John, our landlord, had his knee replaced just two weeks ago and his path to recovery has been remarkable. Within a day or so he was walking around outside. He hates being cooped up, so after a few days he headed to the kitchen, making granola that he shared with us. His two week follow up at the doctor yesterday was a great success and he is now cleared to do all manner of exercise. Unbelievable.

I might be wrong but I think he might just like having neighbors.

Back to that wonderful tree!! It looks so pretty beside the fireplace. The lights can be solid white or flash with colored as well. I alternate my preference so far. 

It took moving some furniture around to make it work. The home for the chest below is under the window but there was plenty of room behind the sofa so that's where it went.

The recliner exchanged places with this large comfy chair because, frankly, I have grown fond of the recliner and didn't want to give it up for more than a month!! College football baby!

We are all just heartsick because our fantastic Florida State quarterback hurt his leg in Saturday's game and will miss the rest of his final season. We had been ranked in the top four in the country, however, it looks as if the voters are assuming Tate Rodemaker will not be able to lead the team to several more wins.  We are so sad for Jordan Travis and are praying he recovers very, very soon. Whatever the outcome of the remaining season, it has been a good year for our team.

Does this look like $1,000 to you? Me neither, but thankfully we did not have to pay that exorbitant rate because once I emptied all of these packs given to me by the cardiologist's office, I've got enough until the new year! Yippee!

We have a small tree on the porch that belongs to the cottage and it is cute as a button.

It looks a little better since our thrift store bonanza! 

Let's take a closer look at some of the ornaments, shall we? Our first Christmas tree, 50 years ago was adorned with painted wooden ornaments that we did together, so when I found a bag of about twenty of these for .50, I snagged it up. They did not disappoint.

Of note is the ribbon I used. I think the roll was maybe $3.00 for 75 feet. It worked like a charm and I even have some left over. Talk about ornament variety! While I do not have my very own ornaments this year, many of them given to me by our children, this will do nicely. 

Thank you, thank you to the folks who donated these new treasures. While I am typing Mr. Peck is on mantle duty and those of you who have followed this blog for any time will know that he does a great job with that task. Way better than I can do, that's a given!

With that in mind, he also does a great job with woodworking. After some searching we found a crate to hold our photography prints at a downtown antique store that while the price was right, the size was not ideal, nor was the finish. From practically the first day we were here back in June, John was urging Bruce to use his shop. Now he has.

He took the whole thing apart, downsizing it a bit and now it is ready for action as soon as the prints arrive from RTArt. Newbies don't know that name so let me explain. When I began selling photography in 2007 at the Lake Eola Farmers Market there were very few vendors, maybe 15 or so. We set up Sunday after Sunday and hoped something would happen and much to our surprise it did. Not that I knew what I was doing, but for some reason, I found an audience. One Sunday morning a man and his wife came to my booth, originally looking, but after a few moments, Roger said to me, "I can help you out a lot". How so we wondered? Well for starters, he could not only make prints, but he could provide the packaging as well as mats for said prints! Say what? Long story short, he was right and our business took a turn for the better. We had that partnership until I decided to call it quits in 2017, however, they did not quit. Actually, it has been an explosion of business for Roger and Tricia and all of their employees, so much so that is taking a lot longer to get those prints than it used to! Their quality and attention to detail is worth waiting for. 

Now have I chosen things that might sell? Who knows!!! :)

Saturday afternoon we went to Andrews for "Christmas on Main" and it was good fun. I plan to share some photos of that soon, but I did want to update you on the fire there that I mentioned here. While it is mostly contained, it was still smoking and this time we at least saw some evidence of it unlike our previous visit. I saw it when we were making our way into town and thought if we went up the hill beside the elementary school we might see the smoke and so we did.

Hopefully the drizzle that is happening now and predicted to last throughout the day will do the trick in putting it out for good.

I've also got plenty of photographs of the end of the leaf season that are being put on hold for the moment, but in closing, I think I'm going to like the bare trees too. A brilliant blue sky sure sets them off doesn't it?

Duh, I neglected to tie that title to the post didn't I? Well with smart readers like you it's probably overkill to explain it, but what I mean by that is that we are not too proud to use the available resources, which means we've bought all manner of goods from the various thrift stores. Bruce is filling up the closet with finds including this nice plaid shirt he wore to the Andrews event.

With finds like we've had, a better question might be, "what took us so long?" 

Let's go!!

your friend,

Gail

Did I Ever Speak Too Soon!

Shows you what I know about Autumn in the mountains of Western North Carolina! 

All the leaves are NOT brown in spite of it being a snappy title! I am here to show you a few examples of my foolishness. Oh wait, have I ever shown a few photos in the past? Of course I have not...it is not in my DNA!

 We have seen color driving to do so, and also right on our drive on Talc Mine Road on our way to the cottage. So, perhaps that  is a good place to begin our little leaf journey, which the locals tell me is way past prime, but for this Floridian, it remains a little slice of heaven. Try as I might, the only online evidence of a talc mine here in Murphy is this photograph about a cave in.  Actually, here is a link that while I am not able to open because I don't have a NYT subscription, others might be able to read this article from 1963 about a mine cave-in here in Murphy. Whether or not it is the same one, I do not know. At any rate, a lot of the area and development around where we are living was once mined and the road is named for the former use. If there are more buildings of the abandoned talc mine I do not know of them. Or at least I can't see them anyway!

So while I said the leaves were brown, rust is really a more accurate description for many of them. Have you read about a year with a large acorn drop? Apparently it is called a mast year so while it has a name,  scientists can't seem to agree on what it really means. This year would be one of those, or so we have heard. Plenty of acorns here.

Before we go further afield, let's explore very close to home, shall we? 

Continuing our series on changes in the landscape, it was fortuitous that I took this shot when we first arrived.

Trailer, trees, what are we supposed to notice Gail, you might be thinking. Here goes...

Practically overnight it began changing and boy howdy, look at this from our carport a few days ago.

I took the photo in part because there was the tiniest bit of blue in the sky after days and days of grey weather. Want to see more? But of course you do!

As you well know, being the faithful reader that you are, that I love this sort of thing. Actually I love it all, even the grey and chilly days with rain. Again, ask me in a month or so, how I feel about it then. Imagine what all this looks like with snow????

I did some walking along the road looking for plant material to fill a vase. Think brown and sort of like what you might buy dried. Anyway, it was wonderful going first one direction,

and then the other. 

Look how many colors there are! I know they were even brighter but I, for one, am not getting greedy and enjoying every color that I see. The above is at the end of Warren Drive and is a home for vacation rental. 

No goldfinch this time of yea,r but there are a multitude of Carolina Chickadees who seem to be loving the new feeder and seeds.

Holy cow have we been seeing deer.

Just before nightfall, and as an aside is it getting dark so early, but anyway, I walked onto the porch and observed SEVEN deer from my perch!! Early yesterday morning, just after daybreak, I wanted to document the fog and lo and behold what did I see? You tell me.

This place is wonderful for someone who craves variety, unlike in Florida where it is mostly the same day in and day out. That said, the magnificence of our Florida sunrises and sunsets are not to be dismissed! It is just the hot and muggy stuff in between that becomes tiresome. :)

When I left you in my last post , we were heading to lunch with Curt and Nancy and not only did we have a delightful time chatting and catching up on their trip, the scenery behind the restaurant was pretty great too. But first we had to get there using the four-lane, or so the locals call it. And yes, we do have a McDonalds here although we have never been.

Look at those colors!!! Look at these...

It is positively fantastic! Susan, another pb friend, the one who kindly gave me her unneeded supply of Eliquis, told us to explore a road called Bell Hill. She lives here, we do not, so but of course we will listen to her suggestion. Oh my goodness, do I love it!

Plenty of curves, color and hills which is the vantage point this was taken from.

Florida woman goes mad with joy at leaf colors!

Further on Bruce pulled into the Bell Hill church parking lot and the view from that vantage point was terrific.

It felt as if we had died and gone to heaven having the opportunity to witness such beauty. 

If you want to see Gail hyped up, take her somewhere gorgeous! Thankfully, the drive home was mostly uneventful, a very good thing though because my heart was so full I thought it might burst. I did enjoy watching the below scene unfold.

Now you have seen the four lane.

In real time, meaning this morning as I type, our car battery is dead and we are waiting on AAA to come charge it. Unfortunately, the back hatch latch pops open pretty easily, especially when the keys are in Bruce's pocket, which is where they were last evening. Heading out the carport door to check if I had enough clothes on for 38 degree weather, I saw it was open, knowing full well that it was a bad sign. I think I hear them now, so hopefully it won't be too long before we are get-to-go. The sun is shining, but for how long is anyone's guess so I want to take advantage of it for my walk. The sun shone on and off in the last week, but to say there has been an abundance is an exaggeration for sure.

It was not entirely absent from it's perch in the sky though, shedding light on this scene of leaves raining down.

The big story here has been the ongoing fire near Andrews; the last we heard the burned acreage was nearing 5,000. Mentioning the grey skies and rain was meant to be a good thing because although it was not heavy by any means, apparently it was enough to put a slight damper on the fire. We drove to Andrews to see what we could see.  The dreary sky is a combination of overcast skies, fog, and smoke, although happily the smoke smell was very much diminished.

Junaluska Road and the surrounding area, in particular Lord's Way, were said to be adjacent to the fire so we made our way to said road and oh my goodness was it beautiful. 

Chilly indeed, or can you read the car display?  54 baby!

What do you think about me doing a whole series of sideview mirror shots of me?

My head was bobbing from side to side as my dear husband drove us to see what we could see.

Of course I had to have him stop the car for me to pop out because there is no way that I can pass up the chance to photograph something like this! Fortunately he never says no, having the patience of a saint.

As it turns out, we never did encounter smoke or fire, leaving us puzzled but grateful because surely it must be a good sign. 

What in the world was I thinking when I proclaimed that "all the leaves are brown"? 

In my head I know that it can't last much longer but in my heart I sure hope that it will. In the meantime, seeing this scene from the woods adjacent to the cottage fills my soul with joy and gratitude that up to now we have our health. Our happiness, that goes without saying!

Lastly, in other news, it seems as if I may begin selling photography again in a cute downtown shop. I promise to keep you posted.

In the meantime I remain,

your friend,

Gail