Late Fall

As I was lying under our comfy quilt this morning, I let my mind jump all over the place. Oh wait...that happens all of the time not just while I am lying in bed! Seriously, one minute I am singing in my head, "Emanuel", and the next I am pondering the worth of travel. Have you ever thought about how lots of people love traveling and then there are those who don't? Countless times at parties, or when you are just getting to know people, travel accomplishments quickly filter into the conversation, don't they? Or maybe it is just me that has had that experience. As for me,  I love seeing new places, but at the same time, I love staying put.  Perhaps that is why we are enjoying this adventure so much because we are enjoying something different like travel, but in our case, for an extended experience? 

In all seriousness, these thoughts were formed yesterday afternoon during my walk on what I would ordinarily call a very ugly day except despite the continued gloom I was so blessed to see all sorts of exciting things such as the little guy below!

To begin with, I imagine you are wondering how my body is feeling and the answer to that is that it is not feeling like it was before the fall, however, aside from a sore rib and a scraped knee, I am on my way to recovery. So I guess that was Monday, and while the weather was cold on that fateful day, it was no match for the ensuing two days when the temperature plunged to 18! Look at the ice on the bird feeder! Much to my surprise, that is a winter Goldfinch. Actually I took it in dim morning light and it was only after looking at the photograph on my computer that I was able to identify it.

But of course I had to go exploring.

Lots of pretty frost on the ground.

Excitement Gail? Carry on....

1. Two trips to Blairsville, one fruitful and the other a test run. It won't surprise you in the least to know that the possibility exists that I wrote down the wrong date for my doctor's appointment. Because it is not the first time I have pulled this stunt, I am willing to take the blame, but still I am left puzzling as to how both Bruce and I wrote it down incorrectly. At any rate, the weather was pleasant unlike the rainy days that followed making that was most certainly a plus. A golf course following days of freezing weather. Looks pretty doesn't it? The drive is about 22 miles with almost no traffic making for smooth sailing.

While we were in Blairsville, it looks like the courthouse is in the same quandary as the rest of us. When do we get rid of our pumpkins?

The museum housed inside the beautiful courthouse has many interesting things to ponder, including this super neat quilt tracing the history of the area that has become known as Blairsville, GA.

3. I neglected to mention two things, we have switched over to the Methodist church because while we really liked the little one, in the end, it was just plain too small. We missed seeing children running around and a real choir. If that sounds selfish, I am in agreement with you. Because we are new and the only way to meet folks is to put yourself out there, we gathered with others to decorate the church last Sunday afternoon.

Homemade chicken noodle soup was available following this, as well as Advent wreath making with all supplies provided. With a little help from the ladies, we now have one on the dining table and we lit the first candle for lunch today.

4. My prints arrived!!

As is always the case, the print quality on archival art paper is outstanding. They have been delivered to the shop in their wonderful crate and what happens next is out of our hands. Hopefully good things, but one never knows.

5. Christmas tree lighting!! Originally scheduled for Friday night, they moved it to Thursday because heavy rain was predicted. It was none other than the now-familiar Laura, along with the mayor of Murphy, who presided over the event. Now it is not the first time that I've been to something like this, but the difference here is that it is all so easy. Parking, the crowd, the safety. What is NOT to like?

It was Laura who led the singing of Christmas songs before she plugged in the tree which sits in one of the four, what they call pocket parks, on the corner of Tennessee and Valley River.

It took a while but I am finally getting the hang of the street naming here which more often than not uses geography for naming. Looking in the direction of the photograph, the road is called Tennessee. If I were to stand beside the tree, looking the other way, the street is called Peachtree because it goes to Peachtree. Just like how we talked about Talc Mine recently which, btw, if you weren't able to open the link to the NYT article about the mine collapse, as I was not, Matthew sent me the link to the article about the tragic accident.

As a refresher, we drive on Talc Mine Road most every day.

6. It was on Friday that the weather was so gloomy, as I mentioned above, but what an afternoon for photography with the gloom and the low fog along the river. 

Let's walk, shall we?

Continuing our way on the paved path,

Perhaps you are wondering what I was wearing and that is a good topic to tackle right about now. I am the first to admit that my clothing choices for this segment of our adventure were less than ideal. First off, I hate wearing pants, but obviously my preference goes out the window when confronted with the above. Trying to coordinate outfits with what I brought, between undershirts, overshirts, jackets or sweaters has proven to be challenging. But of course that is part of the adventure isn't it?

Right about now you might be wondering what the heck is there to photograph and I am here to tell you there was a LOT. Birds, and by birds I mean hundreds of migrating birds! 

Because of the lighting conditions it was not within my power to distinguish what birds they were, however, I have Merlin to help we with those types of situations. In this instance, they proved to be Starlings. And how about these Robins!!

Do you see them clustered on the baseball field? 

Someone was kind enough to leave this for visitors to discover.

The multitude of Nandina berries continues to amaze me.

Back to the clothing talk, I did put a black Gap windbreaker type jacket on over my sweater, one that I bought, get this... 20 years ago for our first visit to England where it proved helpful and by golly, after sitting in the closet for eons, still performs like a champ. Should I pull out the "they don't make them like they used" to card right about now? There may just be some truth to that!

While walking that same afternoon, I texted our friend Linda for confirmation that they were still performing at the Cherokee County Arts Council building. Yes ma'am, or something like that was her reply. It must be remembered that everything is very close to one another. In this instance the river walk and gym, where your favorite blogger and her husband were parked, is super, super close, so it wasn't long before we arrived and were enjoying the music.

I wondered why Linda was standing and the explanation is that she plays a different type of dulcimer than the other ladies. Because I know nothing about either type, I just listened to the Christmas music in a brand new sound. Linda was showing Bruce her beautiful instrument and isn't it something the marriage of modern (ipad) and ancient technology?

Linda is great at pickleball, and what's more she is a weaver, having sold creations for some time. Her scarf? Yup, she made it.

7. Imagine this....more downtown stuff the following day with two indoor markets.  Checking in on Anna Claire who has nearly completed her latest creation. 

In case you are wondering, I did make Santa's nice list! She is so crazy talented!

7b, We stayed up very late last night cheering on our Florida State football team who finished the season undefeated in spite of having to start their third string freshman quarterback due to injuries. While not an easy win, it was the first time they have won the Atlantic Coast conference in a decade. It was so thrilling for the team until around noon today when they were kept out of the College Football playoffs in lieu of not one but two one loss teams! To say that we are all angry is putting it mildly.

Pretty exciting week right? Adding to it was a Cardinal on the the feeder, a rare occurrence heretofore.

What happens next is yet to unfold, but if the past is any kind of guide, it will be interesting!!

your friend,

Gail