Let the Painting Begin!

As is so often the case for all of us, the days fly by with all manner of activities. So often people exclaim that they are busier once they retired then when they were working, and perhaps there is some truth to that. I'm not entirely convinced, in part because our memories are faulty. In any case, most of us have plenty to do, so I very much appreciate you taking the time to keep up with Camera Crazy! 

Before we delve into painting, I did finish the quilt after seemingly forever. The inspiration fabric for the quilt is this wild print that I saw at Hobby Lobby, who knows when. Maybe before we came to North Carolina last summer? At any rate, I found the fabric, then chose about twelve others using the same color way, a term I learned from our friend Irene, who now lives in our condo community but is selling her place to move further afield. Now that I think of it, she will feature again a little further down this post. Anyway, here it is with the binding strips I made atop it.

As you may recall from this long term saga, I bought the blue in a whole bunch of pieces from the nearby craft sale at the fundraising for the library. Come to think of it, fundraising will be mentioned again too as it is a constant in this part of the country. This is Appalachia after all.  In the photo above I am trying to remember how to join the two ends of the binding to make a mitre. But first I had to sew all 375 inches onto the quilt. Please note the presence of curtains that my darling husband hung! 

Once I remembered how to join the ends, I sat down with a needle and thread and spent probably eight hours, or something like that, sewing on the binding. Good thing I had sports to watch while doing so!

The finale is a trip to the washing machine, followed by the dryer and there you have it.

In spite of washing in cold water, the quilt is still a tiny bit smaller than I hoped for. Well, that is homemade for you! No complaints here.

Honestly thinking of complaining, the only thing recently that has not brought out the best in me was a trip to the movie theater.

Oh my word was the movie terrible! While we lived in Vancouver, this happened twenty floors below. Even if you are no fan of Deadpool, most folks are interested in movie star sightings and mine was a good one! Vancouver is a hot bed for film production and since Ryan Reynolds is from there, the site is a natural for him. While I tolerated the previous two movies, this one was really hard for me to sit through. The good news is the cost of attending is merely $5.50 for the evening show, so there's that. 

Shall I jump into painting now? I think so, but not before I show off the beautiful cake stand that Pam brought as a housewarming gift when they visited a month or so ago.

The stand is beautiful and the cake was delicious so a match made in heaven. What I want you to note is the wall color. Okay, that is what I am now calling a faded yellow color. Now there is not a thing wrong with the color, but since we like a little more of a jazzy look (see quilt above), after much, much deliberation, we chose an historic Arts and Crafts color by Sherwin Williams called Hubbard Squash. We did, however, have it made at our local paint store on Tennessee Street owned by the Hughes. Lovely folks, and part of our mission to buy local when possible. 

In the past I would choose a paint color by a name that I liked, think Dancing Green for example, or just because I felt like changing things up. This time around, none of that was in the cards as we did not want to make a mistake, if at all possible. The walls are heavily textured plaster that required a thick napped roller. The room feels so elegant now. Oh my goodness, it is something else. As mentioned earlier, Irene was to come into play again and it is because she has used a similar color in all of her living spaces wherever they may be. 

While not well portrayed in this photo, on the right is a new art piece I bought at, you guessed it, Downtown Marketplace!  I cannot tell for sure, but it seems as if it is painted on silk and depicts deer! I will await the arrival of Matthew and Tom who are far more well schooled in art than I! And here is a daytime look.

The living room will soon be Ruskin Room Green, another in the Arts and Crafts line. I will admit to being a wee bit nervous in advance. but we are thinking it will give the room more depth and a richer look. Not as in money richer, but in a deeper feeling. Does that make sense? We shall see.

Speaking of a rich, deep look, rarely do we have much of sunset, or at least that is visible here. Last night, on the other hand, I could see by the reflection on the porch wind chimes,

that the sky would be putting on a show and what a show it was. I walked around the block, seeing the reflection on the courthouse through the trees.

Seriously intense! Plus, what I am thinking were Chimney Swifts were flying around like mad.

Now, let us have a little look around the yard, including this!!!

I was so pleased to have gotten a nice hummingbird shot. The Rose of Sharon is putting on a new show, but at the same time leaves are yellowing and dropping like mad. Plus many of the buds remain closed before falling to the ground below. I have no idea what is happening! Except one thing I know for sure is that the pesky squirrels are partly to blame for the fallen blooms.

Two things on the Cardinal front. One, I was pretty sure we had some juveniles in the mix here, and today through the living room window, I watched Papa feed one of them in the Lilac tree. Lately we have added a suet cake to our bird feeding repertoire and it came in handy for Papa Cardinal! So that bird looked super, but this one not so much. Molting has begun for this fellow.

Because we have finally had some rain, the fallen sunflower seeds are sprouting, but for that problem we have rabbits!

What is interesting about them is that they seem to not fear us, at least from the porch anyway. The birds will skedaddle the minute we even come near the edge of the porch. One day I will get a nice shot of the puffy little cotton tail!

Speaking of rain, we have had more of it and one day I took advantage of it by placing my plants on the walkway to receive the gift of rain.

It has done wonders for the grass! Here comes another look at the Japanese Maple tree, in part because I think it is interesting, and in part because I want to document the changes as the months pass. What in the heck will happen when Autumn arrives?

I am pretty sure I see the remnants of the nest as well. 

I have no idea what these plants in Sandy's yard are called but they sure look pretty don't they? 

Shifting gears, wildly I might add, this came in the mail the other day, forwarded from Orlando.

One might have thought that surely someone in her campaign would have caught that blatant error. Oh politics, how I hate thee!

Here's something! Dottie, one of the friends from church, upon learning of my interest in the history of Murphy, having lived here for forty years, was eager to share a few things she has saved over the years, mostly articles from the Cherokee Scout. Imagine my surprise while perusing some of them, discovering that in 1984 the Olympic torch came to town! According to the newspaper account, there was plenty of excitement in these parts.

Mr. Peck is pleased as punch with his new vacuum system he's created for his tools. It's a first for him and most welcome.

This is a super busy time at the church with all manner of activities happening, mostly charitable as in participating in this program. 

It is my understanding that 80% of the areas schoolchildren qualify for a free lunch and because this is so, next year all children will be given free lunches. I imagine it is less awkward? Anyway, food was collected and on this day, bagged up for distribution.

Sarah June is carry a box filled with jars of peanut butter that she obtained from her other volunteer work at a food bank. 62 bags were loaded with goodies.

And now it is time for what they call the White Tag sale. What I am calling it, is awesome! Last year I bought an terrific iron at the sale, actually your favorite blogger's husband found it, and it has been a godsend. Yesterday I helped put things out, shopping at the same time. I came home with a blender for $2, stainless mixing bowls, a big rug, and more for $20. It is crazy to me how inexpensive they price everything, but at the same time I am not complaining. Friday and Saturday I will be one of the ones checking folks out, so I will see plenty of treasures leave all the while raising money for various projects of the women's group. 

Walking there this morning I helped with pricing, which consists of tape denoting the asking price. $.25-$2.00 for most anything! In that vein, I came home with more today including a container that had all these little figurines in it. Having not the foggiest notion of what they might be, I thought they were kind of cute, so for $.50, I thought, why not? I also picked up an owl thing, so there's that too. Anyway, I was pretty sure it seemed as if they were from England and by golly, after Dottie drove me home because I was laden with plenty, I looked them up and this is what I found. Here is what they look like as a group:

and here is what they look like in a close-up.

I do have to wonder if Tom, or his mum, Jane, have seen them before as they are from England.  Honestly they are as cute as a button in person. Or so I think they are. So does this woman.  Bruce asked me what the heck was I going to do with them and folks, you are looking at it! Because that bench is slightly unstable, we don't want anyone to sit on it so now they will know it is out of commission except as a perch for my little collection of "Wade Whimsies", courtesy of some kind soul!

Bruce is sitting behind me at his desk as I type. It is gorgeous outside and soon we will be heading to the shops and library. He's working on what he terms, a "takeoff", a construction term for a list of supplies and costs for an upcoming ramp project. You might remember Tom and Jane whom we visited, she of the beaded figurines. 

The report from Orlando on the baby front is all good news. Baby boy Peck is coming along nicely. Fallon is feeling much better and Bill is filled with excitement. In the meantime, we will keep on improving our beautiful home that came to us as such a blessing. Before moving in, I wondered how I would like the kitchen as it is such an important part of my life. Our lives really!

Turns out, I like it just fine. And no plans are imminent to change the stove because, by golly, it works like  a champ! As to having very little counter space, well that just adds to the excitement. Or so it seems to me.

your friend,

Gail

Seven Days Later

 Look at me...seven days after my last post! Yeah for staying on schedule! My own that is. The days fly by for us all, no doubt, but I think there are those amongst you that, dare I say, look forward to a new post, so I do my best to provide it on time. 

So let's get cracking, shall we?

The quilt is not completed yet but it is getting very much closer. Some days I have time to work on it,, while others are either jam packed with activities, or I am too lazy. Take your pick.

That little arm thing is what keeps me going straight as I move my way across the quilt top. In the image above, it is documenting that I have turned the quilt upside down so I can always work towards the outer edge in order to keep everything unwrinkled. I began with lots of large safety pins in it, but since I'm nearing the end, most of them are back in their little bin, one of the few pieces of sewing equipment I brought with me. To keep it under what is called the throat of the machine, I've rolled up what I have completed. Since the quilt is 90 inches long by 88 inches wide, that is a bunch of fabric to squash up! At the moment, while I am typing this, Bruce is working on that room to make it cozier. Plus he is repairing the ceiling where once, apparently, there was a leak. While I spent the morning volunteering at church, he also put up more curtains! When I found them in a thrift store while waiting to move into the house, I thought they might work in the living area, but they were too short. In the sewing room, with the slightly lower ceiling, they are just right! The futon we have ordered should arrive late next week. 

Speaking of rooms, we are still pondering paint colors. I just got off a quick Facetime chat with Matthew and what an inspiration that chat was. Their flat in London is so stylish and it just got even more so with his latest project of painting the bathroom two shades of green, accented with dark, dark brown door trim AND a picture rail he installed. Now that I think of it, how did he get that wood home without a car? Where did it come from?? Details, I need more details!! 

An array of shades ton our radar.

What a problem to have, right? When so much of the world is in shambles, I feel a little sheepish thinking of it as a big deal. 

NEVER assume I am more capable than anyone else. Look at this stack of blueberry pancakes! 

Actually what brings the above to mind is someone at church asked me if there was anything I wasn't good at? Say what? Pickleball for one thing, in spite of my best efforts! My response was lots and lots of things. In fact, in this house, as I was just saying to Bruce, that while I may come up with some serviceable ideas, it is he who makes them happen. Having said that, I have had some success with my basil, rosemary and Italian parsley. Seemingly stuff is easy to grow here because I've never had plants so hearty before.

With plenty of basil on hand I made this recipe for both a get-together and for us and it comes highly recommended for both the taste and the presentation. And for the vegans amongst you, it is your kind of dish. 

Still hanging around the house, just outside my kitchen window, this little stinker was eating the blooms off of my Rose of Sharon tree. Whats more, he had the nerve to do it right in front of my face!

I am not clear what happens next for those trees, but there are loads of what look like buds on it, so perhaps it will re-bloom soon? There are remaining flowers which is good news for the bees; this one absolutely swimming in pollen.

Finally goldfinch. Taken on neighbor Sandy's pink magnolia which seems to be having it's own revival. 

While we are on the subject of birds, or were we? Not like the the old days that's for sure, but every now and again I am having success with photographing birds. Lisa and Bill's housewarming present was a new bird feeder! How did they know? 😀

While we had brought the hummingbird feeder with us, we have had very few, if any takers. Yesterday afternoon  after making a fresh batch of nectar, what a world of difference that made!

Woo hoo! Expect more of the same in the next few weeks!

The hydrangeas are definitely winding down, but so far, they keep on giving, much to my delight. 

I may hate the heat that summer brings, but I must concede that one summer treat is my favorite. There may be some amongst my dear readers who don't long for the bing cherries of summer, but I suspect that number is but a few.

I ordered some lamps for upstairs and they came in a very small box, at least it was to my eyes. Now I know how they made it happen. The flat shade is Velcroed  together!

I just love those curtains!! And having so many windows! What a treat that I took for granted while living in a condo. We have big windows at home, but the amount of cross room light is minimal so having it coming from every direction is something that makes me very happy indeed.

Before we leave Campbell Street, one more of the blooming zinnias I purchased at the nearby farmers market. 

Having new blooms popping up is a good sign indeed. The begonias on the front porch that were getting so unruly have been trimmed back and new flowers are forming. I am learning on the fly how to take care of all of this stuff, that's for sure. 

So you might be thinking we stayed home all of last week and that would be incorrect. Apparently I took fewer photos is all. We had Soul Table on Thursday is one thing we did. I finally took a walk the other day but having to watch out for either geese poop, or mosquitos, takes a little of the fun out of it. I did walk into Sunset cemetery for a bit and this grave marker intrigued me.

A true "mountain man" who died far too young. Having been reading so many old Scout articles doing my research on the house, plenty of the folks I am reading about are buried in that cemetery, although the road is far too steep for the likes of me to get up there. A car, that's the ticket.

What a tree, right?

Plus all of the shades of green! There are so very many. 

Following another visit to the Crown restaurant with Mark and Mary Beth, we drove around a bit in the area called Brasstown. Because we spend so much time in town, it is easy to forget the extreme beauty surrounding us. Especially this time of year with the "greens of summer" in full array.

Around every bend in the road there is something delightful to see.

The hand-made bows on the fence of this Methodist cemetery! A sign facing the road states that donations, to the tune of $4,500, are requested to maintain this lovely spot.

And who amongst you does not like a barn with an adjacent silo?

Guess what!! It is raining and not for the first time of late. A little here, a little there.  A few days ago, overnight actually, the crack of lightening and ensuing thunder was so loud it woke us up! I am wondering if it might echo off the mountains? 

Mountains, oh the lovely mountains. I came across a photograph I took while we lived in Vancouver and it does not get much better than this.

While I cannot remember the exact place, I do recall it was on the way to Whistler. That much I do remember. 

Which leads me to the upcoming Olympics!! I so love watching them and sometimes tat the expense of anything else. We shall see, as I still don't know if we have the means to watch it. I'm not sold on the fact that we have access to NBC. I need to get on that ASAP! Go athletes ! who have spent sometimes a decade learning to excel at their sport. I watched a woman swimming laps at the pool yesterday afternoon and I was duly impressed with how she glided through the water, with little splash. Surely she spent time on a swim team. Or so it seemed to me.

Have you watched Mr. Bates vs the Post Office on PBS. If not, do so. What a sad true story! And if I have already talked about it forgive me. I am not quite as sharp as I once was and that's a fact!

your friend,

Gail

Two Visits from Friends and More

There is a lot to report so let's get started! Actually, when you read this, you might wonder how there is time to write and your assumptions would be correct because, once again I am a day late. As to a dollar short, I cannot comment.

Let's start with a waterfall, specifically Benton Falls.

There is a hiking group at church that we were invited to join. With trepidation, we agreed. Trepidation you wonder? Most of the folks are seasoned hikers and because we are not, joining them was not exactly our cup of tea. 

That said, we agreed to go and we made it! 

Mostly. 

To the right of the group is a mountain-top lake! The day was muggy and overcast, so jumping into the water would have been my idea of fun, however, onward we traversed on what they called an easy hike. Mostly it was until we drew near to the falls and that is when I got nervous. The view from above the falls.

Having spent so much time healing after my wrist breaks, I am nervous in any situation when I can fall. Thus, our friends climbed over to the big rock and I asked Bruce if we could stop before we got there. No way did I feel comfortable climbing where the rest of the folks did! 

David and Diane having a serious discussion.

On our way up the mountain, we stopped at an overlook for a group picture.

That was last Tuesday, and in the end we were glad we went. 

Saturday there was another easy walk, or so they claimed, however, instead we were blessed to have our old friends Sam and Mary coming  into town. We enjoyed a lovely visit with them after a, you guessed it, house tour, during which time they proclaimed that the photographs did not do it justice. If anyone loves good stories of thrifting it is that couple! Mary claims they have lived a "second hand" life and I can't argue with that. She declined photographs so the only evidence of their visit is the cardinal she picked up somewhere for me as she knows how much I love them.

Melissa, one of their four daughters has a second home in nearby Robbinsville, so they know the area well. Sam is a fellow woodworker who loved seeing what Bruce is doing in the basement. 

Monday, while playing pickleball, Susan asked me if we were always busy and my answer was yes we sure are. While it is a good problem to have, my blog is suffering! In that same vein I will go back in time to our get together at Mark and Mary Beth's lovely home. 

We shared a lovely meal and good time together, followed by me slipping on their front stairs. In my defense, they were wet and have been recently varnished with a shiny sheen. Fortunately, only my arm took a little scrape. I hate reporting that I am so accident prone these days but it is the sad truth! The chickens were rounded up so we could see them, but not without effort on Mark's part!

Believe it or not, as in when do I have time, but I am still working on my quilt, having finished the binding, all ready to attach to the quilt when the time comes,

and the quilting has begun.

That binding is 400 inches long and made up of a whole heck of a lot of pieces. Pictured on the ironing board with the iron because those are two items that we bought second hand; the board from the thrift store and the iron came from last year's white tag sale at the church we now attend. I began this earlier today, but stopped in order to attend a meeting of the Methodist women;  one of the topics was the planning of the white tag sale coming up in a few weeks. What will I find this year??

Monday, another Florida couple came to town and this time it was Bill and Lisa from Live Oak. We had a super good time with them, mostly chatting, as well as a little driving around to show off our adopted home. They arrived late in the morning with lunch at Shoebooties on the agenda, followed by pointing out a few of our favorite places. The name of the restaurant is unfortunate in our opinion but it is a local institution. Unfortunately Lisa has been diagnosed with Rheumatoid arthritis which is  limiting her ability to get around, so we mostly stuck with easy stuff. We had a simple dinner utilizing chili that I'd made the night before. You would think that was an odd choice in the middle of a heat wave and frankly, I can't blame you! Sometimes it is not about the food. 

Which brings me to the next topic this blog post is meant to cover and that is my obsession with learning more of the history of this house. The information provided in this space included in my last post, was incorrect. Before I carry on, when Bill and Lisa were arriving, who should pull up but Bill Sr., who was checking up on us. Wanted to know how things were going and we, of course, praised him again for keeping the house so immaculate. We were a little sad to hear that he is a bit lonely in his new home but he claimed it is to be expected.  Anyway, the name was not Candler as I'd written, but Chandler so there's that. I not only went to the deed office where a nice woman assisted me,

 I also went to the library and found the Candler house, of the six tables of bridge fame, but not ours was not included in this book.

I am mentioning this in the Lisa segment because once I had the real name (or so we think), of the man who built this house, she logged into her Ancestry account and found out more information. So far we are thinking it was a Mr. George Hiram Cope and His wife Leila who lived here. I've learned from reading countless articles in the Scout that they moved to Sylva in September of 1930. What happened next??? The Chandlers bought it in 1948 and held onto it until the Vespasians bought it from the estate of Ruth Chandler in 1997. So I've put this information into a few sentences but believe you me, I have read many, many more sentences on the subject. SO FAR! The Copes were prominent citizens as well, members of the Baptist church and Lions Club.

It has been fun learning so much of the history of Murphy from the pages of the Cherokee Scout. Mrs. Chandler, the supposed ghost, lived to be 98, a factoid I know because Lisa is a whiz with Ancestry!

We met Randy and David at the Crown in Brasstown on Friday night, a restaurant that people have been telling us about since we arrived last summer.

The food was good, but the views are even better, in my opinion.

Apparently a fire is common to ward off mosquitos. I've never seen one built quite like this.

Your favorite blogger's husband is chatting with Rob, our insurance agent who is known to frequent the place. When we first arrived in Murphy we thought it seemed far away, but now that we know where we are going, turns out it is but six or so miles from us! Everything, or so it seems, is a matter of perspective.

After church on Sunday we drove over to Hayesville to visit with John while he was passing time in his booth at the craft show.

Let me tell you it was HOT! Finally we had some rain this morning to cool things off a bit, but not nearly enough. While it would be nice having it cooler, it is still cooler than Florida at this time of year. 

Bruce now has his major tools purchased after going to Blue Ridge with John a week or so ago. He took the cart that was meant for the table saw, worked his magic and now he has not only his band saw but his mitre box installed on it.

Lots of folks moving to the mountains want just that--mountains. Either views or woods, preferably both. Me, I am good on more level ground. Not entirely level but level enough. One of the things that really pleases me, at least in the summer, is the varied light in the house.

Oh look! 

Paint ideas! 

Stay tuned.

As always, I remain, your friend,

Gail